Thursday 14 April 2011

Mercury retrograde, and Mercury found...


Is it just me, in a mercurial state of mind, or can we blame the stars for mishaps and other troublesome irritations this week? (And last week, come to that). I seem to remember reading that Ted Hughes wouldn't allow any of his books to be published when Mercury was retrograde. Richard Dawkins would disapprove, of course, but perhaps there is some small measure of comfort to be had in blaming the movement of the skies for current vexations. Either that, or chaos rules eternal...
In the interests of scientific balance (so please, no need for angry anti-astrology diatribes), have just been reading about NASA's astonishing explorations of Mercury; just think of the Messenger spacecraft, traveling for six and a half years alone through the solar system... And the NASA photographs are awe-inspiring... a dark, dense, battered planet, cracked and covered in craters.
Since then, I've popped outside into the garden, checking on my tiny spring seeds, and listening to the blackbird. Mercury-gazing has made me suddenly glad to be earth-bound.

11 comments:

enid said...

Mercury-gazing has made me suddenly glad to be earth-bound. I agree I get space sickness when I even look at those photos - all so strange and so many questions whirl in my mind. I like being grounded !!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh Justine, Mercury retrograde gives me the heebeegeebees - miscommunications abound - for me it is like that speech Titania gives about the weather but on all things communication. Though apparently, according to an astrologer I know, it is a good time to go over old ground and clarify where one wants to go...perfecting for editing...
x

Justine Picardie said...

I shall henceforth devote myself to going over old ground; because now that I come to think of it, the best remedy for last week's gloom was when I concentrated on gardening... a process which seems to be the essence of the astrologer's advice!

enid said...

Gardening is so much less hebegee making. I agree with Gondal girl
plant a cabbage get a cabbage, never get a sprout etc Enjoy gardening- it's the best therapy.

Justine Picardie said...

Enid, is that an old South African saying? Plant a cabbage, get a cabbage etc? We need to know more!

enid said...

Plant a radish.

Get a radish.

Never any doubt.

That's why I love vegetables;

You know what you're about!

Plant a turnip.

Get a turnip.

Maybe you'll get two.

That's why I love vegetables;

You know that they'll come through!

They're dependable!

They're befriendable!

They're the best pal a parent's ever known!

While with children,

It's bewilderin'.

You don't know until the seed is nearly grown

Just what you've sown.

So

Plant a carrot,

Get a carrot,

Not a Brussels sprout.

That's why I love vegetables.

You know what you're about!

Life is merry,

If it's very

Vegetarian!

A man who plants a garden

Is a very happy man!

Plant a beanstalk

enid said...

Forget It's from the musical The Fantasticks

kairu said...

Those photos of Mercury made me shiver, and I remember how I had to close my eyes during some IMAX film about the galaxy at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. I felt a sense of panic as we watched the earth rush away from us, launching us into darkness. (It also made me think of a line from Joanne Harris' Chocolat, about a girl whose eyes were the "blue-green of the earth seen from a great height").

enid, that song is fabulous. Thank you for sharing!

Knitting Out Loud said...

Yes, great song Enid!
Gardening does cure the blues (and the mean reds). As does beekeeping I'm told, which I'd like to try next.

Do you know the wonderful Galaxy Song by Eric Idle?

Justine Picardie said...

I haven't heard the Galaxy song; I think we need more details, after Enid's splendid contribution!

Lilacs said...

I went to watch the Hubble film at the IMAX last week (I think maybe the same film that Kairu is referring to) I tried to grab a star, it was spectacular. I stop conversing with complicated people when mercury is retrograde and still things get jumbled up - I'm more Richard Dawkins than Russell Grant but the planetary heavens certainly affect me. Although, maybe to expand on the Shakespeare theme, the fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings...