Mercury Retrograde: May 7-30, 2009
Mention Mercury retrograde, and you will almost always see a look of near panic cross the face of the person you are talking to. Mercury is this nice little messenger God, so why the panic? And what exactly does Mercury retrograde mean? Mercury retrogrades occur approximately three times a year, and last for about three weeks each time. So, we know that we can’t just sleep through them and begin life when they go direct again!
Mercury retrograde tends to send life into a tailspin – whatever can go wrong does go wrong. However, we do have the choice of how much power we are going to give to this celestial phenomenon in the manner in which we react to it. First of all, we need to be aware of when it is happening, and realize that for two to three days before Mercury goes retrograde we feel its power, as well as two to three days after it goes direct.
Mercury Retrograde
The function of a planet in retrograde is that it allows us to review how we are handling parts of our life, how we are developing ourselves. Mercury covers a plethora of things, including all forms of communication (including legal agreements), vehicles and other forms of travel, and the little mechanical marvels that make life easier – like coffee pots and copy machines! It also deals with how we handle information – how we process it on a mental level.
What we don’t want to do is give away our personal power. We don’t want to say “Oh, well, I messed that up, but it was Mercury retrograde, so that’s understandable.” We always have to take responsibility, even in times when the celestial bodies are not exactly acting as out allies.
Actually, Mercury is not even going backwards (as retrograde would imply). It only appears so from the perspective of earth. The actuality of a “different” energy during this time, however, is very, very real. A good caveat for a Mercury retrograde is “Expect the unexpected.” When we slow ourselves down, ground ourselves in the present, and focus on what is going on around us, we will see (or sense) when something is not exactly going right, and have the time to “fix it”. Quite often what needs to be fixed is in the area of communications. If someone does not appear to be “getting” what you are saying (either verbally or in writing), take the time to restate your thoughts so that everyone is on the same page (or at least reading from the same book!).
One other little thing here – don’t get too caught up in how things “should” be working. Stay grounded, note how things are “actually” working, and react accordingly. You can choose to run around like a chicken with its head cut off for three weeks, or you can slow down, go with the flow, and learn something about yourself. You might even change how you see the world! And you will definitely learn to have more patience with both people and things – especially mechanical things! (I’ll bet you never knew that your car could be so opinionated!)
Gemini
Each Mercury retrograde takes on the character of the sign that it is in. The current Mercury retrograde started in the sign of Gemini on May 7th, going back into Taurus on May 15th. Gemini is a “native” sign for Mercury, and under this sign we are encouraged to move quickly, and to keep the flow going. None of this start and stop stuff! We need to be able to drop what we are doing and change directions at a moments notice. (Gemini, the sign of the Twins, has a very short attention span, and is interested in a multitude of subjects!)
Communications (verbal and written), interpretation of data and facts, and machinery are what need to be paid attention to now. If something chooses not to work, and a second attempt doesn’t work any better than the first one did, then start thinking outside of the box. Your new insight may become the new reality! Above all – do not allow yourself to become overwhelmed, and do not lose your temper. These things are not conducive to doing business or leading a calm life. ;-)
As the Mercury retrograde moves back into Taurus, we will see life around us getting a bit less frenetic – slowing down so that some sort of stability can be achieved. If we think of Gemini as wanting to have lots of experiences, we see Taurus as a time when energy is focused on developing the skills to protect the safe place in life that we have created, and surrounding ourselves with the resources to ensure our personal well being.
Gemini takes us into the experiential world, while Taurus slows us down, and asks us to look at the reasons behind what we are doing. Our reasons for doing something in a perfect world will be aligned with out personal belief systems, and how this is expressed in what we feel is important, and how well we are able to prioritize things.
The world sees us in terms of what we are doing – the words that we use, and the actions that we take. This Mercury retrograde essentially asks us to look within, to see what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why we are doing it. We may have to tweak things to bring our lives back into alignment with our beliefs.
Conclusion
Welcome the Mercury retrograde as a time to fine-tune yourself. Honor it, respect it, but do not allow it to overwhelm you, do not allow it to take over your life. Always remember that you are the person in charge!
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