The heavens are currently saturated with the element of Water. The three signs of the humid, nocturnal triplicity – Scorpio, Cancer, and Pisces – form a silent chain across the sky, breathing the letter Mem through all their tides. The intellectual principle, the expansive heart, and the structure of form are now all immersed in this one element. The result is a cosmology of fermentation, gestation, and crystallisation; a movement that begins in the grave of Scorpio where Mars and Mercury are descending into the depths, swells through the womb of Cancer where Jupiter is reigning in exaltation, and dissolves within the ocean of Pisces where Saturn is retracing the limits of form.
I. The Submerged Intellect of Mercury under Mars
Mercury has entered the fixed waters of Scorpio, a peregrine traveller with no power of its own. Under the rule of Mars, known as the nocturnal malefic, the messenger becomes the servant of depth and desire. In this sign, Mercury is forced to distil rather than communicate. Words acquire weight and scent, ideas become liquids that must be contained within glass. The intellect turns inward and downward, seeking to ferment what cannot be spoken. It is an alchemical putrefaction where the Logos sinks into the body to remember its own substance.
But the relationship between the two planets runs deeper than simple subordination. Mercury now occupies the Martial bound, whilst Mars himself moves through the Mercurial one, forming a secondary mutual rulership drawn from the Egyptian astrological boundaries. The intellect is refining the weapon, and the weapon is engraving the word. This reciprocity transforms what would otherwise be corrosion into distillation. Thought gains a blade; passion gains grammar.
Now in the second decan of Scorpio, ruled by the Sun and corresponding to the Six of Cups and to Tifereth in the world of Briah, Mars works to redeem desire through light. It is a rare solar window within a nocturnal sea; the instinct of war becomes remembrance of purity. Through this decan the energy of Mars mirrors the mercurial art of separation and recombination.
The collective mind is therefore learning through corrosion, but also through alliance. The sharpness of Mars pierces the mental surface, forcing it to dissolve its own defences, whilst Mercury lends articulation to what would otherwise remain a blind instinct. The result of such a process is never the same intelligence that entered it. The scribe of heaven is taught that understanding begins only when knowledge rots, when intellect admits its own decay, and when desire itself becomes transparent. This is the baptism of Mercury and Mars intertwined in the Scorpionic abyss of the eighth, inactive house; language submerged until it can no longer distinguish between poison and truth, and still purified precisely through that confusion.
II. The Translucent Foundation of Jupiter in Cancer
At the base of the zodiacal wheel, in the Nadir, Jupiter rises to his exaltation in Cancer. The planet of grace finds there the atmosphere of gestation. It is the moist joy of creation, the generosity of the womb rather than the logic of law. When the great, diurnal benefic dwells in a sign ruled by the Moon, wisdom becomes maternal. Jupiter in Cancer expands by nourishing rather than teaching. It is a theology of warmth, a revelation by comfort.
Now in the decan of the Moon, corresponding to the Four of Cups, Jupiter reflects this soft fatigue of abundance. In the Kabbalistic world of Briah, Chesed manifests through reflection and rest. The heart swells with gratitude, but its edges blur under the weight of feeling. Jupiter, currently angular at the Nadir, guards the roots of existence; he presides over the digestion of cosmic memory. The spiritual rain he pours is slow and interior. Through him, heaven remembers the first sea that once covered the earth.
This position also draws attention to the cyclical movement of mercy. His current decan is also ruled by the Moon, reinforcing the gestational waters of compassion. Every decision taken under this sky demands patience and interior generosity. The exalted benefic whispers of a kingdom built on empathy.
III. The Liquid Structure of Saturn Retrograde in Pisces
In the mutable waters of Pisces, Saturn retraces his steps through the sign ruled by of Jupiter. The old architect moves through a domain without form, attempting to build walls within a sea. Retrograde in the twelfth house, without dignity, he labours to contain what cannot be shaped. This is the image of a lawgiver inside a dream, writing commandments on waves. But this labour has nevertheless a purpose. Within it, the diurnal malefic finds purification.
Now in bound and decan both under Mars, Saturn assumes the discipline of war turned inward. He becomes the strategist of the flood, the one who learns endurance through surrender. The Ten of Cups, corresponding to Malkuth in Briah, reminds the soul that even joy requires structure. Every revelation must descend into the vessel or it evaporates into illusion. Saturn in Pisces calls for boundaries that define the Sacred within the infinite.
Retrogradation only deepens this trial. It drives the elder back toward forgotten griefs, compelling him to rebuild from within. The task is to find solidity inside dissolution, constructing the invisible architecture of faith. Under such influence, the world is now porous; time itself seems liquid. But, within this liquidity, lies the seed of permanence. Saturn, the dry planet, learns that endurance in the water depends on rhythm rather than rigidity.
The Cycle of Mem
These three waters – Scorpio, Cancer, and Pisces – compose a single liturgy of the element. Their planets act as organs of one vast body. Mercury ferments within the dark, Jupiter swells at the Imum Coeli, and Saturn crystallises at the edge of the wheel. Together they form the full cycle of Mem: death, rebirth, and form renewed. The celestial atmosphere is a vast act of ablution. The sky itself performs a ritual of washing, a purification of intellect, emotion, and structure.
The recent lunar eclipse in Pisces opened this sequence, drawing the collective tide toward introspection. Its afterglow now remains. Under this sky, distinctions between mind and feeling dissolve. Communication becomes intuitive and thought moves like water seeking its own level. The psyche grows permeable, receptive to the smallest impression. It is a season in which visions ferment and symbols liquefy.
The astrologer who contemplates this season perceives a doctrine written in condensation. Fire teaches through clarity but water does it through saturation. The present heavens offer the latter. Understanding flows only when intellect consents to be dampened, when language carries the weight of silence. The water signs now hold dominion, each in their own register of the Sacred: the grave, the womb, and the ocean.
Κύριε ελέησον