Can you feel the Mercury in retrograde coming?

... I sure can!

Mercury goes into it's 3 week long retrograde phase on Octover 12 and wont be out until November 1.... Here is an article I wrote on for my blog about what Mercury in Retrograde means to us...

Mercury is the planet that governs the zodiac sign of Virgo & Gemini but at the same time, this retrograde period affects all of us. All of the celestial bodies (except the moon and sun) travel in a retrograde period at some point or another as it is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs from the orbit the planets travel around the sun and the viewpoint of the planets here on earth.

Mercury goes into it's retrograde period about 3 times a year and because it is the closest planet to the sun it is the most talked about and quickest to return to its forward moving state.

Mercury is the planet that rules all forms of communication, quick thought, processing thoughts, commerce, and transportation (and more, that’s the short list!). Mercury is all about clear thinking and focus so when Mercury goes into its retrograde period all of those things can and usually do go awry some.

Some things to watch out for are mis-communication of any sort, mail, email, writing, general conversation etc. Also cars, busses, trains, airplanes etc are all affected by this time period. So take note and double check the oil on your car or the water as well, preventive medicine is helpful here but not always going to fix it either! So aside from general maintenance on these things, stuff can still go screwy. It is also not an auspicious time to be doing anything in a legal sense, for example signing legal papers or going to court. I know we can not always help when we do these sorts of things but if you can defer doing something in the legal sense, I would suggest that.

Some things to think about when Mercury goes retro is anything that begins with the letters RE... ie, REmember, REflect, REview, REorganize, REcall, REturn. Pretty much anything that starts with an RE you should sort of take into action here. Mercury in retro is a great time to focus yourself and review things in your life that might not be working for you properly and then taking the time to reflect and move forward. In my experience with this time period it seems that people that once seemed to have moved in a different direction in life that I might have sort of lost touch with, they come back. It is often during this time period that people will remember the past and recall the people from there and reunite with them. Past friends, family, lovers etc. So all is not lost in this time period. I have discussed this with many other astrology students and the general thoughts on Mercury doing it's retrograde period is one of negativity and concern but in my opinion if we use this time and realize that this is only a cycle we can actually benefit from it.

The effect of Mercury in retro start about a week before it actually goes into its retrograde period. Which is about October 5, from then until October 12th, it actually looks like it is standing still in the sky and then on October 12th it starts to appear to move backwards. Mercury remains to appear moving backwards until November 1st when it will once again appear to stand still and then on November 8th it will start to move forward again. I have heard it described as a "shadow time" that starts 3 weeks before Mercury does its retrograde period, then it lasts for 3 weeks in retrograde and the final 3 weeks afterwards are the shadow time again. If that is the theory here the effects will last until November 15th.

Like anything else concerning astrology I feel there are many "cusps" where we have to sort of gradually move from one aspect to the other though so this shadow theory does make sense to me. At any rate expect the majority of effects of this astrological aspect to be between October 12th and November 1st and then it gradually tapering off. Not to worry though, in January next year Mercury will begin its retrograde period again!

Here is a cool visual about how Mercury travels in it's retrograde period...
This is speaking more of an Astronomers views in the article but as I see it Astronomy and Astrology are closely connected...
http://www.mercuryinretrograde.org/index.php?title=Mercury_in_Retrograde

So remember to review those letters before we send them off, be more careful how we interpret things said verbally and read, remember the past and most of all RElax!

Happy Mercury in retrograde….
(((hugs))) Star