chante - clair
Mercury and its orbit - Ottoman illuminated and illustrated version of ʿAjāʾib al-makhlūqāt (Wonders of creation) by Zakarīyā al-Qazwīnī
The Mercury cycle according to Rudhyar :
In the usual kind of geocentric astrology no distinction is made between the two kinds of conjunction of Mercury and the Sun, except that at "inferior" conjunction Mercury is retrograde, while at "superior" conjunction Mercury is direct. In heliocentric astrology the situation is quite different, because an inferior geocentric conjunction of Mercury and the Sun means that the Earth is conjunct Mercury, while a superior geocentric conjunction indicates that the Earth is in opposition to Mercury. Thus when Mercury is retrograde geocentrically, Mercury is heliocentrically near the Earth; and at the heliocentric conjunction of Mercury and the earth, a line is formed by Sun, Mercury and Earth, with Mercury and Earth, with Mercury between the Sun and the Earth thus as near to the Earth as it can ever be.
The situation at such a heliocentric conjunction of Mercury and the Earth (i.e. Mercury retrograde in inferior conjunction to the Sun, in geocentric astrology) is thus analogical to that met at the new Moon, when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thus is in geocentric conjunction with the Sun. Such a Sun-Moon conjunction is taken to be the beginning of the "lunation cycle." At that time, symbolically speaking, the lunar agencies, whose task it is to build life-organisms, are fecundated and given direction by the Sun; the will and purpose of the Sun is impressed upon them, and this impression is like the impact of a sound shaping loose sand into vibratory patterns, or like the effect of a magnet upon iron-filings.
The heliocentric conjunction of Mercury and Earth means very much the same thing in the realm of mind. The Solar will (or energy-potential) flows outward to the Earth and human beings through the channel of Mercury; the latter differentiating it into that electrical power which is the occult essence of mind (considered as "creative power" and not as "associative memory"). This marks the beginning of a new cycle of relationship between Earth and Mercury a cycle thus measured by the distance between two successive inferior conjunctions of Mercury and Sun in geocentric astrology. This cyclic fecundation of the Mercury-mind by the Solar energy-potential and purpose occurs about every one hundred sixteen days or every four months, thus three times a year. It occurs when Mercury is retrograde; and this obviously throws a new and at first surprising light on the meaning of the retrograde phase of Mercury. Why does Mercury move, from the point of view of man on the Earth, against the direction of the Sun just when it is transmitting in a most focalized manner the Solar potential of energy to the Earth?
This apparent paradox can be understood when one realizes that the emergence of strong and focalized mental activity in man means actually a more or less clear-cut rebellion against the dictates of life-instincts and the irrationality of bio-psychic images or idols. ...
Life gives abundantly, but commands ruthlessly. Its gifts are balanced by its compulsions. It exalts only those who obey unquestionably its rule. Only by rebelling against this rule and against the secondary rule of Jupiterian religious and cultural traditions which likewise bind while integrating the personality can mind impress its character upon Earth-conditioned and biologically or socially controlled man. ...
The development of the mind and of the power to determine one's self and one's individual purpose through clear thinking is at the core of the development of individuality; and as man becomes more and more an "individual" he usually at first sees his vitality impaired. ...
Later, however, the originally experienced opposition between the direction of "mind" and that of "life" disappears gradually. Mercury becomes "stationary," then "direct"; and it moves not only in the same direction as the Sun, but toward the Sun, geocentrically speaking. It reaches this Sun at its "superior" conjunction, that is when heliocentrically speaking, Mercury is in opposition to the Earth, and the Sun stands between these two planets just as, at full Moon the Earth stands between the Moon and the Sun. ...
Personality is at root the product of the unceasing relatedness of "life" and "mind" of the soli-lunar and the Mercury factors, or of parental and social-cultural influences. One may see in this the much advertised interplay of heredity and environment; yet personality is not an expression of heredity and environment, but instead an expression of the functional response of the self to heredity and environment.
These changes in the direction and polarization of the mental life can be made use of in mental readjustment and mental healing.
Mercury inferior conjunction with the Sun
4 December 2011 , 8:52:10 gmt , 7e15 43n42
Symbol - 12 deg Sagittarius : A Flag Turns Into An Eagle; The Eagle Into A Chanticleer Saluting The Dawn
KEYNOTE: The spiritualization and promotion of great symbols of a New Age by minds sensitive to its precursory manifestations.
In the background of this strange allegory we can recognize the deep-seated belief that the American nation and its basic democratic institutions were constituted to be the cradle for a new step in human evolution. The "flag" is the abstract symbol of the nation; it becomes an "eagle" — another U.S. symbol — when the concept is made alive by bold and transcendent action. The eagle symbolizes spiritual will and the power to rise to the highest possible altitude of consciousness and purpose. Flying at such an altitude, the eagle is the first living creature to perceive the rising sun. Having perceived it, it heralds it — and by so doing is identified with the crowing chanticleer, who had convinced himself that his resonant cry was responsible for the rise of the sun and the coming of a new day.
This symbol is completely future-oriented. It speaks of "peak experiences" instead of the wisdom found in the organismic depth of the body- consciousness. It urges us to bring our noblest ideals to actual life through the power of the spiritual will.
A Keyword might be ANNUNCIATION.
chantecler
in short : Mercury cycle represents a good time to "change" one's mind
