Weekend of August 20-21, and Preview of Two Months of a Dark Epoch
I have to write on the Dark or Slow Hermetic Epochs again and again because it seems that for most of us everything then goes haywire, or in unpredictable and often unsettling directions. What good would I be as Cosmic Piper if I didn’t try to elucidate that and what it might mean? First, lunar data for the weekend:
Saturday 20 August: Moon in Gemini
Sunday 21 August: Moon in Gemini—>Cancer
/moon goes void-of-course at 3:08p PT | 6:08p ET | 10:08p UT
until it enters Cancer at 5:30p PT | 8:30p ET | 12:30a(M) UT
Now back to the Dark or Slow Epoch. It begins today (Saturday):
DHE begins 8/20 . . . (Mercury Retrograde 9/9 through 10/2) . . .
DHE ends on 10/16, for a total of about 57 days.
The difference between the actual Mercury Retrograde period, which has a well-deserved negative reputation, and the earlier and later segments of the total DHE, is to me almost academic, or a matter of degree. You can observe and see whether or not you agree.
It works out in both small and big ways. For example, to repeat some things I posted at an earlier DHE (last May), I then waited interminably for some pages to load on my laptop, for days. I found that my new iPhone did not ring, and realized that somehow the little side button muting calls had gotten pushed out. How, I do not know; ask Mercury. I think of people I want to, or ought to, contact, but postpone it because it seems communication is fraught with difficulties or misunderstandings. Is it worthwhile trying, in this case, or not? Be bold or timid? No easy answers but maybe during Dark or Slow Epochs we are being trained to work more closely with our intuition.
Some of the following was written specifically about the MR period, about three weeks at the center of any DHE, of last May, but it can apply to the whole two-month period:
REview: How many hours will police and school and other officials in Texas be REviewing what happened at the Uvalde school last May? Dark or Slow Epochs can bring much legalistic or technical review of things that need to be fixed or at least better understood. As for myself, today I am REviewing what I have written about M~R and REposting some of it. That seems inevitable while we are in this time-loop.
More small things with M~R and DHE, to give further perspective: There can be forgetfulness. A couple days ago (last May) I was outside my apartment building and noted that a car parked nearby had its lights flashing. I wished I could warn the owner, but how? Then two days later I went down to get my mail and saw another car parked on the same street with its lights flashing and the owner nowhere in sight. I hope that neither of these drivers returned to find their batteries run down. That may not be major in some cases but in others, as an emergency, it could be major. “For the want of a horse, a battle is lost . . .” M~R can be forgetfulness. (The principal at Uvalde, some have said, could not find the key to the killing room.)
The Texas school massacre is a textbook case of what can go wrong when Mercury is retrograde (or during the longer DHE): The police seem to have been grossly incompetent all the way through the hour and 20 minutes of the horror. They stupidly let the killer into the school! Then, apparently the principal of the school could not find the key to the locked room! That sounds almost funny but the consequences were hideous. Incompetence, or malfeasance? Maybe, although it is wise to “judge not that ye be not judged.” I believe strongly that if police forces and emergency responders knew about Mercury Retrograde and were trained in what it means they would do enhanced jobs during those times.
Despite all I have written about Mercury Retrograde and the Dark or Slow Epochs, it seems that many still do not get the message or the idea or comprehend what it means, so I press on with endless explanations and examples. Actually the M~R period of three weeks always occurs at the center of the seven- or eight- week long Dark Hermetic Epoch (as I named this cycle decades ago). Of course Mercury is not literally dark during this period, but it is Slow and that seems to manifest as darkness in the human consciousness.
A Disinformation Board proposed by the Biden Administration, widely mocked and ridiculed as the Ministry of Truth, was made public on April 27. The very day after that a Dark Hermetic Epoch began! Later it was DISbanded, ended, or “put on pause” amid much embarrassment. That’s while Mercury was retrograde, suggesting REmission, REtreat, REvaluation and so on
Elon Musk announced his plan to purchase Twitter in April before the beginning of the DHE, but by May 17, during the Mercury Retrograde period, the New York Times observes: “Behind the scenes, the two sides are proceeding with the deal: They jointly put out a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Renegotiating a deal would not be easy for Mr. Musk.” Notice the REnegotiation terminology. And the REgulatory filing. But this is not just playing with words. Musk and Twitter may go through with the deal, but often our plans need to be REbalanced, REviewed, and REarranged during the REtrograde period or the Slow Epoch—-for Musk, Twitter, you and me. (And the Twitter-Musk thing is still in turmoil more than three months later.)
It goes without saying that these periods bring the unexpected, and often the unwanted, every day if not every hour. We REadjust constantly. Things we had abandoned in the past come to life again, as for example UFOs, even in Congress last May. We consider psychic phenomena in a fresh way and feel we have one foot in another world. Sometimes this can be disorienting to the point we feel we might be going senile or “losing it,” but I assure you this is not true. It is just one symptom of that huge syndrome, the Dark or Slow Epoch, which seems to catapult us into a different kind of time, a fourth dimension unlike our usual temporal sense. Thinking or dreaming of the past is natural and not to be despised. Wondering about the future can be unsettling and so to make it harmless we should give ourselves a lot of affirmations of goodness to set our minds in a fulfilling direction rather than bring on what we worry about pointlessly. At best this can be a fulfilling time if saturated with openness plus calm poise.
Other words to consider during the M~R period are DIS words. The Ministry of Truth was (wisely) DISmissed. People get all hot under the collar about supposed DISinformation, but there is vast DISagreement as to what that is. It is easy to be DISturbed by multiple odd factors which seem almost demonic, like my neighbor keeping me awake so that I had to move my bed to another room or REpair noises connected with plumbing in my neighborhood which sounded like metal banging on metal last May, calming down eventually. Extra patience with such stuff is needed.
There are ANOMALIES, another M~R word, such as spilling things in the kitchen or on one’s clothes, but fortunately the demons of DISplacement did not always trip us up that far. Trivial? Yes, but often some “fresh” disaster which never occurred before (like dropping an open bag of coffee or forgetting where one put one’s keys) usurps our poise under the aegis of Mercury’s slow or backward dithering.
Related to anomaly is “anomie,” a rarely used word except in sociology and philosophy. Merriam-Webster says: “Social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values. / ‘The reforms of a ruined economy, under these conditions, brought about social anomie, desperation and poverty rather than relief and prosperity.’ also : Personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals. / ‘In the face of these prevailing values, many workers experience a kind of anomie. Their jobs become empty, meaningless, and intrinsically unsatisfying.’”
It does not have to get that bad during the Mercury Retrograde 3 weeks, or the Dark Hermetic Epoch’s 7 to 8 weeks, but it can. Other words are Drift, Daydreaming, Confusion, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
But let’s look at the bright side. “Dark” can mean profound, and in the darkness of night we have some of our most profound experiences. These can be thrilling, whether for good or bad. Probably most crimes are committed under the cover of darkness, but also exciting discoveries and exalting meditations. Psychic phenomena are rife during the MR and DHE periods, as well as UFO experiences whether “in the sky” or as contactee, and whether imaginary or veridical. For decades I have noted that I am attracted to the UFO phenomenon during the DHE periods (or MR periods at their center). This time Congress was also drawn to the phenomenon. UFOs, and other anomalous phenomena, DISappear magically, and REappear.
We REview and REcollect and REminisce. The past is our friend, not our enemy, provided we look on its happy side and embrace the goodness it has offered and holds for us in memory. A TV series, musical group, or set of novels may be DIScontinued, but we can always go back and REanimate the episodes, stories or songs we want to REexperience.
RElationships can fall on the rocks, or they can REvive.
It’s a fascinating time.
Things are “out of pattern” in countless ways, yet this can inspire us to seek what is permanent or eternal: our living souls and the Creator of them. Spiritual growth can be a major happy product of the M~R and DHE cycles.
There are both forbidding and very pleasant aspects over the coming week. Saturn is the harsh planet of our System and it is still being opposed by the sun, squared by Uranus and, beginning Sunday, opposed by Venus. Venus’s trine with Jupiter has been quite lovely for the past two weeks, with good feelings and high spirits much of the time, but that is diminishing and the opposition with Saturn taking its place. Love is not necessarily on the rocks but could be questioned more, and the difficult side of people could seem more prominent. A more mental or intellectual side of things might accelerate with Mars entering Gemini and the sun Virgo. Mercury in its own sign trine Pluto, exact this weekend and early next week, can give transcendent perspective and powers of persuasion.
{Weekend of August 20-21, and the coming Epoch, 8/20 through 10/16}
Cosmic Piper
