Happy May Greetings!

Whew—I bet you have already sensed rather acutely that Mercury stationed retrograde last week—Mercury was essentially at standstill May 3-10. I’ve received emails asking, “What in the world is going on?” I’ll address that in this newsletter but for those of you interested in reading more about Mercury retrograde, here’s a link to the main article on my website.  Generally, all Mercury retrograde periods are about reviewing, rethinking, rehashing, reflecting, refining, revisiting, rescheduling, realigning and most importantly, all within a focus of rejuvenating your day to days, so that each one is ever more pleasant to live.

Take a moment to reflect on all that you’ve been experiencing since February. Now, reflect on what seemed to be moving forward in a direction you welcomed in mid to late April. Then what happened? See it clearly for what it is and see clearly how you can respond to it from your highest integrity. That’s what’s called for now. The changes are happening so quickly that many of us are finding it quite challenging to keep up. We’ve been evolving—the dynamics of our life circumstances have been changing quickly and crazily for the past few months and we aren’t clear just yet. We have all meant to have gotten a lot more clarity about what we do and do not like about the circumstances of our lives and what it is within our power to change. Ultimately, the one thing that is within our power to change is our mind! We can always change our mind. That is really all that we have control over. And “mind” is exactly what Mercury symbolizes.

Mercury is our perceptions and our data processor—Mercury processes and assigns meaning to everything we experience. The mind is a necessary and valuable tool—the only challenge becomes when the data in our mind is outdated and no longer relevant to the situations or circumstances we find ourselves in. And that’s really what Mercury retrograde is all about: it’s a signal that it’s time to clear the cobwebs and shadows from our perceptions and thinking. It’s time to review and examine where we might need to do some spring cleaning in our mind to ensure that we aren’t processing our Now experiences using irrelevant data from the past. The data in our head that Mercury manages is also the data that guides our perspective on everything we experience. And our perspective guides our actions. When we desire different results, the old data in our mind isn’t of much help. The key is to realize that our perspectives need to evolve along with the wisdom gained from accumulated experiences. The three times each year that Mercury has a retrograde signals a time to heed Mercury’s advice: reflect on the perceptions and perspectives and meaning we are giving to the “happenings” of our lives and ensure that our perspectives are aligned with what we understand and know and hold as Truth about the nature of the world we live in.

The cosmos are pushing hard at our personal comfort zones at this time. Saturn has halted in the sky as it makes its direct station and it will begin retracing the steps it took late September 2008 until now. So you may very well find that something is resurfacing that was on your plate last fall, either in your personal life, in our collective circumstances or both. Saturn demands that we bring our personal integrity to our being in this world and he desires to see that integrity reflected in the choices we make. In addition, while Venus is not yet out of her shadow, Mars, however, is already shooting for the brass ring. As ruler of Aries moving through that go-getting fiery sign, Mars is courageously claiming itself master of its destiny. He has already passed Venus and is leading the way, taking inspired actions that will please the Goddess of Love. What actions might those be? Whatever brings ease and relief and makes your life better. You might need to pull back on Mars reigns at this time though, test the waters and observe the ripples being made.

While Venus is now moving forward, she has not entirely completed her retrograde cycle until she leaves her shadow on May 21 and reaches 15 degrees of Aries, surpassing the degree at which she stationed retrograde. That means we have one more week to be very clear about what we desire and keep our focus solidly on that so that we do attract into our lives the matches to our desires. We still have a week to reflect on our relationship to our finances, possessions, our own value and worth, personal compensation, relaxation, relating skills, mutual reciprocity, compromise, social engagements, partnerships, fairness and justice.

Have you been feeling more balanced since Venus has been moving forward or did Mercury’s station play trickster with you? Mercury enjoys playing with trickster with us from time to time to be sure we aren’t taking the stuff that doesn’t really matter too seriously. In general, I feel that all of our star brothers and sisters just want to ensure that we are being “mindful” so that we make sure that our mind is aligned with our desires. That way, Venus is magnetizing into our lives the people, resources and circumstances that match and Mars is in the right place at the right time to connect and claim.

We will soon see the reflections of our current perspectives being mirrored in the events, circumstances, and situations on the horizon and reaching earth mid-June. There is a very dynamic New Moon occurring on June 22, just after the Summer Solstice as the Sun moves into the sign Cancer. The June 22 new moon involves a union of Sun, Moon and the Goddess Vesta, the “Keeper of the Hearth Fire” at the first degree of Cancer. Vesta’s union with the Sun and Moon at the new moon symbolizes clarity of focus, centered in one’s personal integrity, and self-determining personal reality. She asks us to ask ourselves: What makes you feel safe? Who are the people you feel safe and secure being around, who are the people who feel like your soul tribe? People and circumstances that light us up are keepers, the rest is ready to be transformed.

Vesta gifts us with the ability to give undivided focused attention on what we desire to experience and to make a commitment to ourselves to engage only those realities. Vesta is focused on living her dharma—the meaningful and fulfilling life we all came here to experience as eternal beings in these human bodies. There are things that Vesta may ask us to give up in order to claim that life for ourselves but we will know that it is necessary and that our lives will be better for having let go. This June 22 new moon also involves a Venus-Mars union in mid Taurus in a supportive connection with Saturn. The very rich possibilities inherent in this June new moon are something I will explore with you more deeply in the next newsletter. Good stuff is rising on the horizon.

Until then, keep your mind focused on what you desire to create because we aren’t through the crazy cosmic storms just yet. This current time period leading up to the new moon on May 24 may best be described as wacky and crazy. Don’t even try to wrap your mind around the sensibility of some of the things occurring. In fact, you will find that “being out of one’s mind” is the first step to pushing through the old data thresholds of the mind. Mercury is encouraging you to be a witness—to just observe what is happening without drawing conclusions about it just yet. Think of it this way: the cosmos are giving their best to bring you the situations and circumstances that bring forth your very best. The Universe is eager to know exactly where we all stand in relationship to the circumstances of both our personal and collective realities. In order for us to clearly figure that out, we need to be mindful of our re-actions, perceptions and communications and strive to respond from our wholeness: mind, body and soul as one. It’s time to finish up the old you no longer want to carry forward as unnecessary baggage into your personal future.

Another great question to ask your self this month is: Where in my life is the Game Over—where is it no longer fun to play The Game? Give your full focus to the new you and the new life that you have identified you are ready to embrace. At this new moon on May 24, Chiron, Jupiter and Neptune are united at 26 Aquarius—be wary of the potential for confusion inherent in this cosmic grouping. You may find yourself wondering, What’s real? more than once in the coming weeks and it’s a question we all need to answer for ourselves. So, hang tight, things are sorting themselves out, they are just not yet ready to move forward in ease. Expect the best, keep focused and maintain your stand without compromising what you know in your heart you can’t compromise.

Always and in all ways, my blessings embrace you on your journey—may your every decision and experience along the way be creating more joy to the world!


Terri