Auntie Moon

Mercury enters Aquarius, January 12, where he will stay until the end of the month. I can’t help but think of Nicola Tesla with Mercury in this position. Wireless light bulbs in the 1890’s? Ahead of his time, don’t you think? There’s some interesting information about Tesla’s chart at the bottom of this post. But on to Mercury…

Mercury in Aquarius is inventive, scientific, innovative, and forward thinking. Practicality can escape Mercury in this sign giving the impression of being a mad scientist, nerd, or geek. Mercury here isn’t particularly concerned with other people’s emotions. People who express this side of Mercury in Aquarius don’t set out to hurt our feelings; they just aren’t as aware of them as we’d like them to be.

Mercury Retrograde

As of January 12, Mercury is at 0° Aquarius. On February 1st, the dandy fellow will move into Pisces, then turn retrograde on February 6. By the 14th, he’ll be back at 29°  Aquarius. He’ll turn direct on February 28th at 18° Aquarius, travel through Aquarius again, and re-enter Pisces on March 17th.

To clear that up a bit: Merc is retrograde from February 6 – 28.

Take a look at Aquarius house(s) in your chart to see where this dance is taking place. If you have any retrograde difficulties, they are most likely to revolve around your Aquarius house(s) issues.

Don’t let any Valentines go missing or to the wrong person with this Merc Rx!

Nikola Tesla

Here’s the interesting thing about Tesla’s chart that’s worth mentioning. He wasn’t an Aquarian and had no planets in Aquarius. He was a Cancer with a Libra Moon. Sounds like a charming fellow, and not especially “weird.” So where does all the futuristic, inventive, scientific focus come from? Decans and duads!

• Tesla’s Mercury is at 28° Gemini 7’ – the third decan, assigned to Aquarius and subruled by Uranus.
• His Sun is at 17° Cancer 48’ – Scorpio decan, Aquarius duad ruled by Uranus
• His Moon at 14° Libra 0’ and Mars at 18° Libra 56’ are in the Aquarius decan, subruled by Uranus. (The Moon is based on a midnight chart, so this placement isn’t certain.)
• His Uranus was in Taurus. I love Judith Leach’s keywords for this placement, “practical use of the occult” and “material gain through originality. . .unusual, progressive enterprises.”

So, even without any planets in Aquarius, we have a man who fulfilled the Aquarian potential: to improve the world for the rest of us. Too bad we dismissed the wireless technology back then. Where would we be today?!

If you’re a fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson (and I certainly am!), you may find it interesting to note that his Uranus is at 15° Leo 21’. That’s the Aquarius duad of Leo, btw, ruled by Uranus. His ability to entertain us (Leo) with science (Uranus) is well known. He scoffs. We learn. What a wonderful world. 🙂