At the moment, there are a lot of planets in Aries, including Mercury. Aries is the sign of pioneering ambition and passionate adventure; Mercury in Aries may be expressed as:

  • Communicates assertively, forcefully, directly, confidently
  • Restless urge for action underlies energetic way of speaking and creative use of skills
  • Confrontation and forceful release of energy are necessary in order to learn; capacity to intuitively grasp essentials
  • Reasoning ability is colored by a self-willed release of energy toward new experience; daring new thoughts are therefore often preferred
  • Establishing true give-and-take with others can be hindered by insensitive and inconsiderate self-assertion (Arroyo 62)


In this retrograde period, consider how Mercury retrograde events take on that fiery Arian quality. A few examples, of fire, heat, or fury:

  • A fire on a motorway in Britain causes major traffic disruption; arson is suspected
  • Illegal phone hacking revelations continue to plague Rupert Murdoch’s News International
  • Vegan fury at being misled over meat-less images
  • Greg Mortenson’s faked memoir(s) that ‘inspired’ the US military in Afghanistan and Pakistan (the latter is much more interesting than the fact they were faked)

Reference
Arroyo, Stephen. Chart Interpretation Handbook. Sebastapol, Ca.: CRCS, 1989.

Image: Fire breather. Source: Wikimedia Commons.