Another Mercury Rx Wednesday, though Mercury is still supported by relationships with growth-inducing Jupiter and for today, with the moon. That is good because other factors are debilitating Mercury; his proximity to the Sun may leave some feeling overlooked and ignored, possibly by way of misunderstanding. Or, they may truly be ignored, a source of later misunderstanding. Mercury is also still in Libra at current, where it takes its marching orders from Venus – and Venus is not in her best shape right now.

Venus is classically seen as being in a weak position in detail-obsessed Virgo, but there are other troubles. She has a combative relationship with Mars currently, though it will wane after today, a holdover from last week. This may leave some feeling assailed, picked on, oppressed – and because it is Mars in Gemini, probably belittled and talked down to. Venus is also locking into a tough relationship with Neptune, which may leave some feeling disillusioned or confused about Venusian matters of appearance, sex, relationships, artistic sensibility, most likely resulting in issues around self-worth. Lastly, Venus is also moving too close to the Sun to stand out on her own, and may face the same overshadowing as Mercury.

A saving grace for them both is a condition known as mutual reception, one where Mercury and Venus will look out for and care for each other while they are in their current signs. That will change before the end of the week.

Late Wednesday into Thursday (9/22,) the moon will square Uranus and the North Node, a spark for potential volatile, explosive change. Mileage may vary, of course. After that, the moon will oppose Saturn, giving things an oppressive air that may be emotionally heavy. Late in the evening, the Sun will make its ingress into Libra. From about 9:30pm until 7am on Friday (9/23,) Mercury will be exactly conjunct to the Sun at 0 degrees Libra, and a condition known as cazimi will be active. The long and short of it is that, in this state, the planet is said to be in position to transmit clearly, visible as it is standing dead-center in the heart of the Sun, an “eye of the storm” moment. So it may be that this time sees some vital information come to light. It could also be a good time to capitalize on the clear signal to have an important discussion or brain-work. By midday Friday, this will be over and Mercury will be back in Virgo, continuing its moonwalk back into the sign where it normally performs optimally…but note that the retrograde is still on into the beginning of October.

With the Sun now properly in Libra (Happy Autumnal Equinox, btw!), it will positioned across the board from Jupiter in Aries, which will likely challenge issues around identity, confidence, agency. The Sun is said to perform its worst in Libra, cobbling together identity through a series of personal contacts, and in that regard, Jupiter may encourage some to look past the expectations and desires of others to get down to what one really wants to do with themselves.

Saturday (9/24) may see sparks fly, as the Moon in Virgo causes friction with Mars and then with Uranus-North Node. However, the connection to the latter is relatively harmonious despite the inherent volatility of the planet, therefore, some impatience and ill-tempers may give way to substantial sudden improvements. Meanwhile, Mercury and Venus – both still oppressed by both the Sun’s light and the opaque waters of Neptune, – draw close to each other in a conjunction. Mercury is the stronger party here, even retrograde, and may be able to help rethink some ideas around those aforementioned Venusian issues. This conjunction will persist until the coming Thursday, and will perfect before that on Monday (9/26.) The two are also in a harmonious relationship to Pluto, who may help in efforts to dig deep and ask the right questions, though there is a serious danger of getting lost down deep rabbit holes.

But before that, we get a new moon in Libra on Sunday, 9/25. New moons are typically thought of as beginnings of new chapters, and this one will center around many of the Sun-Jupiter issues outlined earlier in this article.

We get a Grand Air Trine on Monday night running into Tuesday (9/27,) basically meaning that there will be an abundance of playful, free-wheeling mental energy about. That said, two of the components are Mars and Saturn, so it might have a lot more to do with cerebral hard work, like planning and administration, maybe dealing with a mountain of backlogged Mercury retrograde problems. This seems especially likely since a contra-antiscial connection between the Sun and Mercury shines a spotlight on the messenger planet on Tuesday. His retrograde is almost over, but not quite. His about-face takes place on the next coming Sunday, Oct 2nd.

Until next Hump Day.