Mercury Archives - The Oxford Astrologer

Category: Mercury

Swift of foot and lively of mind, Mercury buzzes around the heavens, adding colour and bringing news and information to the fore. Here are some selected writings about this fast-moving planet.

Neurodiversity and Astrology

In the past few years, many people have realised, sometimes quite late in life, that they have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or autism — and it’s been a massive relief. Both autism and ADHD are wide spectrum conditions (not disorders, thank you), of course, and [...]

The Party’s Over For Johnson

Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, is in trouble, but the astrology is sweet. Blond-bombshell Johnson was born with an extraordinary cosmic signature — Venus Retrograde in the heart of his Gemini Sun. So if you’d speculated that Venus Retrograde periods might be significant [...]

Astrology of Now: The Green One

The Green One, al Khidr, may be a traveller or an angel, a sailor or a sage; he guards the sea, is a patron of poets and calligraphers, heals the sick, and as you can see above rides on the back of fish. He may come to your aid if you are drowning, heal your […]

Astrology of Now: Sorry!

If you have written to me in the last few months and have heard nothing in response, I apologise. Yesterday, I found that, for reasons too boring to explain, one of my email addresses has not been functioning for months! I am so sorry and I am endeavouring to respond to each of you this […]

Astrology of Now: Sharing Secrets

The god of communications, Mercury, and Venus, the planet of peace and love, meet a few times a year to catch up on some gossip and maybe even steal a kiss. These two usually get along well since much of the time they are either in the same sign or sextiling — at least by […]

New Podcast: The Month Ahead

What’s in store for the month ahead? Which Sun Signs are up? Which are, well, coasting? What dates should you take a risk and when should you stay at home? And why was last month so … last monthish? I’ll be chatting with my friend and fellow astrologer Sally Kirkman about our favourite [...]

Astrology of Now: In the Footprints of Saturn

We woke up to snow on Sunday. Swirling, twirling flakes, hurtling fast, then fluttering delicately past the bedroom window. The garden had vanished by 6am and by mid-day a soft, heavy blanket of white had covered everything. With snow comes silence. It’s easy in the first snowfall to imagine [...]

Astrology of Now: The End of the Beginning

There has been so much fiery energy this spring with planets spending unconscionably long in the sign of impulse and initiative, Aries. The Ram’s fiery inspiration is usually what we need to kick off the astrological year. But in the last seven years, we’ve had an awful lot of it — because [...]

Astrology of Now: A Very Important Retrograde — Take It Personally

Mercury turns Rx on December 19 at 15° Capricorn. Meets the Sun on December 28 at 7° Capricorn. Turns direct on January 8 at 28° Sagittarius. Returns to 15° Capricorn on January 27. Squares Uranus on February 1. Leaves Capricorn on February 7. Please take a look at the previous post on this [...]

Astrology of Now: A Very Important Retrograde

Imagine you are walking up a mountain trail. You’re slowing down because the way is getting steeper, and rougher — and your sense of dread and unease grows with every step. A dark shadow looms on the path in front of you, filling you with dread. You turn tail and fly, tripping down the [...]

Astrology of Now: Focus and Healing

It’s an extraordinary — and rather difficult — start to 2016. But amidst the tumultuous energies there are some strong positives. Here’s the gen. Mercury is retrograde in Aquarius, then from January 8th, in Capricorn . The time calls for rethinking and practical [...]

Big Aspects To Watch Out For: Jupiter in Virgo Two

Jupiter in Virgo — August 11, 2015 – 9 September 2016 The 12-year cycle of Jupiter is one of the most important to understand and work with in your own life. So right now, it’s worth looking back at the last time Jupiter was in Virgo – from 27 August 2003 to 25 September [...]

My colleague Jessica Shephard wrote a short piece about Venus Out Of Bounds a few weeks ago which set me thinking. Out of bounds planets are not something that’s not much discussed by astrologers. We’re all too busy getting our minds around cute new asteroids, imaginary dark points [...]

Mercury Rx: Indexing

I am re-indexing this website during this Mercury Retrograde. Apparently it wasn’t done properly when we switched over from Blogger last year, so not all the posts are searchable (or should that really be findable). It seems like appropriate action to take when the god of communications [...]

12 Questions To Ask With Mercury Rx in Gemini

The little god of prestidigitation is standing perfectly still. For a moment in time, he looks both ways: into the future and into the past. Then he starts to go backwards. Think of how odd it looks in a movie when the broken glass and water on the floor magically swooshes up and reforms. The [...]

Astrology of Now: The Disappearance of Manannan Mac Lir

A statue of the Celtic sea god Manannan Mac Lir was stolen from an Irish mountaintop on January 21, the day Mercury, the planet of thieves, went retrograde. Although Manannan is the “son of the sea” and a deity of storms, but he has more in common with Mercury than Neptune. [...]

The Mighty Pen, Symbol of Reason

Twelve people at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were gunned down on January 7. In the same week, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi received the first 50 lashes of his 1000-lash sentence for blasphemy, ironically, an echo of the Charlie Hebdo cover that caused such offense in [...]

The Corruption of Tony Blair

What was the Devil wearing when he offered Tony Blair a sackful of cash for his immortal soul? Was he in a sharp Armani suit, did he don stilettos and shades, or was it a dishdasha and a stetson? Was the approach made in Granita, the Islington restaurant made famous by New Labour, or was it [...]

A Mercury Retrograde Mini Adventure

I went for a run the other morning, starting through the University Parks — orderly paths thick with joggers and dog-walkers, an arboretum of specimen trees, a lily-pad spattered pond, smooth green playing fields — and crossed over the River Cherwell to run through the [...]

Astrology of Now: Journey Into The Heart Of The Night

Jean Marais as a modern Orpheus, in Cocteau’s visionary and beautiful movie of the same name. Someone said: “Bring the bodies upstairs.” The house I’m staying in is 300 years old with walls as thick as the span of your arm. The room I sleep in is as dark and close as a coffin. I […]