longer.blue

HAVING THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS Daily Astrology Thurs 17th Sept Mercury in Libra opposite Saturn. "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still." Indeed, even more so. If you present someone with evidence that contradicts what they believe, they will usually dig their heels in. The reason for this is that our beliefs, especially those shared with the collective, tell us who we are. It is a kind of tragi-comedy when you think about it, but that's human nature for you. Mercury in Libra is the rational mind at its best. It is an Air sign, so it is disinterested; and in Libra it is balanced, it sees and weighs both sides. The opposition to Saturn is a challenge to think and to communicate in this balanced and disinterested way. Very few people can do this. Academics are trained to think in this way, but within their specialty. Give them a culturally accepted belief, and they will fall into line like everyone else. It requires courage to think independently, and this is supplied by Saturn in Aries. In any age there will be beliefs that all 'right-thinking' and 'responsible' people subscribe to. The Biblical account of creation, for example, would once have been such a belief. Or the Resurrection, or the flatness of the earth. It would be truer to say that we have moved from one set of dogmas to another, for such is collective human nature, rather than that we have moved from superstition to reason. What is it that you believe that you are not fully convinced of, that you have a niggle about, but fear the judgement of your friends or colleagues for saying so? Don't kid yourself that you are independent minded and that you don't fear the judgement of others. It requires a lot of self-training to step out of the collective mindset. Saturn retrograde wants you to go inwards and be honest about your doubts and fears, and then build from there. As an example, an undoubted good arising from higher CO2 levels is the massive greening of the world that has taken place. The plant world is flourishing. Are you willing to celebrate this, or does it feel somehow irresponsible, like you are not taking the climate 'emergency' as seriously as you should?