Astrologer Laura Craig

Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio: The Mind of Hamlet


(Oct 13- Nov 3, 2020)

11° Scorpio - 25° Libra

The water signs have played host to the retrogrades of Mercury this year, engaging our minds along the liquid, non-linear channels of feeling and intuition. And now, in his third and final retrograde of 2020, our messenger planet is calling us all from the mystery depths of Scorpio, to join in the Danse Macabre.

In his evening star apparition, he is a ghost, visiting us in the wee hours, whispering secrets to our ear alone, and then vanishing with the sunrise. In his waning aspect, he is contemplative, introspective, backward-looking, and quizzical. Little by little, he will disappear into the heart of the Sun, burning away artifice, pretense and falsehood, until what lies beneath is revealed. And in the first decan of Scorpio, he plays both psychopomp and gravedigger, one foot in each world. What has been buried is being dug up again, and reconsidered with wiser, more critical, eyes.

The Libra Sun, meanwhile, has reached the point of opposition to retrograde Aries Mars, and is ensnared in a square to Pluto in Capricorn (and following that, to Saturn). How we handle the burdens life places on our shoulders, our relationship to ego and leadership, the expectations we place on ourselves, and the responsibilities we have towards others, are themes that are coming into focus. To act or not to act? To trust or not to trust? And even to be, or not to be, for some who will feel the heaviness especially. A naturally philosophical mind can become disturbed, questioning everything, or paralyzed by indecision. Circumspection can turn to suspicion, or even paranoia. The usual mischief of Mercury can turn to trickery, or treachery. This is a transit of eavesdropping behind curtains, of foiled plots and of heightened senses: let it not lead to betrayal, costly errors or self-undoing. And be careful of the Scorpion tongue: it’s not poisoned swords but poisoned words that will wound, if we feel wronged or vengeful. Let us all have a care for one another, and for ourselves, now more than ever. 

The play’s the thing: only, there is no conscience in our Mad Orange King. This time will shine a limelight on corruption and decay. If something is rotten, we will be able to smell it. We are watching those in power with intense scrutiny, and witnessing not feigned madness or a guilty mind from our Pretender-in-Chief, but true derangement, and the desperate death throes of an imploding gerontocracy. And really, when has the political machine ever appeared more farcical, or the Theater of the Absurd ever felt more absurd?

Mercury will station direct on Election Day in the US, which promises a certain degree of drama and disarray. PLEASE VOTE. Until then, we can weather the intensity of this month by putting our energy into research or investigation, enjoying our closest friends and allies, delving into the occult, or letting off steam with physical exertion or gallows humor. And I’ll leave you with the sage advice of Polonius: “Beware of entrance to a quarrel…Give every man thy ear but few thy voice…Take each man’s censure but reserve thy judgment…This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou cannot then be false to anyone.”



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