Since a few days, exactly since March 18th, Mercury has entered its pre-shadow period for this April Retrograde, which somehow initiates this very potent cycle as it occurs in the sign of Aries, just for the Equinox or beginning of the astrological year, which starts on the 20th, when the Sun reaches the 0-degree mark of the Ram sign. The most peculiar aspect of this cycle is that from now until the first half of May, Mercury will make contact with Chiron and Eris, triggering the voices of these two archetypes in our psyche. It will do the same with the Lunar Node, but only twice, always wandering within 1 or 2 degrees of orb.
This begins with the Mercury-Chiron conjunction on March 20, 2024, which is the first conjunction in a series of 3. The other conjunctions occur on April 15, 2024, at 20° of Aries (with Mercury retrograde), and the 3rd on May 7, 2024, at 21° of Aries. Mercury will align with Eris just for the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse in Libra on March 25, then on April 8, just for the total Solar Eclipse in Aries, and lastly on May 9/10. Wherever you have these degrees between 18º to 25º of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn is where you’ll find yourself grappling with the challenge of bringing to consciousness the need for healing old wounds by recognizing the necessity of addressing issues that seem to hit a nerve and present you with a real emotional challenge.
Mercury correlates with the “official version” since from a young age, we hear around us when our parents, our family, then our teachers, friends, speak, express themselves, and tell stories, versions of the truth, according to how they see it, or have inherited it, or have learned it. As we grow up, we begin to realize that we don’t completely agree with the “official version,” and thus, we start the painful process of individuation. How we communicate this process has to do with Mercury and its position by sign and by house in our natal chart.
For this Mercury Retrograde, the small planet will walk hand in hand with Chiron and the North Node for almost 2 months, and in the sign of Aries, which tends to speak without carefully thinking about what it says, and to express itself impulsively. It reactivates the Chiron-North Node conjunction, about which you can read here. Aries acts first and thinks later. With the Node denoting our evolutionary mandate, and Chiron our deepest wound, we can assume that Mercury will give voice to those two aspects of our psyche, and we will have the opportunity to see how we march towards what “we must do” when we know it will cause us pain or lead us to territories we prefer not to visit. This can occur with the diversity of human creativity or in infinite ways.
As Gabor Mate says: “You’re going to have pain one way or another: You can have the pain of repressing yourself in order to be accepted or you can have the pain sometimes of being yourself and not being accepted. Which one do you like? What pain would you prefer to have?”
The most common thing is having to confront someone (Aries is opposite to Libra, where the first eclipse occurs) and clarify some situations that are uncomfortable for us to talk about. But here lies the most important aspect of this cycle, which is being able to express (Mercury) how I really feel and above all, to find out exactly what hurts me (Chiron). Since this whole cycle occurs in Aries, which represents the theme of our identity, not my conditioning, but my true identity. That which I Am. My personality in this life. What defines me in this incarnation. That original impulse to BE is the energy of this first sign of the zodiac. An impulse that is truncated or frustrated when our education forces or encourages us to BE in a way that we Are Not.
Eclipses show us areas of our psyche that we normally keep in the shadow, thus attracting unforeseen situations or in unexpected ways. Whenever we venture into the unknown or unfamiliar, we feel anxiety and often fear. Feeling Fear is part of being alive. The result is often similar to what Saturn brings, that is, a situation that we can no longer ignore and must resolve, as it allows us to see it more clearly.
This Retrograde begins on April 1st at 27° Aries 12′ and Mercury will station direct on April 24/25 at 15° Aries 59′, concluding its post-shadow period on May 13 at 27° Aries. We all know what happens when the smallest planet closest to the Sun goes retrograde, so we must be careful with mobile phones, paperwork, electronic devices in general, and since it occurs in Aries, we must particularly control what we say and how we say it. Although in its alignment with Chiron, the Node, and Eris, it will bring us closer to the feeling of non-inclusion that characterizes the Goddess of Discord. In relation to this, on the night of March 22nd, that is to say last night, an attack in Moscow by ISIS evokes this alignment of planets in this first sign of the Zodiac, which leads us to impulsive action.
Once again, films also reflect the moment and a film of Julio Torres comes out called “Problemista”, couldn’t imagine a better word for the Chiron-Eris predicament. It’s about the drama of being an inmigrant in the US. Of course that “Poor Things” of Yorgos Lanthimos is another beautiful example of this.
Observe your feelings for these dates and reflect on what these gods and goddesses are showing you and meditate on what you need to heal within yourself. You can only deal with what you can and simply be a witness to what is happening globally.
Cristina Laird's Astrology 