Mercury's return
and a change in perspective
Treehouse In the nonfiction book a five hundred year old tree turns black in a month. This is too real for me, so I walk outside and stare at the old (from our perspective) ginkgo in the common area and wonder how it got here, why it is not considered invasive, that it will outlive us, how the stink of its flowers persisted even in snow, sticking to our boots like a promise. Sabian Raine for February 26, 2026
The astrology of the past week is correlating with an ache in my back (very Saturnian). It’s as if I can’t quite find the balance. No wonder. We are in the ring with the planet of ultimate reality and the planet of conditioned (and thus relative) reality. The challenge is knowing which is which! I think of Alysa Liu and her tree-ringed hair color. She knows what’s real. Personally, I have been swinging between upset at the state we are all in (duped by elite power players and continuing to give them our time and money) and a more hopeful state of imagining (or escaping to) a place where we build our own worlds in concentric circles (both irl and online) that overlap with one another, like tree rings, like a forest.
There is pressure building for each of us to do something, to make a change. But we do not yet know for sure what that change is, or how to enact it, so we hesitate. This is okay for now. The time to act, even in uncertainty, is coming, but not yet.
Mercury is pulling us back to the waters of the unconscious, back to the collective archetypal field, for further study and processing. There is something beyond our conscious understanding that we have yet to assimilate or integrate. That something has to overtake us first. Then it needs to be polarized so it can be understood.
Simultaneously, Mars is moving into a last quarter square with Uranus—this will shake us up. Mars is in Aquarius, disposited by Uranus, tightening the circle of focus, while expanding our consciousness. Uranus in Taurus is asking one last time for us to plug into our bodies, our senses, and our values and to allow ourselves to receive messages through our embodiment. It’s a paradox: narrow the receiving mechanisms but open the channels!
A last quarter square is a crisis in consciousness. A decision needs to be made in regards to your role or identity in the world. The old roles no longer serve. The Uranus-Mars square echoes both Pluto in Aquarius and the Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Aries. By facing the challenge you are presented with, you will gain more clarity on the action you must take.
The time for that action is soon. Between late March and mid-April, the personal planets will move into Aries and join Neptune and Saturn. Mercury exits the shadow on April 9, and there is a New Moon in Aries on April 17.
Between now and then, allow yourself to dream big. Imagine a world you want to live in. Connect with like-minded friends. Release old patterns based on fear and escapism. Grieve the world you thought you knew. Promise yourself a new foundation—one that will support you and offer shelter or solace to another. Imagine a world where every being, every creature, every form of consciousness is included and honored just for being themselves.
Transits referenced (EST)
February 20: Saturn/Neptune conjunction at 0°45’ Aries
February 26: Mercury stations retrograde at 22°33’ Pisces at 1:48 am conjunct Venus
February 27: Sun conjunct North Node in Pisces
February 27: Mars in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus
February 25-28: Ceres/Chiron/Eris triple conjunction in Aries