mercury retrograde in taurus — ’simple joys’
Theme song for Mercury Rx in Taurus: Please think of the magical Ben Vereen as Mercury, transmitting this 2.5 minute message to you directly.
When the planet of thought, communication, and technology appears to stumble backward through our solar system, conventional wisdom says messages get jumbled, gadgets go haywire, and projects suffer setbacks and delays.
But in reality, all is working exactly as it should. The cosmic clock reads: time to slow down.
Things tend to go awry when we’re speeding through life, not checking in with ourselves, avoiding living in the present, forgetting about being in our bodies.
“Well, I'll sing you the story
Of a sorrowful lad:
He had everything he wanted
Didn't want what he had!
He had wealth and pelf and fame and name
And all of that noise,
But he didn't have none of those simple joys!
His life seemed purposeless and flat
Aren't you glad you don't feel like that…?”
And nobody knows how to stop the fucking presses, slow down and savor the moment like Taurus.
“So, he ran from all the deeds he'd done
He ran from things he'd just begun
He ran from himself
Which was mighty far to run!
Out into the country
Where he played as a boy
He knew he had to find some simple joy”
This retrograde offers us an opportunity to take stock of which aspects of our lives are allowing for growth and satisfaction, and which are leaving us stuck and hungry. (No one wants to deal with a hungry Taurus.)
“He wanted someplace warm and green
We all could use a change of scene…”
One of the shadows of Taurus can be sticking with a plan that simply isn’t working. If your current course of action has you hitting a wall, you might want to change direction or face the roots of your stagnation.
“And wouldn't you Rather be a left-handed flea
Or a crab on a slab at the bottom of the sea
Than a man who never learns how to be free?”
It’s a potent time for time/energy/effort audits — what you learn will be best put into (slow, steady, consistent) action once Mercury goes direct on May 14.
Retrogrades bless inner reflection more than external action. Allowing > Achieving.
“Sweet summer evenings,
Hot wine and bread.
Sharing your supper,
Sharing your bed.
Simple joys have a simple voice
That says, ‘Why not? Go ahead!’”
NOT because the plans or action can’t or won’t work out, but because the cosmic clock says now is the most auspicious time to slow down and make sure our hard work “pays off” in the ways we want it to.
Expect to notice the (redesigned, revitalized) results of your (embodied, pleasurable) actions at the end of May, after Mercury has left its shadow.
“Sweet summer evenings,
Sapphire skies,
Feasting your belly,
Feasting your eyes.
Simple joys have a simple voice
That says, ‘time is living's prize’
The exquisite benefit of Mercury Retrograde is the opportunity to lovingly iron out the wrinkles in time now in order to magically expand it — not so that you can do more, but so that you can luxuriate in each moment and enjoy the journey more easily and thoroughly.
Are you willing to interpret each delay as grace? As an opportunity to refine your process and your life in a way that fills you with pleasure?
Then you will activate and embody the world-shaping magic of Mercury’s retrograde through Taurus.
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ARIES
What’s your net worth, Aries? Is it where you’d like it to be? Does even considering the thought fill you with dread, or with excitement? With Mercury turning backward through your House of Money and Values, it’s time to review, reconsider, and revamp your budget — and more importantly, the beauty of your budget, as Mercury is moonwalking through Venus-ruled Taurus, the sensual ruler of physical pleasure and material security.
So, you know you want money. What do you want it for? Before you begin putting pen to paper (or cursor to screen) when it comes to your budget, envision the end goal. For some, more free time may be worth a cut in pay — others may be willing to work overtime to earn a coveted possession or experience. What matters is knowing what you are working for, what you are building toward.
Your “net worth” is ever so much more than the number of digits in your bank account — it’s what you are capable of creating, and securing for yourself. It’s your intrinsic worth. Remember that you are priceless, and from this sense of wholeness, begin to design the life you were born to live. You have a priceless gift to offer, and to accept, if you will take the time to discover it.
TAURUS
You know the value of investment and the nature of returns better than most, Taurus. How often do you “spend” your time and energy investing in yourself? And how do you feel about your current returns? Are there parts of yourself which feel fulfilled and positive? Are there others which feel wobbly and uncomfortable?
With Mercury moonwalking through your House of Self, it’s time to commit a significant amount of time and effort on caring for, and getting reacquainted with, yourself. Are you familiar with the concept of inertia? In laymen’s terms, the sensation when you’re racing forward in your car, then have to brake to a sudden stop, causing your body to absorb the unused forward momentum, jarring you against the seat and jangling your nerves. This Mercury Retrograde is offering you the chance to come to a slow idle rather than a screeching halt.
Find time to consult with yourself by journaling, meditating, and ideally time for nothing but daydreaming — coffee and porch recommended, but not required. It’s time to affirm, and then reorient yourself. Your stars say that you’re stepping up to a new level, and this hiccup is meant to teach you greater patience and inner calm — confidence and precision will follow naturally.
GEMINI
You have stepped into a time machine, Gemini — drats, it only goes backwards — still, pretty cool! It’s already programmed to your exact birth details — so you’re just along for the ride. Where will it take you? Your ruler, mental Mercury, has gone Retrograde in your House of Secrets and the Past, prompting a deep dive into internal review.
Memories and past experiences — some of them painful, as this is the House of Unfinished Business — will begin to surface, and command some of your mental bandwidth over the next few weeks. Accept this opportunity to untangle some old knots that will free your mind and allow you to move forward more powerfully in your present and into your future.
Rather than trying to avoid old emotional or psychological shadows that creep in, welcome them into the light to be understood. Science has proven that simply observing something has the power to change it. This is an ideal time to recognize and release old thought patterns in order to renew yourself, and recommit to who you are today. When the shadows dissipate, you can shine brighter than before.
CANCER
You have a soft heart and a vivid imagination, Cancer, a magnificent capacity to empathize and envision. Sometimes, this can drive you to “shoot for the Moon,” (a natural fit, as she is your planetary patroness). However, with Mercury looking over his shoulder in your House of Allies, Organizations and Long Term Goals, it’s not that you should think smaller, but that you should use the next few weeks to focus on what, and whom, matters to you most.
Are you scattering your energy among too many contacts or pursuits? Or have you recently felt a flagging in your efforts, or the need to recapture a certain spark or inspiration? Your stars are asking you to reflect and re-prioritize your time — if your magnificent vision is to become a reality, you’ll need the right perspective and the right support system to make it so.
This is an ideal time to come up with brilliant new ideas that could bring a great leap forward, as Mercury is conjunct Uranus, the planet of sudden evolution. It’s not the best time to sign contracts or make promises, as minds tend to change as we tend to continually reassess our plans until Mercury goes direct again — but a slow, open, and focused mental style supports the creation of great plans to be set in motion in the near future. Allowing > Achieving.
LEO
You’re a natural in the limelight, Leo, always ready to step through the curtains for the adoring public that awaits you — but Mercury is yanking you backward for a quick costume change before you go on. In fact, you may need an understudy for the next little while — your agent called and they said it’s time for a major redefining of your image.
The good news is, the people love you, and they’d like to see more of the real you, so as Mercury reassesses his marketing campaign in your House of Career, Destiny, Status and Reputation, it’s time for you to redefine your personal mission statement. What are you all about, Leo? What legacy do you want to leave the world? Mercury in retrograde may make you feel pulled in a few directions, perhaps like you’re hanging by a few threads — but if you give yourself the space and time to see it, those disparate threads will weave together your big picture.
Make luxurious use of this time in your cosmic dressing room before you go onstage. Enjoy choosing words and images that you want used in your teaser campaign. Whether you’re planning a project, creating art, launching a website, or preparing for a major career transition, take the time to dream it, and do it, authentically, consciously, and with your whole, huge heart. The returns for your reflection will be immeasurable.
VIRGO
I don’t need to tell you what a detail-oriented soul you are, Virgo, and therefore, Mercury Retrograde periods can be a little less frightening for you — you ALWAYS double-check your work, use pencil or digital calendars (ever-ready for cleanly correction), and consistently have a backup plan in mind, numbered, possibly color-coded. Details are your thing.
But with your ruler reviewing his notes in your House of Journeys and Philosophy, it may be that what you actually need is to step back and remember the larger picture which these daily habits and details are ostensibly in place to create. If you had to select a one-sentence statement of your life philosophy, what would it be? Now, ask yourself: Am I living it every day, in every way that I can?
This isn’t an excuse for self-flagellation! It’s an invitation to reorient either your path, or your destination (hint: they’re the same thing). Perhaps you say your life philosophy is “No pain, no gain,” but your behavior says “buy now, pay later,” or vice versa. Whether it’s your behaviors and thoughts that need re-orienting, or your “big idea” that needs a truthful tweak, allow your mind to meander off-path for the next few weeks in order to find the truth. “Not all who wander are lost.”
LIBRA
“Out with the old,” Libra, and in with the new you. It’s not the “in” that you’ll need to worry about, as external events will be giving you all kinds of new input and information to mull over. It’s the “out” that you want to put your mind to — it’s time to purge anything and everything which no longer serves you. Mercury is reviewing his ledger in your House of Intimacy and the Other, AKA the House of Sex, Taxes, and Other People’s Money, so it’s an ideal time to reassess your budget, specifically looking at your debts, and reallocating and/or demolishing them as much as possible over the next month.
Go through your closet and home, and sell or donate everything you don’t need or can’t use — hold garage sales and put all of the proceeds toward clearing debts and balancing your books. This is the House of Deepest Intimacy, so some of these “debts” and “assets” are likely emotional ones. Consider those who have helped you in the past, and do what you can to “repay” them, whether this is with your time, resources, or skills. Also consider those who take a lot and give very little, and whether you want to keep this dynamic going.
This is meant to be a cleansing time, a time to restore your famous equilibrium, and to regain your footing. You’ll be stepping into greater power by the end of May.
SCORPIO
You’re both the femme fatale and the brooding detective of the zodiac, Scorpio — veiled declarations, body language soliloquies, and secrets are your thing. And yet in the coming weeks, as mental Mercury moonwalks through your House of Partnerships, it may be best not to let things go unspoken.
This is the house of your most important one-on-one relationships, from romantic partners, to best friends, to counselors, mentors, and business partners — it may be time to hold a little State of the Union, to renegotiate the terms, and make sure everyone is still getting what they expect and need from the association. Old issues may rise to the surface for reexamination — there may be a bit of “dirty laundry” to be aired between you. If both partners are willing to listen patiently, great progress can actually be made during this time.
There’s an unprecedented opportunity to get to the bottom of what truly creates any tangles or record-scratches in your one-on-ones. Speak up when something doesn’t please you, and especially when it does — and give your closest partners the same respect. By the end of May, your list of associations may be shorter, but those relationships will be tighter and stronger for your review.
SAGITTARIUS
You’re not always known for your precise planning skills, Sagittarius, but no one can plan an inspiring road trip like you. (Depending on your perspective, you may need to put “plan” in air quotes.) It’s time to put that same creative, visionary, adaptable attitude and energy into your everyday habits. Can you make planners, calendars, and white boards into a riot of colors and inspiring information? Can you research and plan a nutrition and fitness routine that get you amped up just thinking about them?
This month, as Mercury looks over his shoulder in your House of Work and Routine, your daily life will be getting delayed, shaken up, and re-shuffled — all your stars’ way of saying it’s time to reevaluate the daily habits you cultivate, and determine whether they support the life you really want to live. Reorganize and revamp your workspace into one that makes you smile as you roll up your sleeves everyday. Study and test sleeping and eating routines to see which maximize your energy level and happiness quotient, at once.
Mercury is giving you a little breathing room to gear up for the coming challenges and accompanying rewards heading toward you — determine what your best self would do every single day, and do it. Then watch what happens.
CAPRICORN
You’re the original entrepreneur of the zodiac, Capricorn, no matter what your day job might be. Every entrepreneur knows that all sorts of challenges, constraints, and delays will force them to think on their feet — that is why, no matter their field, every entrepreneur, and therefore every Capricorn, is creative beyond belief. Mental Mercury has begun moonwalking across the stage in your House of Creativity, Romance, and Play, and here’s the benefit — when you turn things backwards, the whole world looks different.
For the next few weeks, allow your mind to wander where it pleases, for your ideas to shift and change during this mercurial period. Don’t compare your ideas to anyone else’s, and should any past fans or flames rise from the ashes to say hello, don’t be surprised. Your desires, your sense of play and fun, are all under review, and you’re meant to figure out what it is that truly fills you with joy.
If your urge is to withdraw, to take your creativity inward, go with it. Journal, set that blog to private, or keep the Great American Novel/play/painting/composition away from prying eyes for now. But the more you allow yourself to explore and “play” with your ideas, and anything you can fall in love with, the more you will be able to invoke and enjoy them by the end of May.
AQUARIUS
Change is good, Aquarius — I know you’re a fan of progress. And asking the impertinent questions that lead to change is a specialty of yours. That’s going to work in your favor this month as mental Mercury is looking over his shoulder in your House of Home and Family, reassessing where you’ve come from, and to what degree that influence directs where you’re going.
Fundamental questions about your beliefs and childhood “programming” will come up now. Mercury is offering you the opportunity to check all the nuts, bolts and hinges on your apple cart before the world can come along and upset it — better that you upset it yourself, and discover what weak spots need repair. You may also have a literal geographical move at this time, or simply the desire to rearrange and reorganize your home. All of the above will be beneficial to your evolution.
The more you’re willing to make changes that better support who you are now, whether in the physical world or on the emotional plane, the more you open yourself up to freedom and enlightenment. Speaking of “enlightening,” this is an ideal time to lighten your load by purging your home of any objects that are just cluttering up your space. Sell or donate what you no longer need to make room for the new abundance on its way. Trust that change brings you progress, and progress brings you pleasure. You’ll know yourself, and your power, better by the end of May.
PISCES
Your mind may be swirling with meaning and messages over the next few weeks, Pisces, even more than usual! Mental Mercury has begun reviewing his calendar in your House of Communications, indicating a major reshuffling of your schedule, and possibly even your contacts, over the next month.
It’s vital that you carve out some non-negotiable time for yourself in the midst of this flurry of activity — it’s going to bring up a lot of questions about how you should be spending your time and energy, and what systems in your life need reviewing and repairing, from the way you care for your car to the way you care for your social network. It’s a good time to reconnect with close contacts that you may have lost touch with, or have unresolved tension with, especially siblings, roommates, or neighbors.
Ask lots of questions, and repeat the answers back to make sure that you understood — don’t be afraid to take your time with every thought and message — your deliberation will be rewarded with greater clarity and positive motion by the end of May. It’s a good time to do research, compile information, ask questions, and explore. Your mind may change by the end of this period — but if you use this retrograde effectively, it will be in your favor, based on deeper understanding.
