Have you felt the effect of Mercury retrograde in Taurus yet?

Did you check where the energy was falling within your chart?

If you didn’t yet get the chance to read my report, but are noticing delays, frustrations, communication issues or maybe bodily signs popping up in your life you may want to click here.

My personal experience has been one that I was kind of expecting. Remember I spoke about a possible impact of the body giving signals (see point 4 in the Mercury Retrograde Blog Post).

Well, lo and behold I’ve been sick this week. In fact, with Mercury transiting my 4th house (of home and family) my whole family has been sick.

With Mercury turning retrograde conjunct my South Node this is no surprise.

Do you know what the Nodes signify in your birth chart?

They’re one of the areas that I love most in Astrology and believe me, I love this subject to my core so that makes them pretty much up there.

In my own chart, I have the South Node in Taurus in my 4th house. The South Node can indicate our strengths during this lifetime, but to do too much of the South Node can lead to stagnation within our lives.

The challenge is to balance the Nodes and work with your strengths whilst also moving to the North Node, which will afford you growth.

The Nodes are always directly opposite to one another so my North Node falls in the opposite sign of Scorpio in my 10th house (of career/my status in the World).

I’ve had to learn to let go (Scorpio) during my life; a lot.

Taurus is a sign deeply rooted in security and safety. If you have a child whose South Node falls in Taurus they will likely come into this lifetime craving comfort. They need this in order to feel safe.

Add to this that my South Node falls in my 4th house and mix in a few other elements of my chart and you can understand how hard it was to get me out of the house as a child.

I was an indoors type of girl. I couldn’t deal with confrontation and, because I was also old for my age, I would often join my mum on outings with her charity group (The Lionesses) where I could often get to eat some of the home made wares. Taurus loves to eat!

I’ll be back to my latest illness shortly, but bare with me whilst we traverse the nodal axis as a way for me to convey to you why this Mercury retrograde triggered what it did in me 😉

Skip forward to my early twenties and I was off travelling the UK (where I was born) for various work projects; often taking me away from my home for the full week. I was quite blown away at the turn my life had taken, but I knew instinctively that to stay in the town in which I was raised was not the right path for me.

Note here that the tenth house in your chart represents your career 😉 Here, with my North Node in the 10th, I was letting go of my roots and moving further a-field.

I was raised in a small town in Derbyshire and I remember an ex work colleague of mine remarking how stunned he was that when I bought my first house I did so 9 miles away in the city of Nottingham. Leaving our home town was quite simply a no-go for many.

But, during all this time I was evolving. I was learning to be strong; to loosen the apron strings and to step into my own power (Scorpio).

Skip forward to my early thirties and I landed in Brisbane, Australia with my partner and our then two small children. It was time for my next stage of letting go.

We’ve been here over 10 years and now have 4 beautiful children. I wouldn’t say it’s always been easy, but it’s been amazing.

I miss my family and my childhood friends and I would love to see them all again and to connect with the little ones that have been born since we left. A part of me hopes and prays that they’ll all move out here at some point – well, you’ve got to ‘dream a dream’ 🙂

However, as far as soul growth goes myself and my other half know that we are in the right place.

In fact, I remember when the plane touched down and we disembarked the plane on that first day back in 2006; having never even visited Australia before, that I totally knew I was home. It was a strong feeling.

This is the gift in the North Node. It may not always be easy, but it certainly affords us growth.

Not only have I been called to let go of my family and childhood friends; in the sense of having them all close by, these past few years, but my food choices have played a strong part in my transformation also and this is where my latest illness comes into play (Yay! thank you for following me this far – we’re back here again).

Scorpio is a sign that offers much transformation if we are willing to do the work and with my Sun falling in the 8th house of my chart I have learnt much about the challenges of rebirth.

Over the past years I have let go of meat, fish, dairy, preservatives and chemicals as much as I can.

I clean my house with natural products using essential oils, silver, vinegar and bi-carbonate of soda.

At home, we eat organic mostly Vegan produce and cook from scratch. We did once attempt a veggie patch, which sadly didn’t work out, but thankfully, as my partner now at an organic wholesalers (that’s another magical story of abundance) we are blessed to provide wholesome food on a budget.

I have done various fasts, which have proved to have had the most profound effect on my health, my energy and my life.

This has all taken some effort and some new life skills, but it has been worth it. Waking up happy and energetic every day despite having a very restless toddler in bed all night is a godsend; especially when you have no back up to rely on, in a place thousands of miles away from grandparents and aunties and uncles.

Since having my latest child, however,  I have noticed that my health has started to dip again. My youngest will be two in July and since I fell pregnant with him I haven’t gone through a deep fasting process. It’s something I both fear and miss deeply.

I have had a strong knowing that I need to get back on the fasting train again along with a need to step up my exercise and as a result of me not doing so I have started to feel the odd twinge and the odd ailment popping up.

So, along comes Mercury, in his backwards motion, in the sign representative of the body and of the Earth (Taurus) and I fall ill.

With this particular Mercury retrograde conjunct my South Node it is an absolute crystal clear sign to me that there is something that I need to let go of.

So here I stand again. At the precipice of letting go. Am I happy about it? Hell No! My Ego is yelling all kinds of things at me. My mind and cravings are running a daily record of all the things that I’m going to miss, but my soul is sending me signals and I know that, that is important!

It may not feel comfortable (Taurus South Node 😉 ), but I know that to do this will transform me (Scorpio North Node) and my health (Sun in the 8th in Virgo) once again.

So, for what is all this fear arising in me? It seems that I have to let go of bread and to move to a more raw way of living as well as to find myself some Yoga (an exercise that helps me to feel connected to the Earth (Taurus again!).

I know that it’s do-able.

I know that the lines (that are getting more strongly etched) upon my face and the growing dark shadows under my eyes will thank me for it. See my blog post on Youthfulness for more on the face as the barometer of the body 😉

I know that by the end of it my whole being will be thankful, but for now I am battling the demons.

The ones who yell: “But you wont be able to eat nut paste on bread!!”, “What about muffins, Tamari on Toast, OMG!! No!!  You’re giving up Sandwiches?!”.

The illness has been a much-needed push. I’m now fasting until my body recovers and I am going to get back on the 80/20 raw train once this fast is over.

I recently did a 4 week raw challenge and I know that I have it in me.

I also know that butterflies can take a while to get out of that mushy cocoon.

So, I’m being gentle with myself. I’m letting go of perfection and instead, I am seeking progress.

There’s another angle to this retrograde, which is pretty in keeping with the New Moon post for this week; that of abundance.

Well, with Mercury on my Nodes it has to be quite a biggie!!

That story is for another day, however. I feel I’ve taken enough of your time for now.

I hope that you are faring well during this period and that you are remaining open to the signs that Mercury is bringing to you.

Remember, life’s nudges are not there to punish you (although it can often feel that way in the beginning).

Usually and put simply they are there to help you. To help you to live the best life that you can. So, you may want to take note of the current signs around you and to really listen to their meaning.

If you want to know more about your own chart as well as receiving more astrology and natural health information from me each week, you can opt in to my weekly newsletter here and receive a free copy of your chart along with a free Ebook on how to begin navigating it.

If you don’t know your time of birth or already have a copy of your birth chart you may wish to look here

With love, Toria xo