Lightness of Being—Mercury Retrograde—January 30st—February 21st.

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language

And next year’s words await another voice - T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets.

 

 

It may be a call from a dear friend today that brings comfort and joy, a conversation with family member or work colleague that mirrors our own impatience or anger; a sense of simpatico as we share a meal with our lover that makes us feel a lightness of being.

Our soul-directed relationships push us past the edge of the safety of old patterns, teach us more than we could ever learn alone.

 

And yet, speaking our truth, finding “our voice”― especially during Mercury Retrograde―may diminish or shame another person, bruise a tender heart, concretise the same tired old moves in our relationship dance; create a chasm, when we long for closeness.

 

Writes Harriet Lerner, “one of the hallmarks of emotional maturity is to recognize the validity of multiple realities and to understand that people think, feel, and react differently. Often, we behave as if “closeness” means “sameness.”

 

Mercury turned Retrograde on January 30th and will be Retrograde until February 21st. This is a Mercurial year. 2021 carries a Five vibration in numerology. 2021 is the year when Mercury moves through the air element (how we think, how clearly we communicate, how we forge and manage our relationships, the wondrous ways we spend the days of our lives.) Mercury will move through the air trigon in our birth charts—Aquarius, Gemini and Libra—January 30th and October 18th—drawing our attention to those everyday exchanges that that foster our generosity, catapult us into confusion, awaken us with those lightening-bolt revelations about ourselves that change the course of our destiny.

 

“The human journey is so short,” writes John O’ Donohue. “We no sooner realise that we are here than it is already time for us to be leaving. The brevity of life gives a subconscious urgency to our desire to know ourselves.”

 

Mercury Retrograde times may inspire us to revise our commitments, bring new life and inspiration to those things that enrich our lives—revision our relationships, reflect on what is gestating within our own belly as we know ourselves more intimately, love ourselves more tenderly.

 

Today is Imbolc, an ancient Celtic fire festival which means “around the belly” and is also a celebration of Brighid, ancient goddess of Healing and smithcraft, patroness of poetry and the sacred word. As new-born lambs balance on unsteady hooves, demure snowdrops bow their modest heads, and the light returns after the darkness of winter.

 

This is a time of budding and tender green shoots. Mercury Retrograde invites us all to tend to those precious relationships, risk being truly seen again as we deepen a difficult conversation, as we embrace our imperfections with patience and compassion.