Waxing Moon in Capricorn

Today, even as the Moon presses forward in determined Capricorn, heading toward next week's Full Moon and the release of what has been achieved in this cycle, Mercury goes retrograde. Does this mean everything comes to a halt? How do we balance these energies?

This morning might feel like a push toward a deadline, as the hard-working Capricorn Moon challenges Venus (exact at 12:45pm EDT) and then Mars (12:49pm) in serene Libra.

Both Capricorn and Libra are cardinal signs, with Libra the Air-based planner and Capricorn the Earth-based actor. The Moon challenges Venus and Mars to stop planning and get doing. Venus (Libra's ruler) reaches her exact conjunction with Mars (how we get things done) at 2:49pm, reinforcing the energy of taking action on our creative plans. With the Sun in creative Leo opposing visionary Neptune, the actions we take can be especially inspired if we link to our intuitive guidance.

Mercury goes retrograde at 3:58pm EDT. Conventional wisdom says forward action stops at that point, and we're all in trouble. And yet, retrograde periods are built into our experience of life; they are natural. The Capricorn Moon is ever the realist, honoring the way things are. Under this Moon, we can become balanced realists about Mercury retrograde.

As I wrote at the end of the last Mercury retrograde, it's more grounded as well as more helpful to work with retrograde periods than fight against them. We know time is not as fixedly linear as sometimes like to think. The time-space continuum eddies and flows. If we insist on pushing forward with linear goals, we can find ourselves pushing again a current far stronger than we are.

Today's Mercury retrograde is in Virgo, the Earth sign known for careful thought and committed service. Auntie Moon describes Virgo as the wise counselor, pointing the way to a healthy partnership with this Mercury retrograde:

We're reaching a crucial time in this lunar cycle, nearing the Full Moon release of our efforts into the world. The role of Mercury, retrograde in Virgo, is to keep us on course, away from the wrong road, if we pay attention. The goal is finding the balance between driving forward and consulting the map.

The Moon in Capricorn is absolutely committed to reaching her goals, but this savvy builder understands the importance of checking the plans. At 11:45pm EDT, the Capricorn Moon flows energy in trine with the newly retrograde Mercury, where she does exactly that. Today's motto: Measure twice, cut once!

The images of the relay race and builders consulting plans are from WikiMedia Commons.