Eclipse Season: The Illusion of Truth

Truth.

What is truth?

How do you know when you've reached the truth?

What happens when you come to a new understanding and the truth changes for you?

What is your personal truth? And how does your personal truth relate to the collective truth?

These are really good questions to consider for the astrology of the moment. If you've been considering these things already, you are on the pulse of what the planets are trying to communicate with us. For me, this Mercury-Mars-Neptune transit feels like an incredible opportunity to explore truth and the illusion of truth. This gives us a lot of information around the lay of the land as we enter into the Total Solar Eclipse on Monday followed by the Grand Conjunction on the solstice. These are like the flavors of the universal soup we all find ourselves in right now.

In this blog, I'll cover Mercury OOB in Sagittarius, Mercury trine Mars in Aries, Mercury square Neptune in Pisces, Moon/Venus in Scorpio trine Neptune in Pisces.

Mercury OOB in Sagittarius

Mercury is going out of bounds today. A planet is considered to be OOB when its declination in the sky is beyond 23°27’. In this position, the planet is outside the boundary limits of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. It has reached the peak of one of its cycles. Mercury begins this stretch beyond a declination of 23°27’ in Sagittarius and does not return to its normal declination until January 4 2021 when it will be in the sign of Capricorn. This is a really long time for the messenger of the gods to be exploring the outer limits of its domain.

During this time, our normal Mercurial experiences of how we think, how we communicate, how we integrate information, and how we share messages with others may expand beyond our normal experience. Our experience of words may change or expand. An OOB planet classically expresses itself as an inability to stay within the normal parameters of mainstream society.  With Mercury expanding its parameters in this way, "out-of-the-box thinking" and epiphanies may be more readily available. Actually, this may be a time when it feels impossible to stay inside the box, and with this Mercury being in Sagittarius, we may find that traditional labels, belief systems and philosophies that limit us in some way are stretched beyond recognition, or eliminated entirely. Mercury in Sagittarius is a truth seeker. It is a Mercury that offers us the voice of the inspiring, spiritual teacher. This is a Mercury that naturally shares words of hope and inspiration. This is a Mercury that searches for meaning and spiritual truths, and the OOB signature may explore the truth behind words in an unprecedented way. I think the trick here will be to know when you've stretched things too far and words no longer have meaning. Or perhaps that is exactly where this Mercury intends to go.

Mercury in Sagittarius Trine Mars in Aries

Adding some spice to this Mercury OOB is the trine it is receiving from Mars in Aries. Mars in Aries is still currently in its shadow phase after a long retrograde period. This shadow phase will end on January 3. Perhaps the combination of the Mercury OOB and Mars in shadow gives us a very real opportunity to see things from a perception or vantage point that is usually just beyond our conscious awareness. Mars in Aries wants to take action, especially towards individuation, freedom, or carving its own path. There may be a drive to explore a new direction. There may be an impulse to cut old binding ties in favor of new, more expansive ones. It could be a good time to start something new, a new formal study that takes you beyond your former realm of information or knowledge. This Mars-Mercury signature is very fiery. There is inspiration and enthusiasm here. There is spirit and intuition here. And again, with Mercury OOB and Mars in its shadow period, we need to be mindful that the fire doesn't burn out of control, that we don't rush forward into the conversation without consideration of consequence or outcome. Or again, that may be exactly what you need to do to express yourself.

My suggestion would be to feel the inspiration, feel the enthusiasm, observe the expanded mental states and enjoy them. Absolutely! And...come up with a good solid plan that you can initiate once we get past the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on the solstice. There is such a new energy on the horizon. And this Mercury-Mars aspect is an exciting signature rapt with possibility. Keep the flame lit. Tend to the embers in your heart. And lean into those last degrees of Saturn in Capricorn to bring in the wisdom of experience and realism to make sure your plans are practical and attainable. All of the pieces are here for us to work with and now it is just a matter of doing so in a really conscious, productive way.

Mercury in Sagittarius Square Neptune in Pisces

So, we have an empowered, expanded Mercury that is receiving a health dose of initiative and drive from Mars. At the same time, there is a nice dose of compassionate, surrealism available to Mercury from Neptune in Pisces. Question is- is Mercury listening? will Mercury be able to receive and integrate the messages? Its not the easiest connection. That is for sure.

Neptune is a planet that brings an erosion of boundaries, a dissolution of labels. In the soft-hearted, compassionate sign of Pisces these tendencies are amplified. This planet-sign combination is a place where there is a longing to merge self and other, boundaries dissolve so that we may be more attuned to the feelings of others, and empathy comes in waves. And so again, we have this theme of moving beyond that which is defined, beyond limitations, or that which is "known". Imagery, symbolism and dreams abound, but waking life may feel disillusioned. Neptune in Pisces might be downright confusing.

And Mercury isn't really readily available to help find the solution. Mercury doesn't really want to hear what Neptune has to say in this situation, because he is really enjoying his spirited conversation with Mars. They have their own ideas about how to explore and re-define the universe. And Neptune is asking, do we even know what the truth is anymore? Between social media (where people highlight only their best selves), fake news, and conspiracy theories, the amount of misinformation moving through our society is unprecedented. What is truth? What is falsehood? And how do you discern the difference?

I think these are the major questions of the Mercury-Neptune aspect we find ourselves in as a human species. In my honest opinion, there is no better planet-sign combination for being able to tap into the collective unconscious than Neptune in Pisces. This is a place where we feel one with everything and are invited to dissolve known truths in order to open up to even bigger truths, however, the trick remains in knowing whether what you're experiencing is real or are you just lost in a fantasy? Is what you believe true? How do you know?

Moon/Venus in Scorpio Trine Neptune in Pisces

I waited until today to post this blog so that I could capture the start of the OOB transit for Mercury while Neptune also had some friends on her side. This deceptively sweet planet of truth and illusion has definitely been embroiled in a pretty tense conversation with the Sagittarius and Gemini energies of this eclipse season. However, the Moon is moving through Scorpio today and will come into orb with Venus in Scorpio, both of whom are open to receiving Neptune's message. Scorpio is a water sign known for its no bullshit, straight talk, and the Moon/Venus connection here brings a more caring, beautiful side and a more focused energy to the blurred lines of Neptune. I woke up to a foggy morning here in Baltimore. It is truly beautiful to look upon and the first thing I thought of was this Moon/Venus/Neptune trine. Fog is very Neptunian.

I know I shared a lot in this blog post but it all felt important. This entire combination of planets will definitely amp up the psychic energy available to all of us on this day. I think this is a special time to turn inward towards reflection and contemplation of your own personal truth as we prepare for the Total Solar Eclipse followed by the Grand Conjunction that is coming in just a couple of days.

My sincere hope during this time is that the confusing messages and the misinformation that has been so present in our lives these past few years will begin to fall away with this eclipse. This is a time of shedding, a time of release. May this also be a time to release the shadow dynamics of the distortion of truth. And may we all find our own truth in the process.

For more information on OOB planets and how they express themselves, visit my blog post- https://allisonayala.wordpress.com/2019/11/15/out-of-bounds-planets/

If you would like to talk about your birth chart and how these energies are expressing themselves in your life, please feel free to schedule an appointment at https://starsongreiki.com/home/ola/services/astrology-consultation-1

In the meantime, meditate. Journal. Find your truth and then question it.

Keep seeking....Ally