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Nervous systems quiver from intensity this week, as several celestial patterns up the ante on the already hectic pace of terrestrial life. Even if you're not involved in any time-specific deadlines or plans and projects in need of staying on schedule, you're likely to feel time simply slipping away. And that could lead to a peculiar stress reminiscent of a recurring dream many of us have where no matter how hard we try, we just can't seem to make the plane, train, or school bus. But that's not all. The fascia of human interactions, already stretched from the strain of significant emotional demands, is sure to ache from an increased need to make sense of personal circumstances, as well as our collective situation. Despite several planetary configurations, all of which provide the potential for the solid, grounded application of common sense, a strange and uncontrollable need to test the limits of all sorts of realities causes nervous systems to stay on high alert. As this astral adrenalin pumps through the week, do whatever it is you do to stay calm, centered, and reliant upon the biggest possible perspective to guide you through the particulars.

Mercury, symbolizing all intellectual functions and endeavors, is at the source of this week's nervous energy. Currently in Virgo, its home sign, which makes its mental might even mightier, Mercury is in a conjunction with the Sun, a sextile to Mars, a trine to Pluto, as well as a square to Jupiter. When Mercury shares the same space with the Sun, we tend to experience a lack of objectivity that often manifests as the inability to listen to and consider the opinion of others. (By the way, listening doesn't necessarily mean you have to agree.) When Mercury forms a positive alliance with Mars, minds tend to move quickly, and because Mars is currently in Scorpio, a highly intuitive Sign, some of what occurs as a result could manifest as emotional agitation, especially if imagination takes over and urges the mind to latch onto the worst possible scenarios.

The good news in this Mercury mess is that when Mercury trines Pluto, we have an opportunity to experience an almost devotional need to get to the bottom of things intellectually. Mercury, in the form of Hermes, is the only Olympian god able to travel between heaven and hell in the blink of the mind's eye. So when it joins with Pluto, or Hades, the god of the underworld, our minds have a tendency to travel between our own personal heaven and hell. Fortunately, a trine is a positive partnership so it might not be such a bad excursion. But you will still have to pay close attention to where your mind wants to wander—and why. Use this trine as an opportunity to gather self-awareness.

A Mercury/Jupiter square that also includes the Sun/Mercury conjunction provides the possibilities for an expansive perspective. While this bundle tends toward extravagance or exaggeration, it just as easily leans toward humor, and given the wide range of ideas we are sure to encounter during the week, irony is likely to take the lead.

Use your wit wisely, but also keep in mind that many of us are feeling an uncomfortable level of hypersensitivity as a consequence of the Uranus/Pluto square that's inching toward its second exact contact on September 19, and too much mockery at the expense of others might have a detrimental effect.

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