Astrology Class September 2022 – It’s Mercury Retrograde! How are the Inferior and Superior Conjunctions of Mercury With the Sun Different?
by Robert Wilkinson
We’re almost at the halfway point in this retrograde period. At 11:50 pm PDT on September 22, we will experience the "Inferior Conjunction" between Mercury retrograde and the Sun at 1 Libra less than 6 hours after the Equinox, after which Mercury will gradually begin to speed up. The Inferior Conjunction is an important point in the dance Mercury and the Sun do each year. So just what is the difference between the Inferior and Superior Conjunctions of Mercury with the Sun?
I last gave you some of this at the May 2022 Inferior Conjunction at 1 Gemini. As usual, I’ve updated the material.
Inferior and Superior Conjunctions Fuse Life and Mind Two Ways
Mercury conjuncts the Sun two ways. When Mercury is direct in motion, it's called the Superior Conjunction. When Mercury is retrograde, it's called the Inferior Conjunction. These conjunctions of the Sun and Mercury mark important points showing how our life and mind are fusing past and present to vitalize and shape the future.
Mercury symbolizes our mind, eternally racing forward or backward, both slowly and quickly. The Sun symbolizes our life-in-the-making, illuminating the integrity of the moment. The Sun radiates the Light, Illumination, and Integration available to us and others. We measure the Sun’s movement from our perspective on Earth, and so it holds a steady pace while all the other planets move in their orbits.
When the Sun and Mercury conjunct, it allows the mind to evaluate and process past, present, and future Life/Light experiences in the NOW. Mind understands Light in a specific way that is different from the usual experience of separateness or “distance” between Life and Mind. At the Superior Conjunction, Mind catches up to Life; at the Inferior Conjunction, Life catches up to Mind, which is backward turned and moving much slower than usual.
In understanding the meaning behind the process in which Mercury speeds up and slows down, we can understand how to navigate the fluxes and flow of our life experience. By knowing the timing appropriate to the moment, we can learn what to do and when by taking advantage of these never-ending periods of life.
I explain a lot more about Inferior and Superior Conjunctions, and how the mind operates when racing forward and looking backward, in the award winning 2nd edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. There are chapters for natal and transiting Mercury Retrograde in the signs and houses, what it means for each sign, when it happens, how people with Mercury retrograde learn in their special ways, and good things to do during these periods. By checking out the section on Mercury retrograde in Gemini and Taurus you’ll get valuable information about the Mercury retrograde influence over the past 4 months, and by referencing the section on Mercury retrograde in Virgo and Libra you’ll get glimpses into the next 4.
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can order your paperback copy of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. You can also get the ebook version there or from Barnes & Noble’s Nook. It will prove to be an invaluable resource for understanding past, present, and future Mercury retrogrades for years to come!
What follows elaborates on the process of how this “fusion of life and mind” works its unique magic. The next article will cover how the Inferior Conjunction at 1 Libra will affect all of us, and go into greater depth about the qualities of this particular Inferior Conjunction.
Mercury Retrograde and the Superior and Inferior Conjunction
The Inferior and Superior Conjunctions of Mercury with the Sun are two critical points in the Sun-Mercury cycle showing us whether Life is chasing Mind or Mind is chasing Life, since they are the points where these shifts occur. Each type of conjunction is followed by the other type of conjunction during and between retrogrades. An Inferior Conjunction of Mercury retrograde is always followed by a Superior Conjunction when Mercury is direct, which leads in turn to the next Inferior Conjunction during the next Mercury retrograde.
The Inferior Conjunction brings insights, signs, or signals from the past, or collective consciousness, or our subconscious mind, or unconscious mind. As it merges with the life and vitality symbolized by the Sun, these signs and signals show us “days of future past,” to be incorporated into our lives or our Light.
They can be reflections leading to new insights about past or present life coordination issues, our Soul issues. They could be messages or symbols from the personal or collective subconscious field, and/or they could be new or alternative insights about some part of the life experience, also symbolized by the Sun.
The Sun is the Law of our Light-Life, the Central Order of our personal Solar System of our material, emotional, and psychological affairs. All conjunctions to our Sun are important fusions of parts of our life, affecting the era to come, whose length is determined by the particular planetary cycle engaging our Sun.
Other Inferior Conjunctions
The Sun can only make “inferior conjunctions” with Mercury or Venus when they are retrograde. All other Solar conjunctions to planets happen when they’re direct. It could be said that the Solar conjunctions with Venus when it’s retrograde are a sort of “inferior conjunction” with that part of life symbolized by the retrograde planet.
On that subject, about 10 years ago we had a fusion of “likes with life” when Venus conjuncted the Sun in June 2012 while retrograde. You will recall it was considered a VERY BIG DEAL at the time, a very rare cosmic event that would shake our world. That hyperbole aside, you can find more about that celestial event through the links on the bottom of this article.
We just had another Venus retrograde between mid-December 2021 and late January 2022. Like the one in late 2013 and early 2014 which began at 29 Capricorn and retrograded back to 14 Capricorn, the 2022 retrograde began at 26 Capricorn and retrograded back to 12 Capricorn. Those Inferior Conjunctions between the Sun and Venus are not astronomical “transit events;” the next one is in 2117.
The Retrograde Process
So let’s do a quick recap of what conjunctions of Mercury with the Sun mean. When retrograde, Mercury, the Guide of Souls, “looks back” at the recent span of experience it crossed when originally direct in motion. That’s why these periods are good for review, re-working, re-thinking, rehearsing, or reconsidering something that caught our attention or our focus in the recent past.
The Inferior Conjunction is actually the point of maximum retrogradation, where Mercury’s speed is as slow as it will get. After the Inferior Conjunction, it's still retrograde for a brief period, reviewing the past and getting further away from the Sun. Then it goes stationary direct, after which it speeds up, eventually resulting in the Superior Conjunction when Mercury conjuncts the Sun about half way between the previous and next retrograde period.
So Mercury is direct when it first enters its “shadow zone,” which is the span of degrees of the actual retrograde period. At that point it slows down tremendously, and goes stationary retrograde. From our point of view on Earth, it seems to reverse course and traverse the span it just went over. Then at the end of the retrograde period it gets as far away from the Sun as our perspective allows, after which it begins to speed up and at some point goes stationary direct.
It then takes all that it learned from the first period when it initially transited those degrees that became its retrograde span, and through its new “forward view” of what it’s gotten information about two different times (1 direct, 1 RX), in this third phase it puts it all together when it again traverses that “shadow zone” span of degrees during its new direct motion phase. This 3-fold understanding is an extremely important “span of focus” in the life areas shown by the house in which it falls.
Mercury Direct
When Mercury is direct in motion, it again shows mind in a direct approach to our life, symbolized by the Sun. It quickens its motion, speeding up until it makes the connection at the subsequent Superior Conjunction one or two signs later. About 7 weeks after the Superior Conjunction, Mercury again goes retrograde, preparing for another Inferior Conjunction when it again delivers all that it has learned since the last Superior Conjunction.
Mercury's direct motion period is when it directly learns, evaluates, classifies, divides, and generally dissects reality. It is more of a theoretical, or information gathering phase, since after the Superior Conjunction Mind is outracing Life, which won’t begin to “catch up to Mind” until Mercury enters its next shadow zone.
Mind (Mercury) gets as far ahead of life (Sun) as it can before it reaches its maximum limit. Then it begins to slow and turn inward, look backward, listen to other beats, other drummers, other interpretations, other ways of weaving the experiences of life into something we can understand from a different point of view. This is how we gain perspective, and is essential if we are to learn the many ways the Higher Self both is and is not.
Sometimes the indirect path leads us to greater understanding
The experience we get through Mercury retrogrades give us perspective that allows us to become well rounded in our knowledge and ability to apply our knowledge, skills, and talents in ways that fulfill our purpose on this Earth. Mercury helps us adapt to different points of view, different ways of interpreting and applying what we know, and can assist us in filling in the blanks in our understanding of a thing.
Mercury, or Hermes, is legendarily “the Guide of Souls." If that is true, then perhaps looking back with a different perspective may help us to reconsider our footprints in time, and choose to re-think some of our assumptions that are not leading us to our Higher Self. Then we can consciously choose a different way to coordinate our mind, feelings, and lives, and begin to live a more fulfilled sense of purpose.
Mercury retrograde periods are an extremely important period of getting signals that can lead you to your Soul. Take an unusual view, look back with a new perspective, see the patterns, both productive and destructive, and then when it goes direct, implement your new insights and perspectives into new ways of seeing, communicating, and envisioning.
At this Inferior Conjunction at 1 Libra, we will have “a fusion of life and mind” which will help set a platform where, as we blend these principles, we will see a shift in our affairs, attitudes, and understanding. This will be specific to those things symbolized by Mercury in Libra and the house(s) in our charts where this retrograde takes place. Because Mercury spends the end of the RX period in Virgo, it’s like this is a Libra retrograde which winds up with Virgo tools to move forward.
In terms of the Inferior Conjunction, natal points in harmony with 1 Libra will see productivity, understanding, stabilization, and unique qualities come forth. Natal points in friction with 1 Libra will see turning points, blocks, braking action, and release of potential.
In the next article in this series, we will explore the specifics of this September 2022 conjunction in Libra, and what its lessons hold for us over the next 4 months.
Here is the article on the May 2022 Inferior Conjunction of Mercury with the Sun at 1 Gemini, where I posted both articles in one. This “fusion of life and mind” impacted the span from then to now.
For your review, here are the articles on the 2012 Venus “occultation event.”
Venus Transit of the Sun – What Is It, How Does It Happen, and Other Historical Transits of Venus
Venus Retrograde Conjunct the Sun June 5, 2012 – What Does That Rare Event Mean?
Here’s the article on the 2021 “inferior conjunction” of Venus and the Sun:
Venus Retrograde Conjunct the Sun at 19 Capricorn in January 2022 - What Does This Rare Event Mean?
Copyright © 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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