The Trickster, Mercury Retrograde
H Kyoht Luterman
Today, we have two big Astrological Influences that are worth tracking.
Mercury stations retrograde at 7:47 am at 4° Gemini. And will continue his retrograde journey until June 3rd at 4:00am - 26° Taurus.
Gemini is a sign Ruled by Mercury, the Trickster. One of my favorite parts of Mercury Rx is the way he reminds us of the great cosmic joke.
He shows us, that in reality, we are not in control. We aren’t in control of the traffic, the weather, the stability of the internet or our technology. A satellite could fall from the sky, the power grid could be attacked, and our ability to function would run off the rails. In other words, we over-rely on logistical systems to make our life work.
Real life happens beyond and between these things. And so much of it is beyond our control.
We are reminded that Mercury Rx is about the lack of meaning, and inherent chaos in the world. That a power greater than us is ultimately calling the shots. And our only choice when all the pieces are scattered to the four corners of the globe, is to laugh wildly at the absurdity of it all. The ridiculous amount of faith we’ve invested into the realm of sameness.
In addition, there is consensus in the mythic community that posits that we are moving away from the age of the hero, and into the age of the trickster. As someone who regularly pounds the table in terms of needing new myths and archetypes, I’d love for us consider the words of Ian Mackenzie founder of the School of Mythopoetics…and creator of the podcast Mythic Masculine.
“We’ve lived in an era where the overarching mono-myth has been The Hero, as articulated in the work of Joseph Campbell. As our modern world verges on collapse, the frailty and incompleteness of this mono-myth has been revealed.
It could be said that we live in apocalyptic times - with the true meaning of apocalypse being that of “revelation." Things that have been hidden and beginning to emerge.
What is being revealed now is the Hero myth has a shadow side - that of the martyr - perhaps best exemplified in the story of Jesus Christ, as civilizations have fought and won in his name came to colonize the world.
The Hero must always be a Martyr, giving up their life for glory in the halls of collective memory. Yet often what’s martyred in a society's march towards heroism, is the interconnected way of seeing, being and moving with all life. The Hero is but a collapse of this intricate web of relationality. These are the threads that keep the world intact.
In these dark times, the martyrdom must end, and with it, the reign of the Hero. What force, what narrative, what archetype then can we call upon to navigate the dark?
This is the realm of the Trickster, the shape-shifter, the boundary crosser - one foolish enough to proceed when we can no longer tell up from down, and right from wrong. The Trickster however is as elusive as can get, and the way for he/she/them cannot be opened if the Hero does not die - if that spell of “ever-lasting” life through fame is not broken.” IM
Mercury, in conjunction with some of our other active, high influence, Planetary Archetypes is definitely in the process of a “Great Revealing”. Like the Great Oz, we are beginning to see who and what is pulling the strings of our reality.
This Mercury Retrograde, let us remember, that we are able to live in the spaces beyond and between, in service to the web of life.
Rather than conquering linear reality in the way that the mundane world requires for success.
If we cannot embrace the massive transitory portal we find ourselves in, Mercury may come in to ensure you remember who is ultimately in control.
Some examples of the trickster are Fox and Crow, the Joker, the Hyoker, and the Hag or Crone.
In addition to Mercury stationing retrograde, Jupiter is making his ingress into Aries today at 7:22 pm. This is a huge, perhaps jolting energetic shift. I’d like to do this transit justice. So look forward to my Jupiter into Aries transmission in the coming days.
