sorry medyo late (life has thrown me a curve ball), but mercury’s retrograde,in case you’re interested. may26 to june 19.

if you’re into astrology, take note.

three times a year the planet mercury, viewed from planet earth, seems to stop moving forward, instead seems to move backward, as in paatras, along its orbit. the first of these retrograde motions 2008 begins on january 29 and ends on february 19 (effects might be felt from a whole week before until a whole week after).

the co-incidence is, tipong paatras din – “as above, so below” – ang takbo ng buhay-buhay dito sa lupa, particularly in matters that have to do with communications and transportation (both ruled by mercury). a time when any astrologer will tell you, whatever your sunsign, not to be surprised or angry with yourself or with others when things move slowly, or contrarily; to expect all kinds of delays and hassles no matter how well-laid your plans are; not a good time to start anything new, sign new contracts, or buy new stuff, specially electronics and vehicles (anything to do with transport and communications) because you could end up getting a lemon; but if you really have to, then take extra precautions, read the fine print, be clear about your options in case something goes wrong.

in my experience, it’s also a time na yung akala mong tapos na e hindi pa pala. loose ends call for attention, for closure. a good time to deal with recurring problems and issues, or to resolve them finally, or pag-usapan man lang, para hindi paulit-ulit, or kungmaulit man, medyo ibang level na… as in a spiral instead of cycles.

with mercury paatras it’s wise to reschedule, repair, return, redecorate, restore, replace, reconsider, review, rethink, rewrite…

from llewelyn’s 2008 sunsign book, based on certain angles three heavy planets are making to each other in the coming year as they proceed along individual orbits. you don’t need to know where your sun or moon or ascendant is to benefit from this reading:

2008 at a glance

the planets move through the heavens at different rates of speed, interacting with each other many times a year or, in the case of the slow-moving outer planets, only in certain centuries. for example, the moon transits each sign in 28 days. pluto’s time in a sign is measured in decades. and all but the sun and moon have retrograde periods, where they appear to stop, move backward, pause again, and move forward. the most well-known of these is mercury, which is retrograde three or four times a year.

because of these different rates of speed, it is impossible for all but the fastest moving planets (sun, moon, mercury, venus, and mars) to contact each of the outer planets (jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune, and pluto) every year. any year in which saturn, urnaus, neptune and pluto contact each other is usually a momentous one in some way. and that is exactly what makes 2008 a very unusual astrological year.

year there is a configuration involving three of the outer planets — jupiter, saturn, and uranus. jupiter, which is the focal point of this configuration, will contact both saturn and uranus, which will contact each other, forming a scalene triangle in which the three sides are 60 degrees, 120 degrees, and 180 degrees.

it is rare that any three outer planets align like this. these three last formed this particular configuration in 1829. and the next occurrence will be in 2146.

jupiter represents expansion, saturn represents contraction, and uranus represents the unusual and the unexpected. when all this diverse energy is active during one period, as they will be in november 2008, you can expect major events in the world, in your personal life, and in the lives of those around you.

jupiter will form a favorable contact to saturn that signifies a positive mix of expansion and restriction; one balances the other, and each keeps the other in check–a good mix of optimism and pessimism. jupiter will also form a favorable contact with uranus, which signifies opportunity and luck. this is the fabulous opportunity that comes out of left field. you will find yourself moving in new directions to take advantage of jupiter’s growth potential through the houses of saturn and uranus.

that sounds terrrific, and it is. the catch is the stressful contact between saturn and uranus. the energy of these two planets couldnt be more different: saturn is restriction; uranus is freedom, change, the expected. this means that you will in some way encounter a hurdle as the universe challenges you to break from from restriction, as jupiter encourages you to look to the future and to envision the possibilities. a cautionary note: think and act carefully. action taken this year will probably be irreversible.”

imagine if we were a more enlightened race. then we would be thinking not of self but of nation, and how to make the most of the terrific vibes of 2008 to make sure the changes are truly beneficial to the majority and not just to a few. but who knows, maybe it’s not too late. for all our flaws, we are also a race capable of surprising ourselves.

happy 2008 y’all !