Merc Rx in Aquarius, January/February 2008: UK and world events

Mercury retrogrades from 23° 52′ to 8° 19′ Aquarius, from 28 January to 18 February 2008.
The back-end shadow period lasts from 19 to 27 January 2008 and the front-end shadow period from 19 February to 9 March 2008.

This is a selected list of events that occurred during this period. It will be updated periodically until 9 March 2008.

 

The Internet and the oceans

On 31 January, it was announced that several undersea internet cables had been cut. This occurred shortly after Mercury went retrograde in Aquarius. Mercury is the planet of communications and Aquarius rules not just technology but also the egalitarian nature of the internet, Aquarius being the sign of the humanitarian.

This incident brings to light not only the connectedness of human society (ideally) embodied by the internet (it is clear that not everyone is connected and the question of uneven access is always contentious), but also calls attention to how fragile those connections might be. It also calls attention to the intimate connection between those networks and the raping of oceans we are experiencing as symptomatic of the central crisis of our times.

 

Battle of the techno titans

It is perhaps no coincidence that the biggest news in the technological world is announced while Mercury (news) is retrograde in Aquarius (technology), at the point of Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn.

 

Merc rx in Scorpio/Libra, October 2007: UK and world events

Mercury retrogrades from 9° 4′ Scorpio to 23° 23′ Libra from 11 October to 1 November 2007. The back-end shadow period lasts from 22 September to 10 October and the front-end shadow period from 2 November to 17 November 2007.

This is a list of events that occurred during this period. It will be updated periodically until 17 November 2007.

 

Merc rx in Cancer, June/July 2007: Global events

Mercury retrogrades from 11° 35′ Cancer to 2° 28′ Cancer from 15 June to 9 July 2007. The back-end shadow period lasts from 31 May to 14 June and the front-end shadow period from 10 July to 24 July 2007.

As the retrograde period draws to a close, it occurred to me that I ought to make a list of the major events occurring over this period, for future reference. My astrology isn’t good enough to consult their charts at the moment (plus work and time don’t permit me to do so!), but perhaps over time, a pattern will emerge.