[Thoughts on Thursday-1] Winter Solstice and Mercury Direct.

Hello everybody and thank you for dropping by. This Thursday is a very special day. It marks the first in my weekly posts "Thursdays Thoughts" and it is also the longest night of 2017. Not only that, but tomorrow marks the moving forward of Mercury, who has been in retrograde since mid November. If, like a lot of other people, you feel the treacle effect of Mercury retrograde (I will refer to it as such, as it feels to me as if I am running through treacle or up hill), then you are probably looking forward to Mercury going direct after today.

Some of you may barely even feel Mercury retrograde at all because mercury is not as dominant in your chart, but for others with Virgo, Gemini, or Sagittarius as a sun sign, moon sign or ascendant, or if your mercury is placed in a house ruled by such a sign then you will definitely have felt the effects.

Mercury, is considered the messenger to the gods. So what happens, when that messenger appears to be going backwards? Well, anything and anyone with Mercurian quality will be affected. Let's look at those signs we just mentioned.

Virgo, a sign ruled by Mercury has a love for perfectionism, even outside of this chaotic time, yet mercury is the planet which drives us forward, if it appears that Mercury, a driving force for the Virgo, is going backwards, which gets things done, then all the Virgo qualities will also be affected. For example, we may be just as much of a perfectionist, but things are not working to plan, so we get more irritated in this struggle. Nothing is working quite as planned during Mercury retrograde, so we must be mindful of what problems can occur.

For those of us who have heavy Gemini influence, we would have felt very intense over the past month, especially given that there was a supermoon in Gemini on the third of December. Since Mercury is a ruler of Gemini, you would have felt this intensity draped over all of your actions. It is also worth remembering, if you have a strong Gemini influence that your communication skills (remember, Gemini is known as the communicator) will likely be impaired, so rather than try very hard to get a message across, perhaps accept that "it is what it is".

Because the retrograde began in Sagittarius, and is ending now in Capricorn, it has a direct effect onto this sign, so again, we ought to be mindful of how we will be affected and don't put too much on our to-do lists, because quite frankly, not a lot will get done. If you got fed, and watered, be grateful- you did really well! If, like me, your technology breaks down, don't be surprised. If you can't get through to a friend, don't be surprised. If all your ideas turn to shit, don't be surprised.

What you can do now, however (especially since things will be running a bit more smoothly after today) is reflect carefully on what has gone well and what has not gone well for you this mercury retrograde, perhaps if this is the first time you've heard about mercury retrograde, and you feel as if it is the missing link in why this past number of weeks have been so hectic, then you should consider researching other past mercury retrogrades and look back on what you were doing (or attempting) to do. Figure out what works for you. Astrology is simply analysis of data, the more we connect the dots, in our personal charts and understand the signs and planets, the easier it will become for us to lead smooth lives with less hiccups. Overall, Mercury retrograde should be a time of figuring out our weaknesses and learning how to grow.

I find that the end of this Mercury retrograde has aligned perfectly with the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. For me personally this winter has felt so sluggish, as if my thoughts are racing a million miles an hour, but my body cannot seem to handle it all. So, even if tomorrow the night will only be a few minutes brighter, it is a sign that we are moving forward into Spring. If like me, the darkness of winter gets you down then you'll hopefully find some solace in that we are moving not only out of Mercury retrograde, but into the springtime, one day at a time.