Monday morning, Mercury will begin its retrograde in mid-Capricorn. About an hour and a half before Mercury shifts into reverse, Mars will leave Aquarius behind to slip into Pisces. Yesterday, in the Planet Waves weekly subscriber edition, Eric delivered an in-depth examination of the Mercury station retrograde in context with the U.S. electoral process.

There will be no attempt here to go over the same ground Eric already covered so well. There is room, however, to add some additional context for what appears to be some historically significant astrology in the making.

First, it is worth noting that Mercury will have initiated four retrogrades by the time 2016 has become history. The usual generalization for Mercury retrogrades is three times a year for approximately three weeks at a time. The fact that Mercury has stationed into reverse four times this year does not mean the solar system has shifted into fourth gear. Planets move predictably like clockwork, but their schedule does not overlay our civil calendar with regularity.

Hence, in context with our calendar, this has been an unusual year for Mercury’s rhythm. In addition, the territory covered by Mercury’s 2016 back-and-forths has been entirely in earth signs (Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo) with two notable exceptions.

When Mercury started its first retreat of the year (back on Jan. 5, 2016), it was just over one degree into Aquarius. As result, a touch of air sign cachet preceded the earth sign flavor that has prevailed ever since. Interestingly, when the impending Mercury retrograde comes to an end on Jan. 8, 2017, direct motion will resume from less than two degrees into the fire sign Sagittarius — symbolically leaving a distinctive aftertaste to the departure.

The next Mercury station direct, on Jan. 8, 2017, is worth mentioning for another reason. There is a lot going on astrologically in the latter degrees of Sagittarius. Without going into a lot of technical detail, the end of this upcoming retrograde will come with a lot of astrological complexity. In correlation with your life, you will probably be saying or hearing the phrase “it’s complicated” a lot as this year ends and next year begins.

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All during Mercury’s next back-and-forth, Mars will be wading through Pisces. That is emblematically complicated, too, especially when you consider how Venus (metaphorical complement of Mars) will be following close behind (but not quite catching up) as it slows into its own retrograde next year.

For astrologers, the big events can be be boiled down into four categories. Eclipses probably earn the heaviest weighting. We will get to two of those in February.

After eclipses, sign changes are a big deal because they essentially represent an actor (a planet) changing its costume (sign) with an implicit change of character as result. In context, retrogrades are usually more subtle in the short run, but often end up being a bigger deal in the long run.

Of course, the fourth major category of astrological event is probably also the most underrated and taken for granted: New and Full Moons. Time does not wither, nor does custom stale, the infinite variety of expressions that spring from the monthly cycles of the Sun and Moon. It is the ultimate context of astrology.

All told, the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Mars will soon be moving with the rest of the solar system so as to imply a lot of complication. If you can only remember one thing about the astrology for the rest of this year and into the next, that would be it. If you could choose only one thing to do in concert with the local cosmos (of which you are an important part — believe it or not), acting to make things less complicated would probably function more than anything else to make your life easier.

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