Mercury retrograde is not that bad (seriously!)

(Photo by Yuris Alhumaydy on Unsplash)

Mercury retrograde is a semi-regular event which tends to cause widespread panic – even among people who declare they don’t believe in astrology. Trickster Mercury, the planet of communication, siblings, neighbours, the internet, detail, short trips and brain function, goes retrograde three to four times a year, spawning multiple memes predicting chaos and destruction, and advising you that the entire Universe will be working against you (sigh).

A couple of years ago, I decided to break up with what I call ‘Mercury retrograde panic syndrome’, and I can report that my life has not been significantly impacted as a result. Given that Mercury goes retrograde three to four times every year, I can’t be bothered investing in the constant doom and gloom (ain’t nobody got time for that!). Frankly, I think we all need to chill about Mercury retrograde (MRx). Despite what you might have heard, it truly doesn’t spell the end of social order, and can even be a good thing. Here’s why:

(Photo by Iwona Castiello d'Antonio on Unsplash)

1.     The planets aren’t the boss of you

I believe that the reason MRx invokes so much panic in people is because it makes them feel powerless. But as any astrologer worth their salt will tell you, nothing is set in stone. The movements of the planets do not determine the course of your life. All they do is indicate a set of likelihoods or possibilities, enabling you to be prepared and more responsive to certain issues. The way your life plays out is largely in your hands. This is a message I’m super passionate about, and you’ll find it repeated in my blog posts over and over again. If you believe the planets, or the Universe, are responsible for what happens to you, it’s going to be difficult for you to recognise where your own poor planning or bad decisions have contributed to adverse events (eek!). Of course, it’s much sexier to blame Mercury for making you miss your train instead of owning the fact that you slept in or wasted too much time on social media this morning (guilty as charged!). I’m not saying transport and tech problems aren’t part of MRx, I’m just saying Mercury is sometimes unfairly demonised when it isn’t to blame.

2.     Attraction is a thing

According the law of attraction, you tend to attract what you spend the most time focusing on. In the context of MRx, that means if you are invested in panic, you’re more likely to attract the adverse effects of this planetary transit. If you believe that you’re destined to be cloudy-headed and unfocused, you’ll probably experience that. If you expect that traffic jams are inevitable, that’s probably going to happen. If you are anticipating that someone will hack your email, it’s more likely that your energy will attract someone who wants to do just that. Instead of expecting the worst, elevate your mindset: sure, dramas may happen, but you don’t want to go around attracting them.

(Photo by Josh Rangel on Unsplash)

3.     The shadow factor

Fact: in the two to three weeks before Mercury goes retrograde, it enters a pre-shadow period. And after it goes direct at the end of the official retrograde period, there’s a similar-length period called the post-shadow period. Many astrologers believe that those shadow periods are more likely to result in problems than the retrograde proper (sigh).

Let me explain why that matters. If you consider the fact that Mercury goes retrograde three to four times a year (depending on how the calendar falls), that’s already nine to 12 weeks of MRx panic you’re experiencing each year (remember that each retrograde lasts about three weeks). And if you add on the pre- and post-shadow periods, that’s an extra 18 to 24 weeks of chaos – a total of 27 to 36 weeks you’ll spend every year trying to avoid making big purchases, making a mountain out of a molehill and dealing with technology snafus. I don’t know about you, but living in panic is NOT how I want to spend half the year.

(Photo by Martino Pietropoli on Unsplash)

4.     Retrogrades can be helpful

The purpose of any planetary retrograde – yep, they all go retrograde on the regular, but Mercury’s retro is the one that gets the most attention – is to slow your roll. You cannot live your life in top gear all the time. Mercury slams on the brakes and forces you to re-evaluate where you’re going and how you’re living – and that’s a good thing. The most important part of the word retrograde is ‘re’ – which is why words like ‘review’, ‘rethink’, ‘renew’ and ‘reunite’ are often used at this time. Mercury retrograde invites you to reconnect with old friends instead of seeking out new contacts. It’s a prime time to re-examine your policies, contracts and possessions instead of making new purchases. It’s an opportunity to be more mindful about the way you spend your time – and that’s gotta be a good thing.

5.     Life happens \_(ツ)_/¯

I know that sounds bleak, but hear me out. The events typically associated with Mercury retrograde – such as delayed buses and trains, technology meltdowns and mixed messages – can happen any time of year, and frequently do (especially if you live in Sydney, amirite?). My phone has died several times in the past five years, but not once during a MRx. My bus is often late. A month ago I turned up to an appointment on the wrong date – and nope, not during MRx. Could these things be more likely to happen during MRx? Sure, but that doesn’t mean they won’t happen at other times. Because, life. 

(Photo by Eddie Kopp on Unsplash)

And that’s the point I’d like to leave you with. Life is messy, and we’re all very busy. We misread situations, and we often fail to adequately plan. Is it a good idea to back up your data before a MRx? Of course, but in theory, you should be doing that regularly anyway. Should you allow more time for your daily commute? Yes, but for most of us that’s a useful strategy at any time of the year. Should you go over contracts and policies with a fine-toothed comb before signing them? Yes, but honestly – this is adulting 101, no matter what’s happening in the stars. I’m not saying MRx isn’t real, I’m just saying panicking about it isn’t terribly effective. Instead, try to roll with what life throws at you, and maybe use this time to course-correct if necessary.

Astro report: incoming craziness on December 3

I don’t mean to alarm you, but there is a small *situation* looming this weekend (December 2-3, 2017) you might want to know about. A number of powerful astrological forces are combining to make this a pretty significant weekend, which will affect different people in different ways. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

Firstly – I won’t bang on about this since I already wrote an entire post about it (here) – the planet Mercury goes retrograde on Sunday until December 22, sending our communications, travel (especially short trips), technology, thought processes and postal services haywire. Oh joy.

On top of that, this weekend’s full moon is a supermoon, making its energy extra powerful. It’s in Gemini, associated with communication, local community, transportation and intellect. So this is a great time to be more mindful in your communications with others (ie listening more than you speak, and not overreacting to flippant comments), attending events in your ‘hood and going on mini adventures (but given Gemini is ruled by Mercury, which will be in retrograde, expect transportation delays, *sigh*).

You’ll feel this full moon strongly if you have Gemini or one of the other air signs (Libra and Aquarius) as your sun, moon or rising sign. The effects of a full moon can include sleeplessness, heightened emotions and a sense of general tension for no obvious reason. Officially the full moon peaks at 2.46am on Monday in Sydney, 10.46am on Sunday in New York and 3.46pm on Sunday in London, but if you’re familiar with lunar phases you’ll already know the energy of a full moon starts building up several days before that peak, and stays constant for several days afterwards.

But wait, there’s more…. On Sunday, Jupiter, the planet of expansion, forms a trine (that’s astro speak for ‘a good alignment’) with Neptune, the planet of illusion and compassion. This is a very rare cosmic sitch. You might find yourself more drawn to spiritual or humanitarian causes or projects (group meditation, anyone?), and your intuition will be extra sharp (yussss!). But along with all that lofty stuff, you’ll need to really make sure you’re grounded because…

The Sun is square (that’s astro speak for ‘a bad alignment’) to Neptune on Sunday, making it very important to be realistic. You may be extra zapped of energy, so listen to your body and be realistic about what you can and can’t do (and ideally, try to have a chilled day). This isn’t a day for ruminating on your successes and failures, as you’re likely to be extra pessimistic or discouraged. (If that’s the case, remember: this, too, shall pass.)

I know all of this sounds full-on, at a time of year when life is already generally crazy, but remember astrology is not a prophecy, it’s a blueprint. It speaks to energies that are circulating, but everybody has agency over their own choices. Nothing is set in stone, and no matter what’s going on for you, you can always choose the way you respond to it. Ultimately, whether what happens is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is up to you.

Mercury retrograde – the visitor no one asked for, but everyone has to deal with

Note: this article is an updated version of a previous post.

Mercury retrograde is basically like that time you looked after your cousin’s new puppy and he ran amok, eating your favourite shoes and crapping all over your house. It begins this weekend, and runs until December 22. You have been warned.

The planet Mercury is associated with communication, short-distance travel, technology, contracts, postage, intellect and friends, and when it goes retrograde – which happens three times a year, lasting a couple of weeks each time – the world basically goes bananas. Computers go haywire, traffic becomes even worse, buses get massively delayed for no apparent reason and conflicts pop up as a result of thoughtless words or a miscommunication. Sounds like a plot from a Harry Potter movie, I know, but I’m telling you Mercury’s capers can be stranger than fiction. During one Mercury retrograde a few years ago, the power went out across Sydney Airport for almost an entire day, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, hungry and unable to get up-to-date information (yikes). 

A retrograde is what occurs when a planet is passing Earth. Said planet appears to be going backwards (hence ‘retrograde’) as it orbits Earth, but it isn’t really. Although all planets go retrograde on the regular, Mercury is the one that gets the most publicity, because although its retrograde cycle doesn’t last long, it has the most noticeable effect on our everyday lives. Since Mercury affects the postal service, and December is the busiest time of year for postage (Christmas cards and presents), this retrograde could cause a lot of headaches, so I highly recommend doing your Christmas shopping early. 

Look, this all sounds worse than it is. Sure, it’s annoying, inconvenient and potentially costly (I can confirm that my new laptop, which replaced the one that melted down last retrograde, are VERY EXPENSIVE) but Mercury retrograde is not worth freaking out over. The best thing you can do is be prepared – predictions of doom and gloom are not exactly helpful. So back up all your important data, strengthen your passwords, leave home super-early when you’ve got somewhere important to be (like, you know, the airport), avoid signing contracts (or go over the fine print thoroughly before you commit with your signature), carry a magazine to amuse yourself during transport delays, take your car for a tune up and for goodness’ sake reread emails carefully before you hit ‘send’. We can get through this, people!

Image: The planet Mercury and a satellite

Looking backwards, to move forwards. That's how a retrograde rolls

So Mercury retrograde is back in all its badassery. I’ve talked about the ways this planetary cycle can screw up our daily lives, both on this blog and on my Facebook page, so I won’t bang on about it again here. What I do want to reflect on is the way this is actually prompting me to, well, reflect.

Being an introvert and a Scorpio I tend to spend a lot of time in introspection anyway, but when this sort of energetic pull happens, that shift inwards is more pronounced. Retrograde means looking backwards, so it makes sense that this sort of planetary movement would prompt us to look back, in order to help us move forwards. Without making a conscious choice to do so, I’m finding myself naturally looking back on some areas that have tripped me up.

Kris Carr, American cancer survivor and author of Crazy Sexy Kitchen, talks about life going through cycles (nope, not the Circle of Life, but I love that you thought of that. Can we be friends?), similar to the seasons nature goes through. It’s kind of like going through a ‘winter’ – a time of contemplation and stillness – and ‘spring’, a time of renewal and starting afresh, etc. I like this analogy.

Human beings aren’t great at being still, though. When we’re exhausted we drink a Red Bull. When we’re sick, we take a Codral. When we’re bored, we jump on Facebook. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with these things – sometimes you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do to get through what’s ahead of you. But when you consistently ignore the cues your body is giving you to pull back for a while, you’re depriving yourself of valuable time to process and regroup. I’m learning not to feel guilty when I just really need to cancel my plans and spend a Sunday in my pyjamas eating chips, and not to panic that there’s something wrong with me when I’m exhausted despite getting lots of sleep and not being overstressed. That’s just what my body needs in that moment. Sometimes, doing nothing is doing everything.

I don’t know for sure that my current quiet time is due to the Mercury retrograde, but I do know it’s beneficial. Over the past few days I’ve noticed how my attention is being drawn to attitudes and behaviours that I need to address. It's also highlighting things that I’m clinging onto that are no longer serving me. Here are some of the things that have come up for me:

·         * Yesterday I noticed myself fobbing off a younger colleague who had asked me for advice. I realised I was doing this because I felt threatened by her talent and wanted to keep an advantage. That’s an insecurity thing – an ongoing issue for me – and it’s not cool.

·         * While filling out some complicated online documents, I threw a tanty and chucked my phone across the room. (So very mature!) A familiar pattern – I realised I have a tendency to give up too quickly when things seem too hard. I’d been obeying that voice saying ‘you’re stupid’, which is on regular rotation in my internal jukebox. I gave it another go, with a little more patience, and eventually I got there (with some swearing… OK, a LOT of swearing).  

·        *  I noticed how much my attention wanders on the reg. I’m not even talking about long meetings, I’m talking about how in conversation with someone my brain will start thinking about where I need to go next. While I accept that I’ll probably always have this tendency, I do want to learn some techniques to improve my focus. This seems like a good time to work on that.

        I think I’ll use this reflective period to observe these things without judgment, and some of the other stuff that has come up. If I’m aware of them, I can choose different responses. May as well do something useful while I sit and wait for those buses that don’t show (thanks again, Mercury). 

The planets are throwing you a curveball. Just roll with it

There are a lot of intense energies around right now, and you can blame the moon and planets for that. I have to say, I do find it quite bizarre that I'm writing a blog post about this as it seems like something that few people would be on board with, but every time I mention full moons or planetary events, my blog traffic spikes. So it seems that a lot of you really do notice, and care about, astrological dynamics. 

But perhaps that's not surprising. Even people who are dismissive of spiritual concepts seem to be aware that the full moon has an impact on human behaviour (nope, not talking about werewolves!). 

A policeman I used to know told me that incidences of violence and disorderly behaviour have a massive increase during a full moon – to the point where cops in his station were wary about being rostered on for night shift at full moon. And many emergency room doctors can attest to a similar effect. That’s because the moon is associated with our emotions, and some people don’t process highly intense emotions in healthy or respectful ways.

BTW I'm not an astrologer. Everything I've written here is collected from what I've read lately (I'm fascinated by this stuff). And remember that you can't actually blame the moon for your behaviour – even though we are influenced by different energies, we are all responsible for our own actions. 

The full moon this week (it started on Monday night) is extra intense because it's in the house of Scorpio – that's the sign associated with deep thinking and emotions. If you know a Scorpio well (I'm one!), you'll know what I'm talking about – we're all about delving into what's really going on, and exploring what actually matters. You will never have a conversation about the Kardashians with a Scorpio – shallowness bores us to tears.

So if you're feeling extra emotional this week, and you're being confronted with deep issues you've been burying or simply hadn't been aware of, that's the full moon at play. The good news is, it's shining a light on stuff you need to process and clear. It’d be helpful to take that on board. 

But wait, there's more! We're also in the shadow period of the Mercury retrograde – something that happens three times this year. The retrograde proper starts on May 18 but its effects start to be felt in the two-week lead-up. The planet Mercury is to do with communication and travel, so when it goes into retrograde (until June 11) it can wreak havoc. This is a time when your computer may melt down*, emails go missing in cyberspace, buses and flights will constantly be delayed and you'll get caught in unexpected and inexplicable traffic snarl-ups. Last year during a Mercury retrograde, the whole of Sydney Airport lost power for three hours, for reasons officials could not identify, sending the entire flight schedule into disarray for the day. And in the Mercury retrograde in January this year, a leading telco in Australia randomly changed its entire network into daylight savings time, meaning that people living in states which do not observe daylight savings – hello, Queensland! – got woken up an hour before they should have been, and rocked up to work early (robbed of an hour's sleep –how gutted would you be?!).

Also during Mercury retrograde, your interactions with others may be fraught. You'll find yourself – and them – saying things you don't mean. Misunderstandings will be commonplace, and will cause conflicts. Your thoughts will be muddied and you'll struggle to get your message across. In short, this planet is a bit of a shit-stirrer.

But it has a fun side too – Mercury is also associated with playfulness, so fun activities that have maximum laugh value are highlighted over this period. Channel that inner child – there's a trampoline and a silly movie with your name on it. 

The best way to get through a Mercury retrograde cycle is to be patient. Be forgiving of people around you – especially when it comes to communications. Focus on ways to find calm – meditation, herbal tea, long walks in the park, whatever floats your boat – as this is more important now than ever. 

The planet Mercury up close.

If you still don't believe in this astrological stuff, I get it – it does seem pretty far-fetched. But remember that everything is made of energy, which, by its nature, is subject to ebbs and flows. Emotions themselves are a form of energy. So it makes sense that what happens in the solar system, with its associated powerful forces, could also affect energy flow within and around us. The moon controls the tides, so it stands to reason that the moon could also affect the flow of emotions within our body – especially when you consider that our bodies are about 75 per cent water, an element which is associated with emotions (that's why Scorpio, Cancer and Pisces, the water signs, are the emotion-driven signs of the Zodiac). Oh, I've lost you, haven't I? Too airy-fairy? Yeah, I know, it's pretty out there. But do try to keep an open mind. 

* Pro tip: if you haven't done a computer back-up recently, do it now.