mercury retro: a refresher
from The Guild
from my instagram stories @saltwater.stars: mercury retro doesn’t really fucks with emotions. mercury is for communications, thought patterns, & technology. it may be activating your moon or more emotionally charged areas but mercury retro is not why you’re moody.
a friend & I were sharing our observations about how many misconceptions there are about mercury retrograde. it often gets conflated with emotionally chaotic times, feeling blue, or intensity. the relationship mercury retro (and any planet/transit) is forming to planets in your chart is ultimately what matters most. AND there are things certain transits are & are not about. I totally understand how many folx don’t have access to astrology readings/accurate information & that many newer astrologers are still learning. so I got on the gram to share some thoughts & yous wanted to know more. aries is the perfect time to go back to basics too!
the planet mercury traditionally rules: communication, the mind, thought patterns, technology (the use not the invention of), minor travel, information, writing, (logical) connections between people, places, things, messages, signs, on and on and on.
mercury is a fluid/flexible planet. gemini & virgo are ruled by mercury- accumulating data, the analyzation of it, the utilization of it, the interaction with it- is all mercury. when shit feels foggy during retro, ask yourself: “am I really listening to myself & others?” and wait wait for answers. pause. sometimes we don’t notice how much we rush until a retrograde & then slowing down is like a pile up wreck.
in my perspective (mercury), when folx talk about mercury retro being intense, I read that as their emotional reactions to the epiphanies/information mercury retro is bringing forward. it is certainly interconnected as all astrology is, but still cannot be conflated as what mercury retro is about. this is why every retrograde is different for everyone- it’s going to be active in a different part of your chart/life, giving messages to different planets, etc. it may be a totally smooth time for you which is not unusual. the point of retrograde is not to make our lives more difficult for fun.
retrograde: review, revise, readjust, reasses, reflect, retrospection, reaffirming, retroactive strategies, reverse engineering, intricate/alternative resolutions, re-evaluation, redirection, taking time to process responses to conflict.
not everyone enjoys these processes, of course. there is definitely a lot of potential for it to be a difficult time when you have to undo, examine, or adjust the way certain things have been operating. ultimately, it is an opportunity. a very clear opportunity & sometimes clarity is painful.
we’re also usually not taught to listen to ourselves, which I’ve found is the quickest, deepest way to access a productive & insightful mercury retro. problems seem to come when we push through conflict, stop signs, & intuition unnecessarily. when we must push through after really assessing whether it’s a MUST, moving slowly, triple checking, & asking questions is helpful.
add cushion time to your schedule for everything, especially if it involves communicating, other people, or tech. don’t fill empty space unnecessarily in your schedule. remember to breathe. inquire as to why you feel like you can’t, won’t, or don’t want to slow down. be with the answer. share. and in honor of aries: