Mercury Retrograde in Libra 2022 — Autumn Equinox Purification

The sign of Virgo gradually takes us towards the Autumn Equinox, as sunlight decreases day by day. Mercury, Messenger of the Gods, is now strong and dignified right in Virgo, his nocturnal domicile. But since last week has started to slow down more and more in the sky, getting ready to turn retrograde and walk us through a long purification process.

On September 10 Mercury is going to turn retrograde at 8° 55′ Libra. In this article we are going to talk about the aspects that it is going to make with slower planets. And we are going to understand the overall process that the cosmic mind is going to undertake, with a beautiful symmetry worthy of Libra.

Mercury Retrograde in Libra 2022 Meaning

Mercury is the god of the Mind and Intellect, ruling communication and the exchange of both information and goods. Usually we use this force to solve problems in the outer world and to relate to other people. But when Mercury turns retrograde the Mind turns its attention within to better understand and process inner issues. Communication becomes not as effective, and life problems get more challenging as well.

In particular, Mercury in Libra is going to challenge us in relationships. In these months, he’s going to guide us through a very interesting (and quite rich!) purification process that I’d like to show you step by step.

Mercury Purification Process

We can break down this process in three parts:

1. Mercury enters the shadow zone and he starts confronting the temptations to process through the whole retrograde period (trine with Pluto, opposition with Neptune);
2. Mercury goes retrograde and a long phase begins in which we question our behavior, especially in relationships (opposition with Jupiter). This is the heart of the purification process, just before Mercury enters the solar furnace to be regenerated (inferior conjunction);
3. Mercury turns direct again and confronts again the same temptations to test whether the purification has been successful or not (trine with Pluto, opposition with Neptune).

The Temptation

Let’s take a look at Mercury aspects, starting in late august when Mercury entered the shadow zone (August 21). We can see down below that Mercury was making an opposition with Neptune in Pisces and a Trine with Pluto in Capricorn.

Pluto is the planet of hidden things, and with a good aspect he tempts Mercury with the power of words, persuasion and manipulation. All things that allow him to twist situations to his advantage. Mercury here is still in Virgo, so it is extremely strong. And being in a very efficient earth sign, he tends to focus this power on accomplishing practical things

This temptation is especially true with the opposition with Neptune in Pisces taking place almost at the same time. This means that we may also start deceiving or deluding ourselves—and not just other people. We may think that what we’re doing is for the good, or that’s the best best thing to do. But is it really so?

The Furnace

On August 26 Mercury enters Libra, and after a few days a long opposition with Jupiter begins. As you can see down below the opposition (in orange) covers the majority of September. We’ve been talking a lot about Jupiter in Aries and the way it strengthens a warrior mindset. And in the first week of September, with the trine with Mars in Gemini (in green), Mercury will go that direction. But this is not going to last long.

From Libra, Mercury is going to second-guess the Warrior’s mentality, asking questions that take other people into more account. Especially those we might have been naively manipulating for our practical needs in the name of our ideals:

• Where is my personal integrity (Jupiter in Aries) leading me? Am I really doing the right thing (Libra-justice)?
• What’s the effect of my behavior (Aries-action) on other people, especially those close to me? How is this affecting my relationships (Libra)?
• Is strength (Aries) the right way (Libra) to address this issue?

If these questions seem moralistic to you, it is because they are. In fact, when Jupiter is in opposition to a planet, it can instill such issues. In this regard, Mercury retrograde in Libra can become quite indecisive!

This purification process, which is all about personal discernment, ends on September 23—the Autumn Equinox. On this very strong date Mercury enters the furnace, conjoining the Sun that has just entered Libra.

Mercury’s inferior conjunction represents a moment of death and rebirth for the planet, and the culmination of the purification process where he is reborn completely new. The conjunction with Venus, taking place a couple of days after, is going to help Mercury recovering from it.

The Trial

In late September Mercury is going to revisit the aspects that’s made with Neptune and Pluto. As you can see down below, they are going to be longer than the previous ones. At this point we might ask: has our purification been successful? Or are we going back to our old habits?

Whether this journey of the cosmic mind has been only a moment of indecisiveness, without bearing any fruit, or rather a precious process of re-evaluation of our relationships, as always depends on each one of us.

Mercury Retrograde in Libra 2022 Dates

• Sun Aug 21: Mercury enters the shadow zone
• Sun Aug 21: Mercury (24Vir43) Opposite [24Pis43] Neptune
• Mon Aug 22: Mercury (26Vir36) Trine [26Cap36] Pluto
• Fri Aug 26: Mercury (29Vir59) enters Libra
• Sat Sep 3: Mercury ( 6Lib39) Opposite [ 6Ari39] Jupiter
• Sat Sep 10: Mercury < 8Lib55> turns Retrograde
• Sun Sep 18: Mercury [ 4Lib44] Opposite [ 4Ari44] Jupiter
• Fri Sep 23: Mercury ( 0Lib14) Conjoins [ 0Lib14] the Sun
• Fri Sep 23: Mercury [ 0Lib00] enters Virgo
• Mon Sep 26: Mercury [26Vir47] Conjoins (26Vir47) Venus
• Tue Sep 27: Mercury [26Vir08] Trine [26Cap08] Pluto
• Sun Oct 2: Mercury <24Vir11> turns Direct
• Fri Oct 7: Mercury (26Vir07) Trine [26Cap07] Pluto
• Tue Oct 11: Mercury (29Vir59) enters Libra
• Wed Oct 12: Mercury ( 1Lib40) Opposite [ 1Ari40] Jupiter
• Sun Oct 16: Mercury leaves the shadow zone

Thanks for reading, as always if you enjoyed this article please subscribe to the Astronomicon Newsletter with the bar at the top of the website to receive weekly updates and not to miss future posts about future transits. For private consultations, click on this link. Thanks again and have a good week.

Roberto Corona

I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.