I would begin this post by making the bold claim that November 2019 is an exciting and unusual month both astronomically and astrologically. But to be honest, when you closely study an ephemeris and the sky on a regular basis, every month is exciting. In fact, I have been studying the heavens to some degree nearly all my life, and I only find myself feeling more passion and wonder, not less. I suppose that it is when you have truly arrived at your purpose and calling in life. In this instance though, a whole bunch of people besides me are gaga over tomorrow’s celestial event.
Less than 12 hours from now, Mercury will transit or occult the Sun. Bascially, this is similar to a Solar eclipse, in that Mercury will pass between the Sun and the Earth to form a inferior conjunction with the Sun. This marks the beginning of a new 116 day cycle of Mercury. Conjunctions occur astrologically when planets line up by longitude. Parallels occur when planets line up by declination (latitude). Eclipses, transits and occultations occur when bodies are both conjunct and parallel. Furthermore, these less common astro phenonenon occur when a planet crosses over one its nodes. In this case, Mercury will cross its ascending (north) node from south to north.
Tomorrow, Mercury will conjunct the Sun at 18°55′ Scorpio and will parallel the Sun at 17°S26′. With such precision numbers, if it were the Moon and not Mercury, the Sun would be totally eclipsed. As it is, Mercury will appear as but a freckle on the face of Sol. During the 2017 solar eclipse, the Sun and Moon were at 28°52′ longitude in Leo, and they were at 11°N51′ and 12°N16′ respectively. The lunar nodes were at 13°N and S respectively. Our Mercury transit coordinates are even tighter. During the solar eclipse of July 2018, which was only partial, there was an 82 minute separation between the declination of the Sun and the Moon. The Nodes were 15 degrees away from the luminaries. I think you can see where I am going here. When the transit of Mercury numbers are tight, Mercury cuts right across the heart of the Sun. Less precise declination results in Mercury cutting across anywhere from less than center to the rims of the Sun.
So, what does this mean for us in the wide world of astro sports? On one hand, Mercury will be cazimi. A planet is generally harmed by the rays of a Sun during a close conjunction and is considered combust. When is planet is cazimi, it is within a 17′ radius of the Sun on either side, the affairs of the planets are not hampered, they are amplified. So Mercury in Scorpio will receive a tremendous boost from his association with the Sun. How this plays out will depend on the house and sect of Mercury, which will depend on your location.
Now, cazimi is considered beneficial, but eclipses are not. I have to wonder if too much potentcy is such a good thing. We shall see. The possibly of too much potency with Scorpio is always a legitimate issue on its own. I would place less emphasis on the apparent retrograde motion of Mercury. The inferior conjunction of Mercury occurs halfway through the retrograde period, therefore, it is not quite as intense as when Mercury is stationing. Pay attention to the behavior of those around you and the events of the world and even your own internal processes. Mercury in Scorpio has a laser focus by its own merit. This transit will likely cut to the core of any matter.
I wish I could dive more into this, but I have school work and then work-work in the am. I know; I should have planned ahead!:) Here is the chart for tomorrow’s transit taken from my location. Also, below that, I am providing a couple of valuable astronomical links for this event from people who have a much deeper technological understanding than I do. I am also providing a link to the Swiss Ephemeris, where you can calculate the nodes of all the planets.
(As an aside: note that the Part of Faith aligns with Spirit when the Sun and Mercury are conjoined. This is due to the formulas used to derive those two parts. Interestingly, the Part of Faith appeared on my Janus charts without me prompting it. I suspect this relates to some work I did about Notre Dame earlier in the year, which I didn’t get to print in a timely manner. I probably selected that part and then forgot about. It fell off my visual radar until now, but interacts with several key points over the next month, and the last month Jupiter is in his domicile. I will discuss this more later in the week.)
The featured image for this post is a Medieval take on key divisions of philosophy: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, called the Quadrivium. The Quadrivium relates to the seven liberal arts dating back to ancient Greece.
The diagram I posted depicting the transit of Mercury is from an unknown source, but I located it in several disparate places online. If you are the owner of this image, please let me know so I can credit you or remove it.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@4157427
http://www.saintjohnslodge21.ca/tag/marriage-of-mercury-and-philosophy/
Quicksilver Astrology 