Mercury in Scorpio: The Message of Intimacy

I talk a lot about alignments; the way the planets are making aspect to one another and that simply means how two planets are relating to each other. What is their relationship?

With a conjunction, which is one type of aspect, which means that two planets are right next to each other. So, if we were to look at Jupiter right now…with a telescope…we would see Mercury right next to it. This happens all the time in astronomy. The planets are constantly in motion and they end up in the same sign (or the same spot in the sky) all the time.

But regardless of how often conjunctions happen they are always astrologically auspicious – they represent something. And with conjunctions it means the two planets blend, they combine energies, and they work together. It’s like a + sign – one gets added to the other.

We know that this can be a good thing…like peanut butter and jelly. Just goes well together…and it can be a bad thing…like lemon juice and milk…not so good. With conjunctions it depends on which two planets you’re mixing to decide whether we’re getting something beneficial or yuck.

Last week we talked about Jupiter’s movement into Scorpio and how that represents letting go and welcoming in something new to our lives. Jupiter will be in Scorpio until the Fall of 2018, so there are a lot of months that it will be active for us and as it moves deeper into Scorpio we will increasingly see its effect on the world and our individual lives. Planets build strength in a sign over time, and even though I could personally feel the shift that happened last Tuesday as Jupiter changed signs, it has gotten increasingly strong as the week has gone by. So, what does that mean?

Well, interpersonal interactions have taken on a deeper and more connected feeling. Looking people in the eye for instance has a new depth to it. For those of us who are not afraid of connecting with each other it’s a good feeling. For others, there can be a level of uncomfortability that reveals places where we can work on ourselves. Openness, and emotional integrity are something we can all strive for, even if it makes us feel vulnerable. Our own self-acceptance is directly proportional to our ability to be vulnerable in relationships and groups. When we have trouble with that we have an opportunity to look at how we could connect in a more authentic and open way by looking at self-acceptance and what we might need to work on.

Scorpio is very strongly representative of intimacy. And for me that means emotional honesty. How we feel is important. It guides our decisions in life. It establishes the way we interact with others. And even though our feelings need to be in perspective (which means we must not let them take on a life of their own), we still need to honor how we feel. When we don’t we act out in not nice ways.

So, intimacy; openness, emotional honest, authenticity and the courage to reveal our internal makeup – this is the core of any Scorpio transit.

And now…we have Mercury and Jupiter; both in Scorpio, both together at a low degree in Scorpio, in fact the first degree of Scorpio. And for those of you who are having Jupiter returns, which means that you had Jupiter in Scorpio when you were born, Mercury’s movement into Scorpio could be a trigger for the return. Watch and see who calls today or what message you get or tomorrow as a piece to your Jupiter return exploration.

Mercury governs the mind and communication. That’s why I mentioned phone calls or texts, or emails, or a piece of mail in the mailbox that’s connected to the intimacy, openness of the time. Other people’s feeling are important too. And you may find that close people in your life are wanting to share thoughts and feeling with you at this time. It’s not just us that wants intimacy, it’s all our close relationships.

The Mercury/Jupiter conjunction expands on our ability to be open and intimate with those people. It increases our desire and ability to have those conversations and discussions that make things deeper. Now, none of this is really possible for chronic liars or people who function with cruelty or blame for others. Scorpio is kind of dark under those circumstances and those people are likely to just get more deeply lost in their own bitterness. We have some great models of that situation going on for us right now. But this is not about them.

When we’re high functioning, which thankfully most of us are, it means that we’re mentally balanced. We know how to forgive, apologize, accept ourselves with our flaws, and accept others for their flaws. Most of us are that way. If we weren’t we couldn’t be in any relationships for very long. When we’re high functioning we know how to have meaningful, sane connections with each other. It doesn’t mean that we’re not still afraid of being judged or rejected, but we approach people with a sense of security and self-knowledge that makes it possible for us to be intimate with our friends and family.

All this conjunction does, is bring us a bit more out from our uncomfortable place. It asks us to share a bit more, with people we trust, so that we can gain an even greater level of self-acceptance and through that; self-love.

And it also provides us with the energy needed to dive deeper into our own unconscious – to create an intimate space within. When we take time to create openness with ourselves, then we’re honest enough to know when we need to apologize or forgive or stop being angry or be more accepting or work harder or spend more time with children playing.

This conjunction is a great moment to be honest about the cards you’ve been dealt – to see what you might need to work on in order to gain more clarity so that you can achieve your personal goals and also the goal of greater closeness with others. That’s all Scorpio asks – it’s a pretty tall order even though it sounds so simple – honesty, self-honesty, we have the support right now for it. And since the Sun is going into Scorpio in just another week – maybe it’s a good time to try it on.