Mercury Retrograde and Jupiter in Taurus 2023

Sunday, April 23.  Let’s talk a little about Mercury and Jupiter.  Mercury turned retrograde at 15° 36’ Taurus on Friday, April 21 just one day after the Solar Eclipse at 29° 50’ of Aries.  Remember how I said this season has a double edged sword around endings and beginnings?  Solar Eclipses are about planting seeds for new beginnings and the sign of Aries is the first sign of the zodiac indicating speed, birth and initiation.  Yet, the degree of the eclipse is 29° 50 Aries indicates something coming to an end and now Mercury retrograde added to the picture doubles down on the review process of what is being ended from the past before moving forward and making that new beginning.  In essence it’s all happening at once.  It’s like selling an old house while buying a new one or the death of an elderly relative at the same time a baby is born into the family.  These are the evolution cycles of life and time. 
 
Mercury is quicksilver and light on its feet while the sign of Taurus is slow and languid.  Mercury retrograde in Taurus is slow down your thinking.  Everyone’s motto right now should be: Think before you speak.  Absorb the information and digest it before you express a reply or give an answer.  Choose words that carry more weight and value and have a bigger bang for the buck.  It’s important to consider appropriate language and pick fewer words that carry more substance.  A diatribe is not needed with this placement like Mercury in Sagittarius.  Rethink old habit patterns, routines and the daily structure of life.  Let the review process aid in making changes during the next three weeks to break out of a rut. 
 
Walk more slowly and observantly through the local neighborhood and environment and appreciate your surroundings more carefully.  Ponder nature walks through the mountains, forests, trees, beaches or anywhere that Mother Nature is in full bloom. Breathe in the scent and beauty of the Earth and feel it rush through the lungs, body and all the senses.  Let your thoughts be inspired by the physical word as the brain becomes an electrical transmitter of thought stimulating and illuminating all the physical senses.  There’s a reason why Taurus is the most sensual sign of the zodiac.  It experiences life physically and activates all the chakras. Taurus is visceral, raw and primal. 
 
Leave yourself space for rumination and contemplation.  Hone the ability to deeply listen because you’re slowing down the thought process and lingering more carefully over the information.  Think about how you feel in the body so that instinct mingles with logic.  Think about the things that bring you peace and add beauty to your life.  The beauty of words, language and grammar.  How does the sound of your voice make others feel through the tone and words you choose?  Rediscover how to improve an existing talent and gift that adds worth, value, self-esteem into your soul and money into your pocket.
 
Mercury retrograde in Taurus is a good time to rethink old bad habits such as diet, weight, overindulgence and overspending.  Reflect and review those poor habits and revitalize a physical regiment.  Rethink your financial plans for the future (more on that below). There will probably be more tax extensions and larger payouts to the government. 
 
Mercury retrograde in Taurus is very interesting and has longer ramifications this time around because it happens just before the Jupiter ingress into Taurus.  Mercury retrogrades on April 21 at 15.36 Taurus and turns direct on May 15 at 5.54 Taurus.  The following day on May 16 Jupiter enters Taurus where it will remain until June of 2024. 
 
That’s very interesting.  Mercury is setting us up for Jupiter.  Both are communication planets.  Mercury likes to collect facts and information while Jupiter likes to synthesize, broaden and disseminate those facts and information through opinions, philosophies and spouting its beliefs.  Mercury is lower education and Jupiter is higher education.  It’s as if Mercury is giving us a preparatory step to relearn some ABCs before Jupiter comes in to allow us to see the bigger picture. 
 
As I said, Mercury retrograde will cover between 5-16 degrees of Taurus.  That’s a very important three weeks that will have ramifications throughout the rest of the year. Pay attention to what issues come to light around this very important time because Jupiter immediately will cross those same degrees as a review and growth process from May 16 through September 4th on its direct motion.
 
Jupiter will then retrograde over those exact degrees a second time from September 4 through December 30 and a third time on its direct motion from December 31 through March 26 2024.  That’s almost a year long period where the degrees between 5-16 degrees of Taurus being activated now by Mercury, are reactivated by Jupiter over and over.  Jupiter will synthesize and adapt all the information that Mercury collects from the past and present as the King of the Gods goes over the same ground.  Jupiter will till the soil and gather the seeds that were planted by Mercury. 
 
I recently had a client asking me about investment plans and told him Mercury retrograde was a good time to rethink financial plan for the future and when Jupiter enters Taurus make those new investments. Mercury retrograde is an ideal time to rethink, investigate and re-plan a financial course for the future.  Those three weeks from April 21 through May 15 are optimum to study financial trends and review strategies and then when Jupiter enters Taurus on May 16 will be the time to carry out the new strategy and make the financial investments based upon the research done on Mercury retrograde.  Mercury likes to collect facts and information and Jupiter likes to disseminate and spread it around so that it grows. 
 
This March, April, May and June is a precursor of greater things to come.  Watch carefully what is percolating in the world and your own personal life because it will intensify during for first quarter of 2024.  
 
It’s of great importance to pay attention to what is happening now:
 

• Saturn enters Pisces on March 7
• Pluto enters Aquarius on March 23
• Eclipse period of April 20 and May 5
• Mercury retrograde from 5-15 Taurus,
• Jupiter direct and retrograde over 5-15 Taurus through March 2024
• Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius from March 15 through June 12, its retrograde back into Capricorn and re-entry into Aquarius on January 21, 2024. 

 
All these astrological phenomena have set up an appetizer course of major events.  The main entrée will be served during the first three months of 2024 when everything that is popping up now will intensify.