The Sun Mercury Superior Conjunction

The Fable of the Eagle and the Lark found in Predictive Astrology by Bernadette Brady

I'd like to begin today with a fable called The Eagle and The Lark which I found in Bernadette Brady's book, Predictive Astrology, The Eagle and The Lark.

Once upon a time there was a lark who was renowned for her beautiful singing. Her song was judged by all who heard her to be the sweetest sound on earth. From dawn to dusk she would sing her song and as she sang, the beginnings of a desire grew. The desire was to sing for the gods.

She realized that if she could fly high enough the gods would be able to hear her. So the lark leapt into the air and flew as high as she could, but her wings tired and although she sang, she knew that the gods could not hear her. Determined now more than ever, she decided that she would climb the highest mountain and then fly from the peak. But even this could not get her high enough to be heard in heaven.

One day she saw an eagle soaring high in the sky, far higher then she had ever flown and she knew with unbounded certainty that if she could fly as high as the eagle, the gods would hear her beautiful song. So she watched the eagle and when he landed, she approached the huge bird. The small but brave lark explained her dilemma to the great eagle and asked if he would carry her on his back so that, together, they could entertain the gods.

Now the eagle was aware of the gods because he could fly in their domain and yet, ashamed of his own raucous voice, he never had the courage to contact them. Eagerly he agreed to carry the tiny lark.

Tentatively she climbed onto his back and with a stretch and a flap of his mighty wings, he set aloft. Higher and higher they soared. The lark was almost too scared to look down and yet onward still they flew. The lark had never been this high. She could see the whole world spread out beneath her. And then, all of a sudden, they were there. The tiny lark knew that now it was her turn, the eagle having done his part. Firmly, she stood up on the eagle's back and, filling her lungs with air, began to sing. Heaven was filled with her glorious music. The gods were astonished at the power of the eagle and enthralled by the beauty of the lark's song. The eagle was no longer ashamed and the lark was filled with joy. Together, as a team, they had brought music to the gods.

Okay, so there are so many things that I just love about this fable. So first I want to take a moment to make sure I referenced the source. I found this fable in Bernadette Brady's book, predictive astrology, the eagle and the lark. When I first read it, I immediately knew I was going to use it here in my podcast today, where we are talking about the sun mercury superior conjunction, which is happening on Sunday, April 18, here on the East Coast of the US

So…let’s break down what I mean by the Sun-Mercury Superior Conjunction first. 

So…I just used a lot of fancy astrological language to describe something, and let me break that down for a moment. 

What exactly is an Inferior Conjunction and a Superior Conjunction? 

A conjunction is when two planets are in the same place in the zodiacal belt, meaning they are in the same degree of the same sign, and it creates a fusion of the two planetary energies.  Their energies blend into one.  This particular conjunction involves the Sun and Mercury- their energies are fusing and this is happening at 29-degrees of the sign Aries. 

So Mercury, experiences two conjunctions with the sun. One is called the inferior conjunction and it only happens when Mercury is retrograde, and this took place back on February 8 of this year.  It took place at 20-degrees of Aquarius.  Now- you may have felt the energy of that for a couple of weeks, beginning at the end of January when Mercury first went retrograde on January 29 and then reached the conjunction with the Sun on the 8th of February. 

And the second conjunction is called the Superior conjunction and it only happens when Mercury is direct.  Since early February, Mercury has been building into the superior conjunction we are experiencing now, and you may have been aware of something growing over the past couple of weeks. 

Mercury's inferior conjunction is comparable to the planting of a seed, similar to the new moon energy, where your intentions are formed, ideas are conceived, new information arises, events may come in to your arena that were not there before. And Mercury’s superior conjunction is comparable to the blossoming of the fruit, similar to the Full Moon energy where intentions are manifested, ideas are expressed, storied are told, and the messages of the Gods (so to speak) are on full display.

So, let’s bring all of this back to our discussion of the Fable.  For me, the eagle is the son and the lark is Mercury, and I love how the lark realizes that she has a message to share. And she has a song that she wants to sing, and she wants the gods, to hear her sing this song. I just think that's so beautiful and so sweet. And it reminds me that each of us have a message, everybody has a song that they want to sing and have the gods hear them. And the fable mentions that there's a desire within her that grows.

The same thing happens in the Mercury cycle.  Whatever seeds are planted, those seeds grow over time, and it is the desire within us that helps it to grow.

If we see Mercury’s cycle as a process of growth and development, first, there is the moment of realization that there is a song to be sung, and the seed is planted during the very internal experience of moving retrograde.  Retrogradation often indicates a time to turn inward.

And then Mercury continues on with its journey through the Zodiac, and with the right mix of preparation and opportunity, that seed can reach full expression at the Superior Conjunction.  The superior conjunction is comparable to a full mercury just like a full moon, at the peak of it’s expression of its cycle. 

The more we participate consciously with this cycle, the more the Gods will hear the Songs we have to Sing, the stories we have to tell, the messages we have to share. 

And so I just really love the way the fable creates a partnership between the Eagle and The Lark, between the Sun and Mercury, where they're both able to make this greater contribution to the world. By working with each other, they're able to do more together than they can do separately.

**And what we really are describing here is Mercury’s relationship to the Sun. 

And when we talk about Mercury, we are talking about the mental processes that translate thoughts and ideas into language.  Mercury was seen as the messenger of the gods who carried our hopes, prayers and wishes up to the Divine while also bringing down messages the Gods had for us. It's like the pathway of communication from the human to the divine and the divine to the human. For those of you who are reiki practitioners, I definitely see the Bridge of Light as a very mercurial experience.  Mercury is the guardian of thresholds and liminal spaces, and a lot of the Reiki Journey work that I do feels very Mercurial in nature. 

Now, archetypally speaking, whenever we are talking about the Sun we are talking about the central organizing principle inside of the person’s psyche, ego, or the central theme inside of their hero’s journey throughout life. And in the beginning of the lifetime, the son has an unrealized potential. And it's through that journey and the challenges and the gifts that emerge, And the potentials that are actualized into fuller, more authentic expression as you live your life. This is the place where a person might have natural gifts and talents that they are mean to share with the world, in the same way the Sun shares it light with the world effortlessly and naturally.   I think we all have some inner light that wants to just shine really naturally and effortlessly.

There really are so many planets that are in direct relationship to the sun. The sun really is the central organizing principle inside of our solar system. So in a way, everything is in relationship to the sun, and each planet has its own unique timing and expression within that relationship. And each time they come together, in this unique cosmic dance of time and space, they're drawing each other into it deeper and more profound and more robust expression of their potentials.

For example, the moon right has a lunar cycle that we see, it's probably the most obvious for us to see in the sky that begins each month with a new moon. And it grows over time until full moon, and then slowly fades back into the balsamic phase or dark side of the moon. And all of that is an expression of the moon's relationship with the sun and how she orbits and comes into different expressions of the light of the sun. Venus has a similar cycle in which there's a quote unquote, new Venus, which grows into a full Venus and then recedes back into another new Venus. We don't use these terms. You don't hear this very often, but we could. And mercury also has the same kind of cycle. So there's a new mercury and then it grows into a full mercury and then it recedes back into another new mercury. Each new Mercury happens during a retrograde cycle, and it marks a new beginning. 

So each one of these cycles is unique in its timing due to the individual orbit of the planet going around the sun, and the speed at which it's moving. But what we'll see that they all have in common, for example, in the three planets that I just mentioned, The Moon, Mercury and Venus, each one of them has this seed moment. Each one of them has this growth that takes place and comes into full expression. And then each one of them recedes back into the seed moment. And so much of nature is about this cycle of growth and release and renewal.

I just wonder and I do want to plant the seed here in this podcast today, how would our relationship change to mercury? If we took out some of the fear messaging around the retrograde portion of mercury cycle, and reframed it as a time for inner contemplation in order to plant new seeds? That's a completely different message than Yeah, everything's gonna fall apart, your electronics are going to go haywire, and your schedule is going to go bonkers. I mean, and there's room for that too. Sure, you can keep that in mind if you want to.

But what if we begin to approach the retrograde portion of the cycle as a time to turn inward, into contemplation of, what wants to be born out of this new moment? And how do I nurture that? What new opportunities are presenting themselves and what is falling away?  Afterall, growth is both a creative and a destructive process…and so, how do I provide the right amount of water, soil, and sunlight for the seed to grow into full expression. I think if we started to frame it in this way, we will come into a whole new relationship with mercury, and all of the planets really, but especially with mercury.

So,

let's talk a little more specifically about timing.

Now this particular superior conjunction of the sun and Mercury will be at 29 degrees of Aries, which is exact on April 18 and 19 2021 here on the East Coast of the US. 

And if we track back through time to find the seed moment, we'll see that that happened on February 8 2021 at about 20 degrees of Aquarius.

Now what I really love about this is that I think Aries can sometimes be a sign that can say now I can do it alone. I don't need any help. I'll figure it out by myself.

Aquarius can also be a sign that kind of holds this energetic of I know what I'm doing. Thanks. I don't need the extra advice, They can both kind of be very, strong-minded, independent signs.

And what I love about introducing this fable, into this contemplation is that it teaches us that we can accomplish so much more together than we ever could apart.

Consider what I'm saying here, think back to what you were experiencing, contemplating questioning, learning. Back on February 8, perhaps there was an event that brought in new information, or you might not have been aware of it at the time. But now if you look back and you take what we call a retrospective view, you can see that Yeah, that's right, that was the start of something new. Oftentimes, during the retrograde inferior conjunction part of the cycle, when seeds are being planted, we can feel a very internal process taking place, we may even feel as if we've gone into the dark inside of ourselves in some way in order to keep conceive of something new. And this particular inferior conjunction on February 8, was especially intense. Because it it was around the time that the Saturn Uranus square, the first one of 2021 that was exact by degree, was happening at the same time.

So back around the end of January, beginning of February, the energies of Saturn and Uranus were touching upon this very internal process, moving towards this seed moment, where there may have been some internal dialogue around, Okay, I'm being invited into a new level of maturity and responsibility, but at the same time that I'm asking questions about personal freedom and liberation from authority figures.  Or perhaps there was a sense of feeling like something was holding you back at the same time that there was a sense of something that wanted to break free of those limitations. 

A few entry points into this inquiry might be to ask yourself, So what are my limits? What limits are real? And what are perceived? Where does my sense of limitation come from?  And where does my sense of freedom come from?

Again, another reason I read the fable of the Eagle and the Lark, is that the Lark knew she had a message but she was limited.  She couldn’t get where she was trying to go on her own.  She needed the help of the Eagle.  And so Saturn tells us a lot about our limits, and Uranus is the planet that helps us breakthrough those limits.  When looking at the fable through this planetary lens, we see the Lark as Saturn and the Eagle as Uranus.   “Higher and higher they soared.  The lark was almost too scared to look down and yet onward they still flew.  The lark had never been this high.” It is through their collaboration that brings together the gifts and talents that each uniquely has to offer, that the Eagle is able to realize the importance of its contribution and the Lark is able to share its song with the Gods. 

And all of these energies, are a part of this current Mercury cycle.

So- I ask you,

What either real or perceived boundaries have you recently experienced a breakthrough in overcoming?

Have you recently overcome limitations in order to reach heights you’ve never experienced before?

What is your message?

Who are you in partnership with?

And how is that collaborative experience helping both of you to heal and to make greater contributions to the world?

Okay…so let me finish with the timing around the end of the cycle.

Mercury will go retrograde again on May 29 2021 at 24-degrees Gemini, and reach the inferior conjunction (that moment when new seeds are planted and new information presents itself) on June 10th, the same day as a New Moon Solar Eclilpse at 20-degrees of Gemini. 

As you move closer to this time, consider that which you want to continue to cultivate and that which you want to release.

The beginning of this next Mercury cycle in tandem with a new moon eclipse sounds like an incredible day of potential to me, again May 29.  Seeds will be planted.  There is an invitation to consciously participate in the cycle with a sense of humility, reverence and hope.  I often enter in with a willingness to be led, in a “okay, show me…” state of mind.

This might be a good time to turn within and really conceive of something new.  Be alert for messages from the Gods.

I hope that this has been helpful. I don't know if you guys will have any questions. If you do, please feel free to reach out to me. You can go on to my website, there's a contact form. You're welcome to leave me questions or ask for astrological advice or like, you could give me an example of something that you're experiencing in your life and I'm going to read through whatever comes in and I might use it for future podcasts. I'm really open to receiving ideas from my listeners.

If you want to explore your relationship with mercury, like where it is in your birth chart specifically, and how it's showing up for you currently, then, feel free to reach out schedule some time with me. I'm always here for you.

And in the meantime, remember that we are all in a process of becoming the best versions of ourselves. 

Cultivate your pathway of expression.  Share you song.  Tell your story.  Begin.  And develop it over time.

Many Blessings!  Until next time….