Mercury Retrograde in Pisces—Horoscopes and How to Deal

Retrograde planets are on a mission to get off the beaten path and explore the celestial backroads. This itinerant feeling is especially true of Mercury in Pisces. Each of the planets has certain signs they call home, and for Mercury these are Gemini and Virgo. When Mercury is opposite its home signs, it is like a traveler far from home who may not have access to all its natural resources.

In its explorations of the side roads and alleyways of Pisces, Mercury can get into situations where a Virgoan attention to detail and efficiency simply won’t do the trick. In Pisces, opening to a wider mystical view of things is necessary, and this can be very overwhelming if your brain is stuck in detail mode. Fortunately, there is a small zone of Pisces where Mercury has a place to retreat and get its affairs in order. Mercury enters this zone on March 21, a week before station direct, so while this particular retrograde may be more intense initially, it won’t last quite as long as others.

Astrological Aspects of Mercury Retrograde in Pisces 2019

Because of the back and forth motion, Mercury repeats aspects to the same planet three times during its passage through Pisces. The most difficult of these aspects is the square to Jupiter, the natural ruler of Pisces. These squares happen on February 22, March 15, and April 11. Friction with authorities is generally best avoided—this is especially true if you are a wanderer. If toes get stepped on, be generous with apologies, offer to make amends far exceeding what seems necessary, and add a touch of irony or humor.

Mercury makes three conjunctions with mystical Neptune on February 19, March 24, and April 2. It’s best to relax expectations around these dates, and keep a lot of wiggle room for yourself. With an open mind and the proper setting, exquisite visions of artistic or religious splendor are possible. Help is available if you ask for it from the three sextiles to Saturn on February 19, March 20, and April 7. Watch for trends as each of these aspects repeat, learn from the previous experience and adjust accordingly.

Read this now: Everything You Need to Know About 2019’s Mercury Retrogrades

Key dates for Mercury Retrograde in Pisces 2019

February 10 Mercury enters Pisces
February 26 Mercury at maximum elongation (begins to slow down)
March 5 Mercury stations retrograde at 29° Pisces 39’
March 14 Mercury conjunct the Sun (closest to Earth)
March 28 Mercury stations direct at 16° Pisces 06’
April 11 Mercury at maximum elongation (begins to speed up)
April 17 Mercury leaves Pisces

Which signs are most affected by the transit?

Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces
Your ability to switch between and re-define your roles, take creative risks, and expand upon your successes will define your experience. This may be harder to explain to others than to pull off, so don’t let yourself get bogged down by doubters but just reassure them you care and keep moving.

Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius
Your deepest connections may be upset or challenged during this period, whether at home, in business and romantic relations, or in your spiritual community. It’s imperative you keep your cool if these things are to work themselves out. Allow yourself to take a time-out and blow off steam before coming back, re-affirming your emotional commitments and asking what you can do to help or make it better. Be sure to listen before rushing to fix it.

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Horoscopes to Help You Deal

The fishes of Pisces swim in the ocean of the collective unconscious. Your most powerful ally during this transit is your imagination, so you should practice using it as often as possible. Try to imagine what would have happened next in your dream had you not awakened. Imagine alternate endings to the movie or show you watched recently. Allow your mind to wander while doing menial tasks and even take more frequent short breaks where you can sit and daydream even if for just a few minutes. If you make space for it to live and breathe in your life, sooner or later the unconscious will bless you with imaginative solutions. The key is to think less and imagine more.

Aries

Discretion is the better part of valor dear Aries, so find some time to get away. Practice avoiding direct conflict, direct action, and forthright speech. Take the long way home whenever you can. Find a secret hiding spot that feels like it belongs to you. In the midst of these experiences, you will find a strange peace. From here, you can see that very little in life needs to be forced, so learn to apply it only when truly necessary.

Taurus

For all your practicality, you tend to surround yourself with dreamers. Ask yourself why this is. Could it be that you need the dream of a greener pasture to inspire you to green up the ones in which you live? Instead of poo-pooing your imaginative friends, encourage them to take it further by asking what happens next. By doing this simple thing, you will get partial credit when the dreamers finally do strike gold.

Gemini

You sometimes have a reputation for dancing on the surface and avoiding the depths, dear Gemini. I suggest you break out your swimsuit and practice your best swan dive or mud wrestling moves. By showing you care enough to go deep or get dirty without hesitation, you can enhance your reputation and be seen as more of a leader.

Cancer

Expanding your horizons need not involve anything new. Re-visiting creative projects that you thought were dead ends could pay off now. Risks that didn’t pay off before may have a better chance now, so give good ideas another shot. See how the person you are now would do it slightly differently than the person you were, and adjust accordingly.

Leo

You have your reasons for being suspicious of the human heart, dear Leo. But avoiding emotional entanglements denies yourself access to other people’s gifts as well. You tend to need structure or limits in place before your emotional life can flow freely.  Practice the art of granting exceptions to these rules. This keeps things orderly, without having to withhold the fiery spirit that draws people to you.

Virgo

We like to think of our closest relationships as being truly equal, but in truth, this is rarely the case. The balance of power constantly swings back and forth between two people, depending on the situation and their needs. Rather than keeping scores from the past, or withholding gratification till the future, I suggest you practice the art of the deal in the present by imagining multiple win-win scenarios and then seeing which one any moment tends to favor.

Libra

Mastery of anything involves repetition, but as an artist, there is a fine line between mastering a skill, developing a niche, and getting pigeon-holed. It may be time for you to open up, accept new challenges, and develop new skills or new applications for the ones you have. Being willing to try plenty of things that don’t work and making a mess of things before figuring it out is always part of this process. Let go of certainties and cultivate beginners mind.

Scorpio

Fixed signs are not renowned for their willingness to take risks, and yet this is the price of entry to anything worthwhile. You are changing, and your ability to take risks with this new identity is vital to its growth. Hedge your bets or spread the risk out somewhat, but you must be willing to lose in order to win. Keeping a philosophical attitude toward this process can help take the sting out of any losses.

Sagittarius

Adventures await you on the home-front. Whether it is guests from out of town, renovation projects, or someone needing more or new space, the winds of change are going to keep you up a little. Get some extra rest and make sure to eat right when you can. Most of all make sure the people you love know that your support is unconditional.

Capricorn

The relationships between various groups in your community may be in a state of flux. Your loyalties may be tried in the process. But rather than simply choosing sides, it could be that you can serve as an intermediary and help each group see the others side. To do this, you will need to acknowledge and divest yourself of any conflicts of interest.

Aquarius

You are being called to discover and exploit resources you didn’t know you had. We tend to think of resources as finite and limited, but when we really need to we can always dig down and find a little extra. In the process, we usually find things we’ve forgotten or didn’t know were there. These may appear to be junk at first, but with a little imagination can be transformed.

Pisces

What is truth? Pisces native Johnny Cash wrote a song with this title when an invitation to perform at the White House challenged him to reconcile his conflicting identities as a progressive maverick and conservative family man. Skillfully, he did not deign to the proffered role of patriot, but rather found a way to inhabit both identities by suggesting that helping seemingly misguided youth find the truth was important, as they are the keepers of the future. How can you similarly reconcile seemingly conflicting parts of your identity?

Gary P. Caton is a transdisciplinary astrologer who maintains an active sacred relationship with the living Sky as his temple. Initiated an astrologer by a magnificent dream in 1993, Gary is the author of Hermetica Triptycha: The Mercury Elemental Year, and host of the popular Hermetic Astrology Podcast. Find Gary online at DreamAstrologer.com

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