Mercury has entered the temple of Scorpio. Mercury in Scorpio is my natal placement. So in my natal chart and right now by transit, Mercury is in my 1st house. I always have an insatiable desire to learn and to share what I have learned, but when transit Mercury is in my 1st house too, the pull is even stronger.

​As Mercury ingresses into my rising and sun sign, Scorpio, where The Winged Messenger also resides in my natal chart, I reflect on myself as a keeper of information and as a Teacher. An Information Specialist. A Librarian of the world. A Researcher. This is one of the most common things people ask me for help with. Finding Information. I have always had Librarian on the back burner as a career choice so I enjoy this immensely.

How did having mercury in the 1st house manifest as a child? Reading was always what I listed when anything asked what my hobbies were. I was at the library often. When I was older, 13/14, I was literally at the library for hours everyday, volunteering sometimes. The staff called me "Their Serina". 

In high-school, I started working as a student aide in the library sophomore year. By senior year, I did that for two class periods every day & gave myself the title "Head Library Student Aide", lol.

 I want to teach because I want to change the world. I want to learn because I want to change myself. I want to teach you because I want to change myself. I want to learn because I want to change the world. 

We have 6 planets retrograde right now.

Astronomically what is happening when a planet is retrograde is that it is on the same side of the sun as earth. So when mercury or Venus are retrograde, they are passing between earth and the sun in their orbits. When Mars-Pluto are retrograde, earth is passing between them and the sun in its orbit.
Retrograde "seasons" like this where we have 5+ planets retrograde at a time is fairly common and happens almost every year for a month or two.

Right now its Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
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There is disagreement about what it means astrologically when planets are retrograde. Some systems of astrology claim it makes planets weaker. This is based on the fact that they appear to be going backwards through the zodiac and implies that the significations of that planet are going backwards or weakening. For example if Jupiter is retrograde this take on it might conclude that our sense of expansion and optimism is taking steps backwards.

Some say it makes them stronger, because astronomically they are closer to earth than when in direct motion. But stronger does not mean "nicer" or "good" in human earth lives necessarily.
For example when Mercury is retrograde we commonly see disruptions in transportation and communication systems. It could be that Mercury influence being strong is something that our nervous systems and technology doesn't handle well and it sort of short-circuits us.

One interpretation of retrograde planets is that they are a time when the significations of that planet slow down, and force us to slow down, that it is not a time that is great for direct action in the matters associated with that planet.

Another simple interpretation of retrograde planets would be that there will simply be some sort of twist of fate associated with that planet or the sign it is in or the house it is in in a personal chart. If things were going one way, they could go another and the other way around.

Not "good" or "bad", just different.

​     The different ways of progressing a natal chart in time are unique in that they are at once timing techniques for seeing when certain themes might be active in our lives and they add a layer to the natal chart, so they also pertain to self-knowledge. 

          There are many ways of progressing a natal chart. Secondary progressions are my main focus. Secondary progressions progress the chart one day forward past birth for every year lived.
 
     Progressions are a rather fractal perspective on time. Fractals are parts of the whole that are almost identical to the whole. Our world is full of fractals. As above, so below. As within, so without. As on the 32nd day after you were born, so on the 32nd year after you were born.