Mercury Retrograde is Upon Us!

Hello everyone,

Believe it or not, there are many astrological events that have nothing to do with Saturn or Neptune. One of these is called Mercury retrograde, and it begins officially on August 3 at 11:50pm.

"Retrograde" means that the planet appears to be going backwards from our point of view. Essentially it changes direction and starts spinning the other way. For many of the outer planets, this is no big deal astrologically because many of them spend half their time in retrograde motion.

Herein lies the problem: Mercury is a personal planet in astrology. It's close to us and affects our day to day lives. Mercury rules communication matters and anything involving a computer; you would be hard-pressed today to find many areas of our lives that are NOT ruled by computers. As such, Mercury retrograde has a tendency to throw things out of whack.

What am I talking about specifically? Here are a few examples of things that can happen more frequently during Mercury retrograde:

Missed emails, text messages, or voicemails
Miscommunication of all kinds between people
Problems with paperwork--lost, misplaced, re-routed, etc.
Unexpected delays or cancellations of meetings or get-togethers
Computer problems of any and all stripes but usually minor ones

Mercury must slow down before it changes direction and the deceleration is called the "storm". Problems seem to occur more frequently during this time, which happens before the planet turns retrograde and the moment it starts turning back to its normal direction after this period is over. It leaves its storm on August 3 and then enters it again on August 26 to finish the retrograde.

How do you deal with Mercury in retrograde? Very carefully. Here are some tips:

Back up all computer data regularly
Check all travel plans--hotels, airlines, car rentals, etc.--before you leave
Confirm that meetings are taking place
Read the fine print on every document you sign and try NOT to sign anything during this period if you can help it
Ensure your messages are being sent and received
Don't start new projects; "new" things that are started now usually have to be re-done
Finish up old projects and tie up loose ends
Be understanding of others' problems communicating or showing up late or not at all; likely it is not their fault
Speak carefully

So working on my tarot book shouldn't be a problem but I would wait to start any new writing projects--since Mercury is the writing planet as well--until it is over.

Hang on tight people...sometimes it is a bumpy ride!