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.

 

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 and me, October 2007

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.

I am discounting the usual glitches and disruptions to do with missed appointments, computer trouble and travel delays. This is a list of events that stood out.

Back-end shadow period, 22 September to 10 October 2007:

• Car battery goes flat (again!!), forgot to turn off the lights
• Joined Facebook, and am hooked; found many friends in cyberspace I haven’t seen or spoken to in a long time (Mercury is going to retrograde in my 11th house of friends and social networks after all!).
• Ex-boyfriend turns up on Instant Messenger (and we are not in touch that often) suddenly wanting some cyber-nookie, and I am thinking ‘Mercury rx in Scorpio surely cannot be that literal!’

Retrograde period, 11 October to 1 November 2007:

• I am still applying for fellowships and jobs, and the postal strike makes it a farce: I send out two applications by expensive courier, and then find that the organisation decided to allow email submissions! (the Royal Mail and the union reach a deal though)
• Joke: a week after the fiasco of sending out the application cited above, I receive an email from the funding body saying the host institution (which was chasing me to get it right) hadn’t filled in their bit
• Delayed thesis examiners’ report comes in with a very tight turnaround time for submission, and a whole rigmarole of hassle too tedious to describe here

Front-end shadow period, 2 November to 17 November 2007:

• Thesis submission hassle gets sorted with much less pain than expected
• Curiously unexpected falling out with friends without really being able to locate the real cause; plenty of time for discovery yet

Not to bad a personal retrograde period, I have to say, beyond the exhaustion of wider events. Mercury retrograded largely in my 11th house of social activity and friendships, and as I’ve mentioned, many friends from the past have popped up through Facebook.

Because I’m waiting for news on job applications and the like, I feel like I’m in a waiting room. Nonetheless the retrograde has given me the opportunity to go over some projects and put others to bed once and for all. Bring on the next one.

 

Scorpio into Libra

Eric Francis has this to say about the current Merc rx. I will quote passages here.

How to approach Mercury retrogrades:

 

iPhone follow-up

Apple’s iPhone was launched during the last Mercury retrograde.

Although it’s popular, it’s problems are well-documented.

As we move into the next retrograde period, the iPhone’s problems seem nowhere near abating. The latest news is that a customer is suing Apple for US$1 million for the price reduction.