Swim Beyond  © Carrie Wachter 201

You are the Oracle and
you have become the gateway.
It is midnight
and the way it lit.
excerpt © Lisa Noble 2011

Mercury Retrograde Feature by Susan Levitt

As Fire Monkey month wanes, now is a good week to finish projects, tie up loose ends, and get organized because Mercury goes retrograde next Tuesday on August 30 2016.

Mercury will be retrograde for 3 weeks until Wednesday September 21. Autumn Equinox is the next day on September 22, the time of equal day and equal night on planet Earth. The Sun enters Libra as autumn begins.

Mercury is retrograde in Earth sign Virgo, a natural fit for Mercury because Mercury rules Virgo (and Gemini). The detailed and analytical side of Virgo can be very helpful for problem solving.

Traditionally in astrology, Mercury retrograde is a time of miscommunication, technology problems, and items lost or misplaced. But Mercury retrograde during this Fire Monkey year is an opportunity to stop for a moment to review, rethink, and redo.

Note that in September, the new Moon on September 1 will be a Solar Eclipse and the full Moon on September 16 will be a lunar eclipse. Make time for reflection.

Susan Levitt

Lisa Noble is the author and illustrator of "The Charman Chronicles" and "The Halfway to Babylon" series. Lisa hosts the Burien Venue for Poets West. She has created an art show of her illustrations and exhibits at Book Fairs Artwalks and Galleries. (Burien, WA)

Carrie Wachter is a self-taught artist creating intuitively visionary paintings of the beauty, wisdom and power of women and the Spirit of Nature that connects us all. (Gainesville, FL)

Susan Levitt works as a real Priestess doing professional tarot and astrology readings and feng shui consultations. She wrote five books about witchy things that are published in many languages, her coven name is Mermaid. Follow her blog for free astrology updates, both Western astrology and Chinese astrology. Blessed be. (San Francisco, CA)