Mercury in Virgo 2023
On July 29, 2023 Mercury will leave watery Cancer and enter the earth sign of Virgo for about ten weeks, where it will station retrograde.
Astrologers are able to identify these retrograde periods in advance and prepare for the shift in momentum. A great advantage of tracking these periods is to identify which parts of our life are undergoing reconsideration and understand what we do and do not have control over. This helps to reduce anxiety and frustration related to uncertainty regarding these Mercury in Virgo activations.
People with placements near 8º to 21º of Virgo, Sagittarius, Gemini, or Pisces may feel this more personally. If you are a Gemini or Virgo rising, or your timelord is Mercury this year, you will definitely notice this shift.
Virgo is the second domicile of Mercury, where the planet of information can thrive in its natural environment with all of its best tools and resources available. Mercury’s rulership in Virgo provides dignity to this quick-footed planet, which allows for more privilege within the matters it attends to. Generally, this means that the circumstances around Mercury in Virgo involve a more preferable environment, with the least amount of pushback, not withstanding other challenging aspects.
Mercury’s function in ancient astrology is to argue or destabilize. This planet rules the concepts of communication, commerce, and commute. In the sign of Virgo, Mercury allows for the most multifaceted quality control providing precise corrective measures as needed. Mercury in Virgo prepares, plans, and effectively brings things to fruition.
Virgo is a mutable earth sign that is often associated with health and well-being. Virgo’s job is to organize systems which optimize and maintain the growth of the healthiest most abundant “harvest” or outcome.
Although Mercury is strong in Virgo, it will retrograde from 21°-08º Virgo starting August 24 through September 16, 2023. Mercury retrogrades happen three times a year and allow for a revisitation of certain events. The planet doubles back through the zodiac to review what has previously occurred and potentially make changes.
In this case, Mercury in Virgo is facing an opposition to Saturn and Neptune in Pisces by sign. This could force us to face delays, nonsensical rules, or unclear boundaries. Deceit, manipulation, and lies could be involved. The need for creative thinking could be critical.
Rather than fear retrogrades, I encourage folks to think about them as an opportunity. Retrogrades allow us the shake things up where they are stale and reprioritize what actually matters. Many times, retrogrades can assist with moving things in our favor after a period of struggle. Other times, it can happen the opposite way, where things seems to be going well and then out of nowhere things start falling apart. This is nothing to fight because in the end, the disruption tends to be for the best. What we want isn’t always what is needed. I like to think of this as Divine Intervention.
There are a few phases of a retrograde period. Each phase tells us where we are in the storyline of the related events.
Phase 1: INGRESS
Mercury enters Virgo on July 29, 2023. Ingresses mark the beginning and setup of the story. Any new events that develop around this time are likely to be related to the retrograde period, although the subject in question hasn’t yet had time to reveal itself.
Phase 2: PRE-SHADOW PERIOD
Mercury will reach 08° Virgo for the first time on August 04, beginning the pre-shadow period. This period lasts until Mercury stations retrograde on August 24, 2023. This 20 day period is likely to contain the set up of the primary event that could set off a chain reaction. As the retrograde station gets closer, Mercury loses speed its energy begins to become warped.
Phase 3: STATION RETROGRADE
Mercury stations retrograde on August 24, 2023 at 21° Virgo. It will move backwards through the zodiac for about three weeks. This period marks the climax of the transit where key moments develop. It is wise to let go of expectations and simply bear witness to what the energy is compelling you and others to do. It is commonly experienced as frustrating time when controlling outcomes is most challenging. Go with the flow. The conclusion to the events of this transit will not occur until Mercury reaches this degree again on September 30, 2023.
Phase 4: STATION DIRECT
Mercury stations direct on September 16, 2023 at 08° Virgo. This means it has come to another complete stop in the zodiac and switched to forward motion again. After a bit of retrograde chaos, astrologers often are relieved to be past the most challenging period. This period will call back to events that sprouted during the pre-shadow period and will likely feel like the circumstances have come full circle or reached a conclusion. Mercury has to build speed after this, so there is a “hangover” period that lasts about a week.
Phase 5: POST-SHADOW PERIOD
This is the conclusion phase or Mercury’s final pass forward through these degrees. It starts September 17 and lasts until it passes 21º Virgo on September 30, 2023. During this time, the effects of the retrograde period are apparent and the dust is settling. Mercury has to regain its speed and will take about a week to fully leave Virgo.
Phase 6: EGRESS
When Mercury finally leaves Virgo and enters Libra on October 06, 2023, the retrograde chapter officially comes to a close.
If you want to look deeper into how this transit will activate for you, go to astro.com or astro-seek.com to get your birth chart. All you need is your full birthday, location of birth, and exact time of birth. Go check your birth certificate, memories need to be verified with evidence. Once you input that info into a birth chart calculator, you will get your birth chart. It will be in the shape of a round pizza with 12 “slices”. Find the slice that is labelled with the Virgo symbol (♍︎). The number associated to this area of the chart represents the “house” or area of life associated with this Mercury in Virgo transit.
Hellenistic astrologers use the whole-sign house method, so the sign of the Ascendant is the sign of your first house. Each house contains one sign. You can change the chart settings from Placidus to Whole Sign Houses. To find out more about what each house represents, you can refer to my blog post on the houses. Although it is useful to decipher which house is activating for yourself, it is not essential to know. The transit and activation will occur regardless and you can choose to watch it unfold before you. Sometimes it’s enough to only know how long the transit will be and when the main phases occur.
Your Ascendant or Rising sign, your Virgo house:
Aries Rising- 6th House
Taurus Rising- 5th House
Gemini Rising-4th House
Cancer Rising- 3rd House
Leo Rising- 2nd House
Virgo Rising- 1st House
Libra Rising-12th House
Scorpio Rising-11th House
Sagittarius Rising- 10th House
Capricorn Rising- 9th House
Aquarius Rising- 8th House
Pisces Rising-7th House
If you are a Pisces rising, you will find Virgo in your 7th house and this Mercury in Virgo transit will be activating your business, personal, and romantic partnerships. This could also be relevant to anyone to anyone with 1st or 7th house activations.
If you are an Aries rising, Virgo is your 6th house and this transit would relate to your physical health. Body parts I associate with Mercury in Virgo include the central nervous system, the vagus nerve, the gut lining, intestines, liver, kidney, nerves, brain. Overstimulation, needing to slow down, rest more, meditate could be relevant to your situation. This could also be relevant to anyone with Sun or Moon in Virgo, or anyone with 1st or 6th house activations.
May this ten week period of Mercury in Virgo work in your favor!
