Slow Down to Speed Up
Does anyone want to go slow? It’s one of the best ways to untangle a knot.
Tomorrow’s new moon (Saturday, August 27th) is taking place in earthy, practical Virgo, and is ruled by adaptable Mercury in fair and airy Libra. New moons represent seeds planted and an increase in general energy reserves for the following fourteen days or so.
It’s worth noting that Mercury is travelling relatively slow these days, but it is energized a bit from a trine to fiery Mars in Gemini.
The thing is with going slow, you kind of have to accept some lost potentials, at least I do. It’s been talked about before: FOMO, JOMO… there’s both Fear and Joy in Missing Out.
When planets are in apparent retrograde motion, they appear to be moving extremely slow. It really does feel like progress is taking a lot longer than usual these days. All the outer planets are retrograde (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) — which isn’t that uncommon — but Jupiter and Saturn are too. Soon, Mercury will be as well.
I’ve learned (and am still learning) a (funny?) trick about the Universe: sometimes (a lot of the time?) I have to slow down to speed up.
I find it true in my daily routines. The more I rush, the more I’m likely to klutz and find myself in a compounding, tangling mess. However, if (and when) I just take my time to do things right (or well enough), the resulting satisfaction I feel is so simple, and so surprising — in a good way.
I also find this pattern true in my relationships. There’s a part of me (it’s been there a long time) that rushes to respond, to react on instinct, to take a spark and magnify it. But…
if I just…
allow…
myself…
to wait…
and let communications sink in…
a lot of the time life sorts itself out on its own, so easily.
Or at at least, an appropriate, measured response reveals itself so clearly.
So. The feeling of untangling a knot. It’s got to be massaged, right? It’s got to be played with. Little by little… shifting the bonds… ever so slightly… allowing them to breathe…
That’s the vibe I’m getting for this weekend’s new moon. Slow down to speed up — or perhaps more well put: patience can be surprisingly efficient.
Advance Notice
Mercury will enter apparent retrograde motion on September 9th and will be that way until October 2nd. More miscommunications and glitches are to be expected during this time. Many may very well be simple social faux pas, as the first half of the retrograde will take place in Libra. Expect a day of clarity around September 22nd, when Mercury will be cazimi.
Here’s when the other planets will resume direct motion:
Pluto — October 8th
shifting power dynamics
Saturn — October 22nd
solidifying new network connections (including social connections)
Jupiter — November 23rd
last minute solutions, opportunities, and hope
Neptune — December 3rd
more robust sensitivity
Uranus — January 22nd
technological progress
As for the remaining two planets, Venus won’t be retrograde until July 2023 and Mars’ retrograde (October 30th, 2022 — January 12th, 2023) deserves its own article.
Sometimes backward, always forward. Happy new moon!
Prompts for the images:
- The mythology of a new moon in earthy, practical Virgo, ruled by adaptable Mercury in fair and airy Libra (the scales) approaching a trine to fiery Mars in sociable, curious Gemini (the twins) but also nearing apparent retrograde motion, in classical high art style.
- A new moon in Virgo, ruled by Mercury in Libra approaching a trine to Mars in Gemini but also nearing apparent retrograde motion.
- A still life scene of the energy of a new moon in Virgo (earthy and practical) ruled by adaptable Mercury in Libra (fair and airy) approaching a trine to fiery Mars in duplicitous Gemini, but also nearing apparent retrograde motion.
- A still life scene, oil painting, high contrast lighting, decently colourful and balanced, detailed but not complicated, giving the feeling of a new moon in Virgo (earthy and practical) ruled by adaptable Mercury in Libra (fair and airy) approaching a trine to fiery Mars in duplicitous Gemini, but also nearing apparent retrograde motion.
- A still life scene of the energy of a new moon in Virgo (earthy and practical) ruled by adaptable Mercury in Libra (fair and airy) approaching a trine to fiery Mars in duplicitous Gemini, but also nearing apparent retrograde motion, in the style of a fine art oil painting.
