Mercury flew into the shadow zone of its upcoming retrograde on September 23 whilst still in Libra. He then entered Scorpio on September 27. Mercury will station retrograde at 02:04 (BST) on October 14, 2020 at 11°Sc40′ R. Most of this retrograde period will take place in Scorpio although for the last week, Mercury will re-enter Libra.
In mythology it was Hermes (the Greek counterpart of Roman Mercury) who guided the souls of the dead to the river Styx. In many of the myths, Hermes is the only other God allowed to wander freely in the Underworld. Mercury in Scorpio relates to the story of the abduction of Persephone by Hades. With Demeter grieving in the upper world and refusing to allow anything to grow, Zeus sent Hermes to talk Hades into releasing Persephone. Hermes struck a bargain with Hades that Persephone would return to the upper world for half of the year (Spring and Summer) and then spend the rest of the year as Queen of the Underworld (Autumn and Winter).
This myth then illustrates that Hermes (Mercury) has no fear of the underworld. Instead, he has a knowledge that to have life, we must also have death. Mercury retrograde in Scorpio encourages us to release that which we have been holding onto for fear of death/change/closing/endings. As Mercury will then retrograde back into Libra, this period of release is followed by a rebalancing, both within ourselves and in our relationships.
Mercury Retrograde October 2020 – Aspects
23-Sep-20 Mercury enters shadow zone
23-Sep-20 Mercury square Saturn
24-Sep-20 Mercury opposite Mars
27-Sep-20 Mercury enters Scorpio
07-Oct-20 Mercury opposite Uranus
12-Oct-20 Mercury sextile Venus
14-Oct-20 Mercury stations Retrograde
20-Oct-20 Mercury opposite Uranus
25-Oct-20 Sun conjunct Mercury
26-Oct-20 Mercury sextile Vesta
28-Oct-20 Mercury Rx re-enters Libra
01-Nov-20 Mercury square Saturn
03-Nov-20 Mercury stations Direct
06-Nov-20 Mercury square Saturn
10-Nov-20 Mercury direct re-enters Scorpio
17-Nov-20 Mercury opposite Uranus
19-Nov-20 Mercury exits shadow zone
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