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Mercury Retrograde Another cyclic timing piece to our astrological map The planet Mercury governs, and thus affects, all areas of communication and transportation. Anything which facilitates the transfer of information, people or goods in any form from one person or place to another is governed by this planet (thought and communication processes, the varied instruments of our communication – vehicles, telephones, computers, books and publishing, scheduling of appointments, documents). Although Mercury does not actually, physically go backward, it appears to go backward at specific times of the year and this optical illusion is called “retrograde.” It is a shift often accompanied by delays, mis-communications and slow-downs in transportation. It is much less a left brain period (planning, organizing, detailing), and more a right brain period (listening to your intuition). It’s also a good time to go over what decisions you are making and how you have planned them, and is very much a time of contemplation versus action. If you challenge the energy of Mercury retrograde and try to force things to keep going forward, you run the risk of timing reminders disguised as obstacles, such as your car won’t start, your internet goes down, you lose or mislay important papers, your cell phonebattery dies, people are late to meetings, traffic jamsare rampant, your flight gets rerouted, and nothing isworking smoothly. This is not a good time to make appointments, schedule surgery, submit a book draft to your publisher, write an exam, make a speech, get your car fixed or travel anywhere that deadlines areimportant. It is a good time, however, to review paperwork, recheck your scheduling, go on a leisurelyvacation where delays and misdirection can be adventures and new learning experiences (rather than stressors), or spend unscheduled time with yourfamily. Also be sure to leave extra time for everythingand look for interesting and valuable surprises when delays arise.Mercury retrograde teaches us patience, right timing and to listen to our intuition. It lets us know that there is a larger plan at work, and that we need to heed that timing when it confronts our own. Mercury retrogrades during the year 2010 will most strongly affect the three Earth signs. It will also tweak the fire sign Sagittarius for a short time in late December, before returning to earthy Capricorn. In Capricorn – planning and organizing will be more of a challenge. Business may slow down or run sluggishly. Even a broken bone (physical structure) could show up to slow us down if we are not listening to retrograde Mercury’s call to idle for a while before we charge ahead again.When Mercury touches Sagittarius during the retrograde, it will show up in long distance journeys(planes, trains, adventures of the mind), higher education and belief system communications.Taurus rules material resources and all things beautiful, sensual and luxurious. When Mercury retrogrades in this sign, the transportation of material goods may run into problems, beauty appointments get cancelled, or your favourite bubble bath is unavailable. People may not share well(communication), or you could run into hoarding or greed issues. In Virgo – the ability to clearly analyze data may be compromised. Delays could arise in the organizing of a humanitarian project. Your housekeeper might go on an unscheduled holiday, or your digestion could act up.Whenever I see a period of Mercury retrograde coming up, rather than resisting, I have learned to heed the signal, relax, take a break from forward motion in my life and enjoy, revisit and reap the rewards of what I have already accomplished.
CRYSTAL WOLF has been an astrologer |