Firstly, this article assumes that you believe in the affects of planets and their historically experienced attributes.
Secondly, I am not a super genius astrologer. This is just all opinion from experience. I hope it helps others to read this. That is part of the intention of this article.
Enjoy!
What is Mercury Retrograde?
Mercury retrograde is when the planet mercury literally appears to go backwards if you were to watch it in the sky.
Astrologically there is a slow down period, a point at which it stops, it then gains speed backwards for a time on average a three and a half week period at which point it slows in it’s reverse and then stops before moving slowly back into it’s regular orientation.
This is known in astrology as the pre-shadow which is the time when Mercury begins to slow, the full retrograde and then the post shadow which happens as it get’s back up to speed again.
To get an idea what happens during mercury retrograde it’s best to look at the details behind Mercury the god and his attributes.
(from Wikipedia) Mercury is known as … Governing financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves and also serves at the guide of souls to the underworld.
Considering this imagine the potentials if these energies where reversed!
How Does Mercury Retrograde Work?
From my life experience of extensive observation of MRx I have seen the following in my life and the lives of those about me.
Firstly I will furnish you with an illustration as this might help in understanding how things play out.
|——MRx preshadow -—-|—-MRx Full effect—-–|—-Mrx post shadow——–|
|—a little ramping up to–|-full on intensity here-|-which then ramps down-|
In my observations the following happens to anything that is Mercury related in your life modified by Mercury Retrograde.
In the examples below I will call mercury related things we do; X.
Any X that involves movement, finance, communication, agreements or plans that occur inside a Mercury Retrograde event period will be skewed in relation to the position inside the event. Similarly… any X that also includes movement, finance, communication, agreements or plans for events outside of an MRx event ALSO have echoes from that event.
If X happens in the pre-shadow it might be ok with small niggles. Like you go on a holiday and forget your camera. You send an email and it gets lost but it’s not an important one and you can sort it out later easily. You ask someone to come over and they get the time wrong and you are put out by an hour but it’s ok. Things like that.
You might note that the closer you are to MRx Full Effect the more FULL the effect! Simple.
So then note that if X happens in the FULL effect part of MRx then expect that, the car you buy as a bargain turns out to be a horrible lemon, the house you were sold is full of termites, your work agreement is misleading and you are being paid less than you ought to and no one told you, your holiday is delayed because your plane has a severe issue and you get put up in a hotel that has bed bugs. To top it all off you attempt to talk your partner through an issue and only make things worse because of misunderstandings. IE. It’s a lot of a shit storm and often.
Again if X happens in the post shadow you might get small niggles depending on how far you are away from the main event.
Here is an example of a post shadow event that played out:
I recently sold an amplifier to a guy in a distant suburb during MRx post shadow. It was packed perfectly. Photographed upon packing, he agreed to photo it on receiving it just in case. I know what happens so I was trying to ensure that nothing could get mixed up.
Firstly the courier never turned up to pick it up. He claimed that he did. I know he didn’t as I have CCTV monitoring at my office. I had to take it to the depot myself.
It arrived a day late. The box was a bit mashed. Upon opening the amp was crushed as it was apparent that there had been great weight put on top of it. It was DOA.
I called the company and got their insurance claim form and called their insurer to make sure it was all being done right. No one mentioned that I had to make the claim within 7 days. I supplied the buyer with all the information to make the claim. He went through the whole process and then at the end of it when submitting was told it had to be done by the sender not the reciever!
I called the insurance company and they apologized and saying they’d process my claim as there is evidence of attempts to make contact already. In the end it worked out. I lost a couple of days work running around to make it happen for the buyer and in the end the claim went through.
The whole event was a Mercury event including agreements, finance, travel, communications. The lot. It all wyrd but was worked out thankfully.
So in summary… any X is modified by MRx if it happens anywhere inside MRx AND any X created in MRx will echo effects of MRx into that event also happening at a later time.
How To Mitigate The MRx Effects
Obviously it’s impossible to stop life just because mercury retrograde is happening however it’s smart to recognise it’s effects and plan around it best you can.
I personally do daily rituals to planets on their day and talk to their Angels as if friends asking for their help in things that relate to what that planet does. It works for me and my partner calls me certifiable even though she talks to plants and I see that as normal.
Every morning in the first planetary hour I burn incense and light a candle to that planet on my altar. I always wear clothing or an item that is planetary day specific and I let those planets and Angels know that I do this as an honorific. To me the planets are a personal experience. In my experience some like it and talk direct to me and others just shine a happy benevolence of energy at/to me.
I speak aloud daily Angelic prayers, planetary prayers and light frankincense and occasionally planetary incense. It feels right to do this and I have mitigated a lot of foul fortune by doing so. I do this mainly during the week and weekends sometimes for Saturdays and Sundays as I like to give myself some time off from ritual for life balance reasons.
Thanks for reading… I hope you gain benefit from this information.
Cjx