Mercury is "Oh So Retro!"

Mercury is at it AGAIN!  If you count up all the days of the year Mercury is retrograde including the shadow period, the cycle lasts almost 6 months or half of the year we are in retrograde.  NOT all at once of course, but a significant impact about 3 times a year.   Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo- both mutable signs.  Gemini’s symbol is a pair of twins denoting the duplicitous nature of the sign and in essence, the Planet moving forward part of the year and moving backwards at other times.  MAKE UP your mind!  Well, Gemini is an air sign or one that rules thoughts and mental activity.  Maybe that is just the point, the mind is not to be made up, it is to flow, flow with the constant influx of life.  Change is normal as everything changes every moment, impermanence is real and therefore shifts in perspective are welcomed.  However, we start fretting, the news of Mercury retrograde causes some to run around like Chicken Little “the sky is falling”, or perhaps we are so accustomed to this that we hardly pay attention. 

Mercury is currently approaching Mars by walking backwards one step at a time until they slam into each other on May 27th.  As Mercury involves transportation and communication, and Mars represents directed force and will, we are cautioned as walking with your back towards someone means you cannot see what is ahead of you.   With passionate, fiery Mars being affected by gusts of fast spinning air from Mercury, we could have a bit of snafu or blowout on our hands.  We must think (Mercury) before we speak our frustrations (Mars), but how do we do that with Mercury functioning so rebelliously and Mars ready to ignite?  Neptune is adding to the tension by prodding Mercury and Mars to “chill out, tune in, and just dream man” of which is not at all the pace of these two faster moving Planets.   Planets trying to help are Jupiter and Uranus.  Jupiter is parading along, half way through Leo at 15 degrees, encouraging the Lion in us to stand in our character, express ourselves, and embrace our creativity.  Through capturing the significant energy brimming near Mercury and Mars, we can channel that spark with play and use the passion to formulate great ideas or come up with creative inspiration.  With Uranus in the mix, we may have some “awakening” or flash of brilliant insight that has the power to take hold with Mars on our shoulders.  A good time to burn off the excess physical energy through whatever you do to work up a sweat so that when tense moments may arise, you don’t blow a gasket, but instead harness the energy to passionately motivate and make the world a better place.