Mercury Retrodgrade Is Coming

REconsider  ::  REpair  ::  REflect  ::  REconnect

On July 14/15, and lasting until August 7/8, Mercury will be in retrograde and will be in the sign of Leo.   This event, Mercury in retrograde, happens at least three times in a year, sometimes four.  Mercury retrograde occurs when it appears that Mercury is going backwards in the sky.  Of course that isn’t what happens.  It’s an optical illusion created because of the different speeds of the orbits of Mercury and Earth relative to each other.  Nevertheless, a lot of people dread the time when Mercury goes into the perceived retrograde.

In astrology, Mercury is associated with communication, travel, and commercial activity.  When it is direct, as opposed to retrograde, then the influence over these items is generally considered to be good.  Any planet in retrograde is considered to be doing the opposite of it’s normal influence.  Thus, Mercury in retrograde is normally associated with disruptions in communication, travel, and commercial activity.  You can quickly see where that can have a lot of negative effects.  Electronics associated with communication will suddenly become unreliable.  Misunderstandings grow.  Travel is disrupted and schedules become chaos.  Conducting commercial activity can be scrambled.  Generally, it’s recommended that you don’t sign contracts, plan trips, or buy new communications electronics or other big purchases during this time.  If you do have tight schedules, check them twice and expect delays or cancellations.  Don’t start new projects or endeavors.  Expect hidden and possibly disruptive details to surface during this time.

While most of us dread a Mercury retrograde, don’t let it get you down!  Turn this time into a positive.  This is a great time to do research, as hidden details will come forward.  Just don’t make any decisions yet!  It’s also a wonderful time to correct past mistakes or reconnect with a long-lost friend or relative.  Take the time to look at mistakes and then start taking steps to correct them.  As one site says, “reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect.”  Slow down, take time to look at how life is going, and rethink some plans if those plans aren’t working as you’d hoped.

In your yoga practice, give yourself permission to stop and look at where you are now.  If you’ve been pushing too hard, give yourself a break and ask yourself why you’ve pushed so hard.  If you’re not pushing hard enough, try to figure out why and take steps to correct it.  Look at the finer details of a pose that’s been giving you problems, and then see if you can make some subtle changes to make it better.

Overall, just give yourself extra time to get somewhere, expect some disruptions, and otherwise hang on.  Mercury retrograde, as with so many other aspects, challenges us.   Use the challenges to build for the future.

~ Namaste ~

John