A Portal Opens: Mercury conjunct Pallas Athene

Mercury 

Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, rules two signs. Mercury’s outward-directed Yang expression is Gemini, the world of words and ideas. In its Yin expression, energy moving inward toward the center, Mercury rules Virgo, the sacred space of ritual and ceremony, and work on the self.  

Who Was Athena?

On August 8, 2023, Mercury will conjoin asteroid Pallas Athene at 14° Virgo, Mercury’s Yin, introspective expression. Athena was second only to Zeus in the Greek pantheon, above Apollo. Athena was born parthenogenetically from her father’s crown chakra. A soothsayer had prophesied that the second child he bore would be more powerful than him, so he swallowed Metis, whose name means wisdom, Athena’s mother. One day, he was in a field with his son  Hephaestus, the Greek god of armor and metalwork, and was seized by a violent headache. He asked Hephaestus to use his battle axe to cleave his skull to release the pain, and Athena leaped out, fully clad in golden armor, waving her spear and shouting a battle cry. She was a virgin goddess. She resisted all amorous advances, had neither consort nor offspring and was given the attribution parthenos, meaning a chaste maiden. This name became the Parthenon in Athens. 

There was a contest to determine the patron of Athens between Athena and Poseidon. Poseidon struck the ground and created a spring of fresh water for the city. Athena instead planted an olive tree to represent peace and won the contest.

Athena was the patron goddess of household crafts, sewing and weaving, and pottery which allowed cooking. She gave men the bridle to harness horses for their work. 

Athene was a peace activist and would always try to negotiate peace, but she never shunned from taking up arms and going to battle. In Homer’s Iliad, she fought alongside the Greek war god Ares and the heroes of the Greek classical age.  She represents the intellectual and civilized side of war and the virtues of justice and skill, whereas Ares represents mere blood lust. She wore the aegis, her father’s breastplate when she goes to war which represented fear, strife, defense, and assault. She was associated with birds, particularly the owl, which became famous as the city’s own symbol, and with the snake. 

Mercury and Pallas Athene

Planet Mercury and asteroid Pallas Athene have an important relationship with each other. Astrologically, there is a principle known as planetary octaves. Uranus, as the illogical, irrational higher mind, correlates to the higher octave of Mercury, which is the lower rational mind. Pallas Athene holds a special place in this archetypal structure as the octave transformer between lower mind Mercury and higher mind Uranus. As the Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy, Pallas Athene can transform the sometimes seemingly impossible mental downloads from Uranus into rational, workable strategies. As these two mental forces conjoin, the potential for mental inspiration is magnified.

The Conjunction of Mercury and Pallas Athene in Virgo

Due to Mercury’s retrograde cycles, the conjunction will occur three times: 

• August 8, 2023, at 22° Virgo
• August 26, 2023, at 21° Virgo Rx
• October 12, 2023, at 13° Libra

This current Mercury-Pallas cycle will persist until January 21, 2025.

Virgo

Virgo sets the tone for this series of conjunctions. Virgo pertains to work on the self. It is growth through crisis. We can study foreign languages and learn mathematics or rocket science, but what we truly master are the lessons that we learn by direct emotional experience. If we are smokers, we do not stop because everyone tells us to. We only stop when we have a serious health crisis, sometimes, it takes more than one. 

A rich repository of opportunities for work on the self will persist throughout this 18-month cycle with intuitive support. The three conjunctions will utilize personal introspection to establish both mental clarity and self-compassion, which is free of emotional imbalances. Mercury’s retrograde cycle will drive us deeper into our psyches to expose what we need to work on and how to do it. 

Intuitive messages from Pallas are sometimes startling in their synchronicity. We are more likely to react rather than respond or ignore them. Our first reaction might be dismissal. Our rational mind says, “That’s impossible.” Awareness of mental impulses increases, and we become more receptive to mental downloads. It is never necessary to jump on any bandwagons with banners unfurled, but become the observer and watch to see who and what shows up in your outer world. 

The first Hermetic Principle is that the Universe is mental. Ideas are seed thoughts that, over time, sprout roots and leaves. Our eyes are not receivers, they are projectors. Our thoughts script the events of our lives. Our reality is projected on our outer world. The world around us does not control us. Like the stars that circle overhead, our outer world is our reflection.

1^st Conjunction

At the 1^st conjunction, Mercury and Pallas: 

• Separate from a waning Full Phase Opposition to Saturn retrograde in Pisces.
• Apply to a waxing 1^st Quarter trine to Jupiter conjunct Uranus in Taurus. 
• Apply to a waxing 1^st Quarter square to asteroid Vesta in Gemini.
• Though the Moon does not form any aspect to Mercury-Pallas, it separates from a conjunction only 2° degrees away from Uranus.

A push-me/pull-me condition exists. We can feel stuck between divergent ideas and pathways forward. The struggle is between what our heart tells us to do and what we think necessity demands. A mental startle reflex activates. The cognitive terrain is rocky and uneven, and we might feel “lost at sea.” The higher mind struggles to do “the right thing,” stick to what is “essential,” “The right thing” is elusive, and what is “essential” may not be. This crisis catalyzes our instinctual nature requiring that we examine where we are and where we are going. 

Pluto retrograde in Capricorn squares the lunar nodes requiring the resolution of unresolved karmic issues. An internal discussion ignites the spark that initiates personal growth. Venus, retrograde in the sign of Leo, suggests that these unresolved issues concern our relationships with ourselves and others.

2^nd Conjunction

During Mercury’s retrograde cycle, a second conjunction occurs on August 26^th at 22° Virgo. 

• A mutable grand cross is briefly drawn across the sky as Mercury-Pallas in Virgo applies to a gibbous opposition to Neptune retrograde in Pisces. 
• A Sagittarius Moon separates from full phase opposition to asteroid Vesta in Gemini. 

Mercurial energies continue to saturate the atmosphere. Conversations, gossip, innuendo, and lies swirl through the zeitgeist like ribbons on a maypole. The Moon emotionally accelerates the mental maelstrom inside our heads. We can silence our ideas, but it is much harder to sublimate our emotions.

A facilitating grand trine in the earth signs helps Mercury become more receptive to Pallas, as the conjunction by aspect separates from Pluto and applies to Uranus. Discussions are grounded in issues regarding self-empowerment and implementing structured innovation. 

The Libra Lunar North Node triangulates compatible frequencies from Saturn in Pisces and Vesta in Gemini to Mercury and Pallas. Any intention for the future needs to include taking ownership of authenticity and a sacred commitment to self. 

Thor’s Hammer strikes Venus retrograde in Leo from a Sagittarius Moon and Neptune retrograde in his native water world of Pisces. Our emotional experiences with the emerging world around us are reshaping our values and priorities. We are going to learn to sink or swim, one way or another.

Thor’s Hammer strikes Mars in Gemini from Jupiter in Taurus and asteroid Hygeia retrograde in Aquarius. Pointed discussions about our choices continue to populate the airwaves, discussions with others, and inside our heads. 

3^rd Conjunction

As Mercury returns to her forward progression across the ecliptic, the third conjunction occurs on October 12, 2023, at 14 ° Libra. Goddess Athene and her Hermetic partner are supercharged, especially after their recent meetup with the Libran Sun. What do I see in you that I see in myself? I am listening. What can you tell me? What do I need to know? How can we stop the madness?