Since in a little while the solar eclipse is set to begin it’s path I though that it would be the best time to answer an Ask A Witch question that I received yesterday asking about the influence of retrograde planets, specifically the ones retrograde right now, have over our magickal work. So let’s dive in!
What does Jupiter and Uranus being retrograde mean for my magikal workings during the solar eclipse on Nov. 13-14? We always hear about Mercury in retrograde but, I at least anyway, don’t know much about the other two and next to nothing in terms of a solar eclipse time.
Thank you!
– Caroline
Right now we have three planets in their retrograde patterns. A planet being retrograde simply means that it is moving at such a slow rate that, to us on earth, the planet appears as though it’s moving backward, though it really isn’t {because that would be crazy}. When a planet goes retrograde we find that the energy and traits of those planets become internal for us. It becomes a little difficult to work with that planet’s energy in an outward fashion and often times we also find that some of that energy from the retrograde planet becomes suppressed. We see that with Mercury retrograde a lot; communication becomes difficult and the ease or power of using technology that Mercury rules becomes either difficult or stopped altogether.
When planets are in retrograde motion it’s a good idea to work with the energy of that planet in a contemplative way where we can stop and work on examining situations and consequences related to our actions with regard to the areas ruled by that planet. In my opinion and experience it’s best not to work magick related to a specific planet when it’s retrograde and instead to work with that planet for meditation and reflection. You certainly can do the magick that you need to do during a retrograde {some retrogrades can last for months} but it just means that delays and unexpected outcomes are more likely and we should take them into consideration.
Does it really matter or make a difference? Yes…and no. If you work with planetary timing or planetary energy you need to take into account ALL planets and planet elements, not just the ones that you want to work with. In other words if you work around Mercury Retrograde you need to consider other planets in retrograde as well. We all know about Mercury Retrograde but often don’t familiarize ourselves with the other retrogrades {which is something I’ll be addressing in my 2013 magickal planner coming out next month}.
Right now, along with Mercury {which you can read all about that over here and a bit about the retrograde process here, since I’ve talked about this a bit before} we also have Uranus and Jupiter in retrograde.
Uranus is used magickally for anything that has us thinking outside of the box. It helps us to start new projects while hitting the ground running, breaking up old patterns of thinking or acting, and helping us to welcome in unique and different ways to approaching things. We can work with Uranus to help with finding new and different ways to communicate with people around us, especially when they are difficult to work with it. Spiritually Uranus helps us with achieving communication with the Divine and Upper World beings, opens our intuition, and grants us a sense of “Divine knowing”.
That’s when Uranus is direct. When Uranus is retrograde it becomes really hard to get those new projects going. We might have great ideas for things that we want to do, but rather than pushing us out of our comfort zones and urging us to do them, Uranus retrograde puts us in a place of stasis and we find ourselves unable to really motivate enough to make these things happen. We might begin to feel scattered, find that we can’t get all of our different ideas together in a cohesive way, but we still feel a sense of motivate to do something, we just don’t seem to be able to do it.
When Uranus is retrograde it’s a good idea to make lots and lots of notes so that when things go direct you have your great ideas somewhere and you can pull them together. Now isn’t a good time to get started on new projects but let the ideas come, no matter how crazy they are or how oddly they come across.
Jupiter is one of the very powerful and influential planets that we use a lot in planetary magick, especially where luck, money, power, and business are concerned. Jupiter is the planet if expansion and growth and when we work with it in these areas of our life we can expect lots of change, often big and unexpected ones, that open all kinds of doors for us. Jupiter specifically expands our understanding and awareness in these areas in order for us to find new ways of looking at and approaching situations which naturally allows for increased prosperity. Jupiter is also one of the planets that we can call on when we want to have influence over others and position ourselves in a place of power.
During a Jupiter Retrograde we start to doubt our power and even our worthiness for money and growth in the areas of prosperity and abundance. We start finding that we’re willing to settle for less. For example, you might have had your heart set on getting a brand new car. You’ve been saving up and have been doing all the groundwork to find some good financing and you’re ready to go. But you start to get impatient and you just want a car so you start going to the dealership and looking at cars a few years old with less of the options you really want and soon you find you’re signing sales papers on a 2009 car when you had been working toward a 2013 all along.
That’s the general energy of Jupiter Retrograde. We become more willing to make sacrifies that we otherwise might not make, especially where money and power positions are concerned and sometimes we can find ourselves feeling superior for doing it, as though we’re being nobel by making such a sacrifice. Jupiter Retrograde is not the time for doing a lot of outer work because the energy of Jupiter’s expansion is turned inward. This makes Jupiter Retrograde a great time for doing spiritual work, working on spiritual growth, and doing things like journey work, meditation, and divination. Projects and plans in the physical world tend to suffer during this phase because we find ourselves planning and re-planning everything because nothing seems to be right or good enough for our true vision.
So what does that mean for this new moon and solar eclipse?
This probably isn’t a good moon for a lot of magick that we want to see happen in the physical world, especially if it has to do with money and prosperity. Plans for money making projects are likely to fall apart, communication with clients and co-workers will likely breakdown, and we may likely find that we short-change ourselves with the return on our own investments.
The solar eclipse, which I talked about yesterday, is a time for great transformative energy. Working doing during the solar eclipse can have great impact on the phyiscal world so we do want to be mindful of all the other planetary influences around us. With three planets with tendencies to create delays and problems in the physical world in retrograde right now, inner work is most favored.
It’s a new moon, a time for new beginnings and rebirth. This is a great time to work on some rebirth of the spirit and doing work that will have our spiritual practices revived and renewed. You might also want to take into consideration that this is all happening in the sign of Scorpio, a water sign that magickally influences things like psychic ability, death and renewal, power struggles, and general transformation. It’s also happening in the 8th House, the House of Sex, which influences relationships, intimacy and sexuality.
What I would recommend for today’s magick…
– Meditation on our true wants and desires
– Upper World journeys to connect with our angels and spirit guides
– Divination in regard to the things that we want to work on for the coming waxing moon and full moon
When do these planets go direct?
Mercury – November 26
Uranus – December 13
Jupiter – January 30, 2013
This doesn’t mean that you have to avoid doing magick for power, prosperity, growth, and planning until then! But just keep these in mind when planning your work because delays and unexpected changes in direction are likely.
