This book is all about the retrograde cycle of the planet Mercury. So, let’s first define Mercury…
Mercury is the communications planet. Whenever you open your mouth to talk, or when you write something – anything from an e-mail to a novel or beyond – or even if you just think or listen to someone, you’re using your Mercury. It’s the mind planet and it guides how you talk, write, otherwise express yourself and take in information. It’s your intellectual process. Knowing which sign and House Mercury is in will tell you how you think and express yourself, and even how you negotiate.
Mercury is also the transport planet and the planet of short journeys and commuting. It governs trade and commerce. Plus, it governs your wit, thoughts and thirst for knowledge and your desire and ability to learn. Do you think quickly? Do you like to analyse things? Are you a fast learner? Can you keep secrets? These sorts of questions will be answered when you learn about your Mercury.
Mercury is the trickster and it’s also the quicksilver planet. If someone is a fast talker or a smooth talker, it’s thanks to their Mercury. If they think too hard, or overthink, or can’t make decisions, look to their Mercury for an explanation.
These days, with the rising interest in astrology, more and more people, even non-astrologers, seem to have heard about Mercury retrograde – when Mercury appears to move backwards in the sky. That said, there are also many misunderstandings surrounding Mercury retrograde – mostly that it’s all doom and gloom or somehow bad luck, which it’s not. This is why we wrote this book: to dispel the myths and help you get the most of this planetary phenomenon which has a potentially positive side to it.
Obviously, planets don’t actually turn around and start moving backwards, even though, from our viewpoint on Earth, it sometimes appears as if they do. It’s all an optical illusion, due to the relative positions of the planet and Earth and how they move around the Sun.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and its orbit is shorter than Earth’s – a mere 88 days compared to our 365 days, which means that Mercury experiences four years in the time it takes us to complete one orbit of the Sun. Mercury’s shorter orbit creates an optical illusion in that it appears to speed past Earth, slow down and then move in a backwards loop, giving us Mercury retrograde. It’s the planetary equivalent of runners on a race track: the inner track is shorter than the outer track.
A graphic representation of the orbit of Mercury around the Sun, from our point of view here on Earth. The ‘loops’ show when Mercury is in apparent retrograde motion.
This is how planetary retrogrades work from our vantage point. The Earth ‘sees’ Mercury ahead, but the Earth moves faster than Mercury so as we catch up and then overtake it, Mercury appears to go backwards in the sky. This means that instead of progressing forwards through the zodiac, from one sign to another, Mercury appears to ‘reverse’ through whatever sign it was in when the retrograde started. It’s an illusion, but a meaningful one, symbolically.
Mercury isn’t the only planet that goes retrograde – they all do (with the exception of the Sun and Moon, which aren’t planets). When a planet goes retrograde, we get a stalling in the proceedings connected to that planet. Mercury retrograde is the best known of all the planetary retrogrades though, and it happens three or four times a year or about 20 per cent of the time.
Whether it’s moving forwards or backwards, Mercury in the skies triggers Mercury issues as it goes. Because Mercury is the trickster, when it goes retrograde its influence works differently – its energy intensifies and things seem to go awry. However, as you’ll discover, you can work consciously with Mercury’s energies when it’s retrograde and use them to your advantage.
Before we move on to exploring how to maximize Mercury’s energies, let’s start by dispelling a few common myths about Mercury retrograde. We’ve already explained why Mercury appearing to go backwards is an illusion, and another common myth is that we can’t see Mercury in the sky when it’s retrograde because it’s too close to the Sun.
The truth is that Mercury is usually too close to the Sun to be seen. But when Mercury is about to go retrograde, it’s far away enough from the Sun to be visible to the naked eye. Just as Mercury’s turning retrograde, we can briefly see it as a faint light after sunset, close to where the Sun has just set. At the end of its retrograde phase, we can see it just before sunrise.
Many people also buy into the myth that ‘all these things going wrong in my life are due to Mercury being retrograde’ or believe ‘it causes nothing but problems’. But if you tend to miscommunicate, mess up your travel plans, miss appointments, lose things and delete important emails, you’ll carry on doing this whether Mercury is retrograde or not – it’s not Mercury’s fault. The truth is things do go wrong under Mercury retrograde – and particularly with communications – all of which are inconvenient, annoying and frustrating. In this book, however, you’ll not only learn how you can prepare to avoid the worst effects of Mercury retrograde, but also how to use it to your advantage – for example, it’s a great time to deal with what you’ve left unresolved in the past or make plans for the future.
The periods just before Mercury goes retrograde and just after it goes ‘direct’ again (in other words, the retrograde cycle ends), are known as the shadow phases. During these times you might feel the effects of Mercury retrograde even more; this is because the start and finish of any cycle in astrology is always the strongest.
The pre-shadow phase – before Mercury goes retrograde – gives you the chance to prepare for its effects. This isn’t an ideal time to make decisions and it’s a good idea to be as flexible as you can. The post-shadow phase (sometimes called the ‘echo’) – after the retrograde – allows you to process its effects. It’s a good idea to tread cautiously and wait before putting new plans into action.
These shadow phases mean that the effects of Mercury retrograde go on for much longer than the time it’s actually retrograde. The most frustrating time is often when Mercury is about to turn retrograde or direct – when it ‘stations’. This is a period of stillness and reflection, so it’s not the best time to make plans.
The shadow phases last about two weeks before and two weeks after Mercury retrograde. If you’re just starting out in astrology, you really just need to pay attention to the start and finish dates of the Mercury retrograde cycles (see Appendix). However, if you’re (or become) more advanced in your studies, and start working with degrees of the zodiac, here’s how the shadow phases work:
Mercury’s shadow phases
When a planet goes retrograde, the things associated with it slow down and unresolved or unfinished business is often the result. We can also get indications that things are happening behind the scenes and it’s time to review the affairs of that planet. For Mercury retrograde, that means paying especially close attention to communication, transport and new technology. Mercury also rules buying and selling, contracts and agreements, and important documents.
That’s why you might feel as if you have everything figured out and then Mercury goes into retrograde and makes you feel as if the world has gone mad: the best-laid plans don’t go anywhere and you start to drift off mid-sentence. You may also find:
Of course, all these things happen when Mercury isn’t retrograde, it’s just that they seem to do so more frequently when it is. All of this is inconvenient, annoying and frustrating, and the best thing you can do is plan ahead and be extra mindful of Mercury’s influence. And, of course, things can also go right during Mercury’s retrograde period. For example:
However, like all planetary patterns, Mercury retrograde is likely to affect you more strongly if it connects with your birth chart. For example, if you were born under Aries and Mercury is going retrograde in Aries, it’s likely to affect you more strongly than someone born under the sign of Cancer (unless that person has, say, a Cancer Moon and Mercury retrogrades right over it, of course).
Also, if you have Mercury retrograde in your birth chart, you might not feel the effects of Mercury retrograde as much as others, because you’re more accustomed to it. Some people born with Mercury retrograde claim that Mercury retrograde later in life actually works in their favour and makes them feel normal.
Generally, as with everything in life, whether things go right or wrong depends a lot on how you react to the Mercury retrograde energy. If you take an extra second to hang up your keys by the door when you arrive home, read important documents several times and are a bit more forgiving when a friend says something particularly daft, you’re likely to have fewer problems. Even things that look like they could be an unmitigated disaster, such as running into your ex, might not be as awful as you think. Perhaps you can see it as a chance for a catch-up chat about old friends. And that’s the point: if you’re open to the opportunities that present themselves, but don’t rush into judgement, then you can make the best of Mercury retrograde.
Due to the concentrated planetary energies during the retrograde, it’s likely that expressing yourself clearly is more of a challenge than usual – but it isn’t impossible. You may just need to focus more and listen harder. You may also find that the retrograde period isn’t the best time to launch something new; however, you can do that later once you’ve worked out all your options.
However, the myth that Mercury retrograde will bring havoc, torment and misery is just that – a myth. Yes, things are different under Mercury retrograde, and yes, you’ll have challenges to deal with but, as we said previously, Mercury is a trickster and once you’ve learned about his tricks, you can turn them to your advantage.
If you’re new to astrology, you may not have heard about how retrograde cycles work symbolically and might like to equate it to the following idea:
When you’re born, you have no idea that you can’t drive a car – you’re unconsciously unskilled. Quite soon though, you do become aware that you can’t drive a car (say by three or four years old, or sooner if you’re a real bright spark!) – you’re now consciously unskilled. Eventually, most likely around 16 or 17 years of age, depending on where you live, you start to learn how to drive a car. You can do it, but as you learn, you have to think about everything – braking, turning, parking, etc – you’re now consciously skilled. Finally, after a few months or years of driving, it all starts to flow. You can drive around without thinking about whether you should change gears, indicate, brake, etc – you’re now unconsciously skilled. You’re skilled to the point of being able to drive without thinking too hard about it.
Retrogrades are a bit like that: they have what’s called ‘three passes’.
The planet is moving forwards in one House of your chart and may trigger one or more of your planets as it goes (see Part IV for more about this). This is the first pass. You deal with whatever it brings up. You’re unconsciously unskilled.
The planet then starts to go retrograde (or appears to) and, as it retraces its steps in your chart, you can get some echoes or even repeats in your life and past themes reappear. What you experience is based on where the retrograde is taking place for you – which sign, which House and which planets it’s triggering. This can be quite an intense part of the cycle, as you get a double dose of the planet: a second chance perhaps, or a reminder that you didn’t quite get something right the first time around and here’s another, possibly last (for now), chance. This is the second pass. You’re hopefully becoming consciously skilled.
Finally, the retrograde ends. The planet has gone as far back in your chart as it’s going to for now and resumes its forwards motion. Once again, the planet goes over the same part of your chart, triggering everything all over again, and again quite possibly bringing up some of the same issues and life themes that came up during the first two passes. This is the final pass of the retrograde. Ideally, this time around, you’ve learned how to deal with the issues this transit is teaching you and now barely notice them. You know how to deal with the retrograde. This is the third pass. You’re now unconsciously skilled.
Make no mistake, Mercury retrograde can also be used very consciously. Yoko Ono famously chose to sign contracts under Mercury retrograde so she could more easily renegotiate them later.
I, Yasmin, once bought an apartment at auction under Mercury retrograde but then realized the mortgage broker had arranged a 90 per cent variable mortgage on it – which wasn’t what I had asked for and it worried me terribly. However, knowing that Mercury was retrograde, I simply found another broker and got a new mortgage, all before the first payment was taken out of my account and with no penalties!
We believe Mercury retrograde is the Universe’s way of saying that you’re not yet ready to decide; there are other factors you don’t know about, for which you need to account, so keep gathering the facts.
Some people like to try and put their life on hold when Mercury is retrograde. However, that isn’t very realistic. Who can put their life on hold for weeks? But, of course, if you do have the chance to retreat under Mercury retrograde for a while, grab it with both hands because it’s an ideal time to take a break and recharge your batteries.
Similarly, if you’re planning to travel under Mercury retrograde, it’s best to make all the arrangements you can in advance. Otherwise, though, and overall, be kind to yourself. You might have to slow down for a while, but if you stay focused and get ready to enjoy what Mercury retrograde has to offer, you can minimize any potential problems.
As we described earlier, the effect of Mercury retrograde is strongest during the shadow phases, when it first turns retrograde and when it changes direction to become direct again. However, it will have an effect on the world for the whole time it’s retrograde, as well as just before and just after.
The bottom line of the Mercury retrograde is:
The best way to take advantage of the Mercury retrograde is to focus on the prefix re– (which implies repetition), and focus on the following:
If you take on new commitments before dealing with old ones, you could become overloaded. Renew your current commitments and see them through.
We all need time to review things and decide whether we’re taking the right road. Maybe it’s time for a new approach. Double-checking everything might seem to slow things down, but it could save you time and grief in the long run. Reviewing your financial arrangements, for example, could save you a small fortune; you might be able to get a better deal from a different utility company or switch to a credit card with a lower interest rate, if you look into it under Mercury retrograde.
Sometimes you need to take time out to consider your next move. Mercury retrograde is a time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished so far and where you want to redirect your energies. You might be more intuitive and aware of your unconscious thoughts during Mercury retrograde and discover insights that are usually blocked by conscious thought.
Although it can be frustrating if a meeting is cancelled or postponed, it allows you to gather additional information that may come in handy – or simply recharge your batteries so you can get more out of it. Similarly, it’s a great time to revise a written project.
If something you own is looking a bit outdated, the easy option is to go shopping to replace it. But with minimal effort you might be able to transform it into something new. Mercury retrograde is a brilliant time for upcycling.
It’s easy to be lazy about repairs but that small leak can lead to a major flood if you don’t get it fixed, so gather your resources and plan to make good any domestic repairs.
As your life changes, so do your ideas. This is a great time to review your beliefs, standards and perceptions and whether any of them are due to habit rather than your current reality.
If you don’t succumb to an impulse buy, you give yourself the time to find what you want at a cheaper price – maybe even to find something that suits you better.
Part of taking any action is ensuring you have all the information you need at your fingertips. You can make your final decision once Mercury is direct again.
In terms of work, going back to old customers and clients can make better business sense than spending your energy on making new contacts.
There might be somewhere you keep intending to return, but somehow you never have the time. You can make the time under Mercury retrograde. Or you might want to revisit an old situation and see it with fresh eyes.
If you’re surrounded by clutter, it’s hard to get anything done. Taking time out to organize your home, your workspace and your life will pay enormous dividends in the long term.
Lost items often come to light under Mercury retrograde, especially if you spend your time clearing out clutter.
Reconnecting with friends and relatives can be one of the most positive sides of Mercury’s retrograde period. However, if you reconnect with an ex, you might want to hold back because there’s usually a very good reason why they’re now an ex. You can also reconnect with your goals and put your mind to achieving them.
Even if you ignore them, unresolved arguments are there in the background and affect your relationships. Bringing any conflicts into the open and dealing with them will allow everyone to make a fresh start.
Although it might be frustrating, it’s much better to repeat yourself to make sure you’ve been understood than deal with problems later. People might not be on the same wavelength as you, so don’t make assumptions.
As we’ve described, Mercury retrograde is a great time to deal with unfinished business. We all start things we don’t get around to completing, creating clutter in our lives. This period gives us time to tie up loose ends and create a clear vision for the future. If you take advantage of it, you’ll be ready for what’s next when Mercury goes direct. That’s why part of making the most of Mercury retrograde is being prepared.
Use the quick checklist of dos and don’ts below to help you make the right decisions.
If things do go wrong when Mercury is retrograde, try not to assume the worst. Give other people the benefit of the doubt. People, you included, are likely to be more careless, mistake-prone and forgetful when Mercury is retrograde; someone might not have read your e-mail or text – the fact that they haven’t yet replied doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring you. Sometimes having conversations face to face can make things easier.
Be aware that anything started or purchased during Mercury retrograde may need to be revisited and revised at least once before you get what you want from it, whether it’s a new job, a new phone or whatever. It will be worth the revisiting and revisions because Mercury is a teacher.
If you’re frustrated or confused by a retrograde cycle, it may help to remember that all your fellow earthlings are similarly afflicted; try to be kind and tolerant to yourself and to others.
Mercury’s retrograde cycles present us with opportunities to recoup our investments of time, money and attention. No matter when we start something, Mercury retrograde will present us with a way to revisit, review and repair it.
The key with Mercury retrograde is always to let the cycle unfold without making any major decisions, if you can. Mercury retrograde usually leads to more information being sent your way, so it’s best to see what transpires and, if possible, wait until the end of the cycle (and ideally a few days after that) before you act.
This book is divided into four parts that explore how Mercury retrograde is likely to manifest in your life, what to avoid and how to make the best of it.
Part I explains how Mercury retrograde is likely to play out for you depending on the element in which Mercury is retrograding (Fire, Earth, Air or Water). In Part II we look at how Mercury retrograde affects each of the 12 zodiac or Star signs, and in Part III we explain how Mercury retrograde manifests its energies through the 12 Houses of your birth chart. Part IV looks at what happens when Mercury retrograde meets your planets. That’s followed by an Appendix listing of Mercury retrograde dates for the next 10 years.