“I say what I think.”
“I tell it like it is.”
“I’m not here to make friends.”
If you’ve watched any of the several billion reality television shows that ignite our airwaves, you are surely familiar with these utterances. Whether the competition is explicit (e.g., Love Island) or implicit (e.g., Selling Sunset), we witness people sign up to play colorized caricature versions of themselves. And then as cuts begin and the claws come out, it becomes clear that the only thing they share is a single-minded mission to win the ultimate prize: our attention.
The editors treat us to many different versions of a contentious situation, and inevitably one of the characters slides back into a defensive declaration that they know what is really going on. They suddenly feel compelled to share this unfiltered insight, often in a public place or shared social experience. And as they audaciously assert the primacy of their viewpoint, they take great pride in their courageous candor:
“Nobody wants you here.”
“You deserved it.”
“You’re a loser.”
In the spirit of a sensationalized newspaper headline, these statements are designed to shock and surprise. And if we measure them against the noble aspiration of delivering helpful information in a transparent fashion, they almost certainly miss the mark. Perhaps this is because pointed observations ignore the subjectivity present in every interpersonal interaction, and maybe it’s also because they lack the compassion that coats our language with loving intention.
Quantum Note: We have growing scientific proof that there is no such thing as objective reality. It really is all a matter of observation.
I imagine we’ve all felt blows of brute force honesty, perhaps on both sides of the table. We know how to provoke, and we know how to be provoked. We know how words can be weaponized, and we know the power of sentences that can never be un-spoken. We appreciate what happens when we turn conversation into a form of combat, and we remember how much more readily we connect when we choose to comment on life with love in our hearts.
These next two months, we’ll all get the chance to review how we relate to the thoughts that leave our mouths. Mercury, the guardian and artisan of our voice, is currently sparking up dialogue in hot-headed Aries as it prepares for April’s three-and-a-half week long retrograde. Mercury retrogrades mark moments when we can see the deeper patterns in how we communicate, times when misunderstandings and crossed wires invite reflection and reconnection.
Aries waits for no one, and it offers Mercury a refreshingly forthright quality. Mercury in Aries has neither shame about putting its cards on the table nor interest in dancing around the elephants in the room. It is is also far more likely to ask for forgiveness than permission, which facilitates a direct channel between our mouths and our minds. When we use this effectively, we can stir stagnant energy and prompt swift resolution of lingering tension.
The tricky part, of course, is knowing when to speak up. Animated assertions do not always open into productive discussion, and the line between a refreshing new perspective and a verbal slap in the face can be fine. So as we all feel the urge to blurt, this retrograde is asking us to consider whether and how to share our take on the truth.
Mercury will enter its shadow - the degree of the Zodiac to which it will later return - on Tuesday, when it begins to nicely tee up the topics for next month’s backward crawl. The Mercury retrograde officially begins on April 1 and lasts until April 25, although Mercury won’t be covering new territory until May 13 just days before it leaves Aries for the year.
For my part, I will be working to create more space in and between my brainwaves and my voice box. I pledge to be more careful and caring when I talk, to be more deliberate about what I say, to ask for forgiveness when I cross the line. I also promise to let myself pause before I react. And if I am willing to trust that anything that reaches into my awareness has a message, I know that I can also learn to accept blunt feedback with grace.
We’ll get the chance to follow this Mercury retrograde together, and I talk more about working with Mercury in Aries in the Weekly Oracle. And if you’re feeling the hallmark emotional wobbles of eclipse season like I am, remember your invitation to join my (free) Eclipse Energy Clearing Session on April 1 (full details below). Eclipses bring big changes, and you’ll find that they wash through your life much more easily when you take steps to release your resistance beforehand. You’ll get all the goodness if you register and listen later, and I’ll also share individual insight with those who can make it live.
Love,
Patrick
Eclipse Energy Clearing
Monday, April 1st @ 1:30 PM PST / 4:30 PM EST / 9:30 PM UK / 10:30 PM Europe
Join live or listen later for a super-powered cosmic clearing⚡️You'll learn to work consciously with eclipses and dramatically amplify your intention to liberate your energy. We'll do a clearing flow with energy techniques and guided meditation to tune in and let go.🤲
Eclipses announce colossal, sudden and intense changes in our lives and the world around us
Gates of opportunity open wide as we release the old and welcome the new
Feelings of fear, discomfort and insecurity let us know that we are evolving
Clearing our energy and grounding in our life experience helps us move boldly forward
Offering compassion to those who struggle with change opens our hearts
The Clearing is free and open to all, donations are always welcome and support my choice to make my work accessible.
Weekly Oracle
This week we shake our heads with Mercury and embrace the chance to clear out dense thought patterns. We dream impossibly big as the Sun joins Neptune, and then celebrate its move into Aries at the annual vernal equinox. We also check in with Venus and Saturn in Pisces, and find a new container for love.
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