Retrograde Planets, Pisces and the Healing Power of Dreams

The current Mercury and Neptune retrograde transits have afforded me ample opportunity to experience healing through my dreams. I know that last week I commented that Neptune retrograde would probably intensify my dreams because I have Neptune in the 1st house on my ascendant, but it just dawned on me this week that my Neptune forms an out of sign conjunction with Mercury in the 1st house. And everybody knows that Mercury is also retrograde. As in DUH? How could I not expect to have intense dreams? And to sweeten the pot, Chiron in Pisces stations retrograde at 17 degrees of Pisces on June 20th.

I found myself referring to Lisa Zimmerman's quote on Mercury Retrograde from her 2013 piece entitled The Hidden Value of Mercury Retrograde: "Mercury retrograde is a blessing imposed by the Universe, when it is time to slow down, check in with yourself, re-prioritize your life and get quiet to gain clarity and go with the flow. Don't fight it and try to swim upstream -rather, focus on being in the flow."

I don't know if I would go so far as to call Mercury retrograde a blessing, as it is definitely out of my comfort zone, but it certainly does give one pause for thought. In keeping with the tone of that missive, I tweeted on June 16th: "Trying to make the best use of Mercury retrograde by gathering info and getting rid of stuff I don't need."

I also turned to astrologer Pam Younghan's Northpoint Journal for guidance on Chiron. It seems like just yesterday that I was extolling the virtues of Chiron going direct to accelerate the healing process, but it stationed direct on November 19, 2013 at 9 degrees of Pisces. A lot has happened in my life since November and I can honestly say that the healing process has been quite painful on many levels.  Pam Younghans describes Chiron's upcoming retrograde as an opportunity to go more deeply into a spiritual healing process and trust that our lives are unfolding as they should, even if we are unsure of the outcomes. She also reminded me that Chiron in Pisces has themes of boundaries and control. Those are two big issues for me right now. Pisces is renowned for its compassion, yet if taken too far can result in servitude and martyrdom. It's a good time to release unhealthy patterns and bring everything into alignment with our ideals. Release work is a big theme which is reinforced by Mars in Libra, Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries forming a T-square.

Chiron in Pisces continues to square my moon in Gemini in the 8th house and one of the ways it is manifesting for me is to do release work on patterns of fear surrounding power struggles and confrontations. Since Neptune went retrograde on June 9th, my dreams have literally entered another dimension and I wake up mornings with the distinct sense of having traveled back in time to revisit my past and the source of those wounds.

On June16th I had some very unsettling dreams which prompted me to tweet on June 17th: "Very strong dreams last night involving fears of being manipulated and literally treading water. Thank you Mercury and Neptune retrograde!" Was this Mercury's swan song in Cancer?  Retrograde Mercury entered the sign of Gemini on June 17^th.  And the moon entered the sign Pisces on June 17^th at 2:26 p.m.  The compassionate, empathetic feelings that Pisces engenders were definitely felt by others.  Check out what one of my Twitter friends tweeted on June 17^th:

 lunar scorpio @moon_scorpio  

Tonight flood gates of intuitive awareness will be wide open. Messages will be pouring in by oceans. Remember your dreams tomorrow :)

I can honestly say this tweet was prophetic for me.  On June 18^th I tweeted: “Early morning Neptune moon conjunction in Pisces brought me a dream of healing past wounds by connecting with certain people.”  In my dream I visited, of my own volition, some folks who had hurt me and we hugged at the end of the dream.  It was a powerful experience of forgiveness, which doesn’t come easily to a Scorpio!  So it looks like I am actually experiencing healing through my dreams!

But June 18^th was a much, lighter carefree day with Venus in Taurus sextiling Jupiter in Cancer.  These two planets like to party and have fun, so the mood was much more upbeat.  I got my hair done, did some shopping and got invited to a garden party this weekend.  The previous day I had been commiserating with another Scorpio friend and she expressed her belief that that things will improve for Scorpios in August.  By August Jupiter will be in the sign of Leo, Saturn will be direct and Uranus will be retrograde.  I don’t have that much of a problem with Uranus retrograde, perhaps because I was born with it.  I didn’t know whether to believe my friend on the 17^th, but by the 18^th I was starting to believe it.  Maybe Saturn in Scorpio trining the Pisces moon gave hope that we could manifest our dreams.

Also, on June 18^th I read my Daily Horoscope app on my smart phone for Scorpio and it really resonated for me.  It said: “Some long-term endeavor has turned out to be much harder than you thought it would be.  You have given it your best-as you always do, Scorpio – and yet your best is not reflected in your progress.  Maybe it’s you.  You are probably starting to second-guess yourself and question your talents, and your skills and your ability to actually make that happen.  But you are tough.  If you hang in there just a little bit longer, you will get a glimpse of what is possible – and it will impress you.”

Obviously, at the very least I am opening up to getting some positive reinforcement from paying attention to signs from the universe after a frustrating period of attempting to build my business. That Venus Jupiter sextile on June 18^th was a boon for our spirits and on June 19^th I tweeted that “Pisces moon trining Jupiter today lends dreamy, self indulgent quality which continues the tone of yesterday’s Venus Jupiter sextile.”

All I can say is pay attention to your dreams, folks and heed the signs that the universe is providing.  Both Neptune and Chiron in Pisces are providing all of the tools we need for healing and spiritual growth.   And don’t forget to enjoy the Summer Solstice on June 21^st when the Sun enters the sign of Cancer at 6:51 a.m. Summer’s coming!

Please consider getting an astrological reading to obtain more insight and healing during these challenging times. Check out my services page on this site at:

http://phoenixscorpio.blogspot.com/p/services-offered.html

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