The Truth about Mercury Retrograde

I feel it’s important to clarify this naturally occurring phenomenon, as my guides are telling me it’s much needed at this time. Although I think it’s wonderful Mercury Retrograde is once again becoming a part of our modern collective consciousness, I believe its effects are widely misinterpreted and misunderstood as a period to be feared or dread.

Mercury Retrograde was exact at 5:06am PST January 5th and will remain until January 25th, 2016. At its worst, communication lines are blurred, computers go on the fritz, travel plans may be postponed and/or phone service will be disconnected more often than usual. Perhaps in its own way even modern technology has the need to purge what is no longer serving it; but aren’t we all in need of our own reboot or refresh every now and again?

During this time lost items may reappear or people from your past may reenter your life unexpectedly. If you take a step back to evaluate, I think it’s important to note whether or not they are coming back at this time for a very good, very specific reason.

As an astrologer, you cannot convince me to sign a contract during this period if my life depended on it. However, it is important for me to clarify this belief does NOT stem from fear, but rather the nature of Mercury Retrograde and its propensity for reversals and change. If you’re looking at a contract for the beginning of a new venture or a completion of something, I’d say not today. During the retrograde period, a contract is more likely to become undone or possess misleading hidden text. On the other hand, if your intentions for the contract are to be something temporary or eventually absolved, then by all means, sign away.

I would venture to say many of you out there reading this have a natural natal placement of Mercury Retrograde. Speaking from personal experience (my natal Mercury is retrograde at 15 degrees Gemini) I actually feel kinda normal amidst this acute and interesting time. In fact, Mercury Retrograde happens an average of 3 or 4 times a year, usually for about three or four weeks at a time. With the shadow period, which is the two or three week period leading up to the Retrograde, the effects last even longer than you might think.

This particular retrograde is first happening in the sign of Aquarius, which as any astrologer will tell you, Aquarian energy is far from the norm. Aquarians are the forward thinking rebels with a cause. They possess an eccentric yet innovative brilliance that sparks our imagination and challenges us to think outside the box. This is the energy that keeps us creating and pushing forward. Mercury is the planet that rules communication and our linear mind. With our present Mercury Retrograde beginning in Aquarius, then quickly moving backward to hit 15 degrees Capricorn before it stations direct on the 25th, these next three weeks are guaranteed to be a very interesting and exciting time.

I believe the duality between a forward minded Aquarian vision and the Retrograde’s ability to reboot our thought patterns and temporarily turn back the clock, is something we should ponder in the next few weeks. Without a clear perspective on our past, how can we move forward in a healthy way to create a better future? How can we truly grow without striving for and obtaining resolution from our past? Aren’t our own dreams a dormant part of our subconscious rising up to the surface for a better view?

Mercury Retrograde is actually giving us all a second chance for review; a refreshed opportunity to reprogram our consciousness. Right now the Universe is giving us a chance to find healing and to focus on issues that may have been left behind unresolved. In this case, Mercury Retrograde is in fact a gift to us all and nothing to be feared. “Problems” commonly associated with a retrograde force us to take a step back and take an introspective look into who we are now and how our past decisions and actions have shaped and defined us. It forces us to look at what we give our power to and what’s important to us. How can that not be a good a thing?

The trick during this time is to remain flexible and resilient, with an understanding that perhaps the Universal energies and God have a greater plan for us all. Unfortunately that plan may or may not include you talking to so-and-so right now or taking that trip exactly as planned. Annoying at times, yes, but in the bigger picture, I truly believe a Mercury Retrograde is a blessing.

Mercury Retrograde is an event in the cosmos, a Divine Intelligence, that gives us an opportunity to recondition ourselves toward individual growth and a collective awakening here on Earth. Any energetic phenomena that creates awareness and allows us to relate synchronistic events in our present reality with the chance to heal, is in my opinion, a profoundly beautiful thing.