Greetings!

Today we have the full moon, with the sun in the mutable earth sign of Virgo and the moon in the mutable water sign of Pisces. And, we are at the beginning of Mercury retrograde, which will last until October 2nd. In addition to both of these celestial events, there is a tense aspect pattern called a mutable sign T-Square, occurring between the sun, moon, and Mars in Gemini. In short, this pattern is a pressurizing one that brings tension to bear in the name of shaking things up and prompting us to make changes, and right now, this emphasis is on personal and romantic relationships.

Right now, almost all of the celestial focus is on relationships of many kinds, whether they are ones with family members, romantic liaisons, or close personal relationships. Specifically, these are times of profound healing in those life areas, but before the healing can begin, identification must be had. This is where the Mercury retrograde comes in because it will bring to the surface the issues that need addressing so that healing can occur. However, as part of the path forward, you may find it wise to tread lightly with compassion and caution because Mercury is forming a tense opposition to Jupiter in Aries. Positively, you may find that another good tip for moving forward lies in living your truth and changing your behavior to heal the relationships you feel are important to you.

An occult formula comes to mind here: the IAO formula. While this may sound esoteric, it really isn’t. The ‘I’ is for ‘identify,’ the ‘O’ is for ‘objectify,’ and the ‘B’ is for ‘banish.’ So, when you put it into practice, it becomes this: Step one, you identify the problem. Step two, you objectively look at it, seeing as many different perspectives as possible, including the perspective of the one you may disagree with, and step three is to banish the problem. This banishment can take many forms, ranging from healing the relationship to walking away from it if it cannot be healed. You can see how you can use this as a map for how to proceed with your personal relationships that may have issues right now. With all of the activity in Aries and Libra right now, this is a time of balancing the ‘self’ with the ‘other.’ Only Mercury is in Libra right now, but in about ten days, the sun will join it on the equinox, bringing more emphasis to your personal relationships. You can see that as the retrograde moves on, so will the emphasis on relationships. Finding balance and harmony is a major theme during this retrograde.

Relationships take work, though, and the clue the cosmos gives us is that things matter more when they are brought down to physical results. This does not equate with materialism though, but rather the idea that the best apology is changed behavior. This means though, that if you want an apology from someone and want to see changed behavior from them, then you have to at least watch them to see if their behavior has changed. Bluntly, you can’t ask for changed behavior is you don’t stick around to watch. If you do ask for changed behavior but don’t observe the question, then you are self-sabotaging and gaslighting, but that is a discussion for another time.

This can be difficult though, because if someone wronged you in a way that resulted in trauma, you may not want to stick around to see if they changed their behavior or not, and in this case, well, don’t force it. Don’t stick around to find out if it is not the healthiest thing for you, but you can still observe from a distance. Social media and technology makes this very easy to accomplish, as many of us know. This also means that this retrograde and full moon are periods of forgiveness, compassion, and assessment. Re-visiting these relationships, even if it is just psychologically, is worthwhile to accomplish, if for no other reason than just to put them to bed.

A great way to proceed is through your spirituality, and working with beneficent spirits. You may find that they can give the guidance you desire, and strength when you may need it. This may mean stepping back from social interactions to focus on your personal life, but queue serra serra. Changing from within in the name of healing or letting go may occur regularly over the next three weeks, and with this may come a reassessment of priorities and values. But this is a good thing, right? The world is changing, and changing fast at that, and as Charles Darwin has astutely observed, it is the most adaptable of the species that survive, not the strongest.

Namaste,