going on around about, and the baboon
plays on his smartphone or abacus.
Thoth is an unusual god. Though some
stories place him as a son of Ra, others say
that Thoth created himself through the
power of language. He is the creator of
magic, the inventor of writing, teacher of
man, the messenger of the gods, and thus, is
identified by the Greeks with Hermes. He
is also the divine record-keeper and media-
tor. Read more of this at: http://www.toure-
gypt.net/godsofegypt/thoth.htm#ixzz2gn9
UwpyB
Some years ago I had thought deeply
about Mercury Retrograde and sincerely
asked on a soul level, “What is this about?
What is the purpose of this Retrograde for
our development? Is it really only about
causing chaos and confusion?” Study con-
firms that the Retrograde of Mercury, as
with the other planets, has something to do
with intuitive activity inside of us. Ivy Gold-
stein Jacobson in her book The Way of As-
trology, wrote: “The Retrograde condition
taken both positively of negatively accord-
ing to the planet’s good or bad side . . . has
the positive equipment to turn within and
research his inner resources for whatever he
wants in life ... A retrograde planet is turned
away ... refused early recognition, but the
retrograde direction gives the power to go
back and try, try again; the person has the
ability to reverse and reconcile all differ-
ences.” p. 50.
Further, Ivy talks about the development
of the intuition, or still small voice, within
the individual with more than one retro-
grade in the birth chart, cultivated and ma-
tured out of patience and the need to deal
with the frustration of waiting for what
cannot be directly and quickly thought, said
or manifested.
“To be retrograde is to regress within so
that the native learns by in-tuition, research
and revelation; he is considered recondite, a
word that means mysterious, remotely pro-
found and given to secret knowledge. Such
persons are possessed of inner reasoning
O P A
❥
power and such planets register strongly in
their future ... More is required of a person
with more retrograde planets than one; he
registers ethically because he recognizes this
moral obligation early in life, and has ability
to renounce his personal desires in the name
of duty, conscience and honor ...” p. 52
The more I thought about it, the more I
came to realize the true wisdom of the
Trickster’s retrograde cycle in the evolution
of our thought and communication. What
if, when Mercury is actually closer to the
earth in its perceived retrogradation, it was
actually stimulating so many extra energies
of communication and thought, that there
was a stronger inner voice available to us.
Not only that, but there was an opportu-
nity, a purpose afoot, whereby the inner
voice, the intuition, was supposed to be de-
veloped and practiced to most beneficial re-
sult, so that the habitual patterns of
thinking, communicating and traveling
about to get this done could be challenged,
changed and reset. Aren’t we supposed to
be growing in wisdom and ability to keep
our own counsel in all things, all the time?
What if this Mercury Retrograde cycle was
rigged to train us to do just that? What if
the Trickster, Mercury, was the master
teacher who gets us to actually break our
habits of thought? How useless this lesson
would be if we merely create another nega-
tive habit of thinking that we cannot ever
decide or do anything original during a ret-
rograde Mercury period.
In 2013, the three Mercury retrograde cy-
cles all took place in the Water Signs exactly
where the Grand trine in Water was also in
the sky. It was the Chinese year of the
Water Snake, of course! This year, each of
the three cycles begins in the water sign and
retrogrades back to the previous air sign be-
fore moving on. It is the Chinese year of the
Wood Horse, growing beside the water and
grazing from thoughts and gathering infor-
mation. It started with Pisces going back
into Aquarius. The second cycle, in June,
highlights Mercury’s own sign of Gemini,
The Organization for Professional Astrology
11
unaspected, so it is very powerful. Mercury
started in Cancer, then backed into Gemini
before going forward to join the Sun enter-
ing the Moon’s sign of Cancer magnified by
Jupiter. Decisions about whether to be logi-
cal or emotional have been raging across our
world unmitigated and with the post
shadow we only hope that the brink of wars
will be reconsidered, and that the storms
forecast will be diverted or downgraded in
severity somehow. In October, the retro-
grade period of October 4, 2014 through
October 25, 2014 will start in Scorpio and
revisit Libra. During that time Mercury will
trine Neptune, sextile Jupiter, square Pluto
and oppose Uranus. What changes we can-
not complete after the June cycle, we may
have an opportunity to balance and negoti-
ate in October. May we all listen to the Still
Small Voice within and bring out our au-
thentic voice of experience and wisdom no
matter what is going on around us, not
withhold it out of fear driven habit of hesita-
tion and indecisiveness, but speak out with
compassion, patience and perseverance.
Just before she died, Maya Angelou
posted this:
Listen to yourself
and in that quietude you
might hear the voice of God.
— Maya Angelou
2:43 PM - 23 May 2014
Victoria (Peltz) Smoot, M.S. of Ed., has
been an astrologer since the 1980s, based in
Lakewood, Ohio. She combines metaphysical
studies and experience on Egypt tours with as-
trology. Since 2009, she joined ISAR, with
CAP certification, and is editor of ISAR’s The
International Astrologer. She is a certified
professional member of OPA, and teaches work-
shops with IAA, the International Academy of
Astrology.
THE CAREER ASTROLOGER
SUMMER 2014