Mercury Retrograde

Is that a problem? Mercury, as he was known to the Romans, Hermes to the Greeks, is the messenger of the Gods, a traveler and trickster. All activities of the intellect, of communication, barter and exchange – the list of mercurial activities is long – belong to Mercury. Smallest of the planets, closest to the Sun, he is never more than 28^o from that Great Luminary and appears to shuttle back and forth in the sky in his service. The Sun now is in Libra, as Mercury has been since the last of August. When the Sun is in the sign of ‘The Scales’ fairness and balance in relationships is foremost in conscious intent. Mercury’s activity on behalf of that intention is to facilitate clarification of each party’s point of view. His goal is productive negotiation.

Just as when we work or study we oscillate between periods of focused attention and relaxed awareness, sleep we know is critical to learning, Mercury’s to-ing and fro-ing serves a larger purpose. In direct motion information is gathered, contracts signed, plans made and, if all the homework’s been done, things will turn out as intended. But in periods of retrograde motion, the unconscious and unexpected come to bear – things not foreseen, unexamined assumptions, unintended consequences. Mercury, in a way, is asking us to ‘sleep on it.’

How this Mercury Retrograde comes to bear on your chart depends on the position, element and aspects of Mercury and any planets you have in Air signs.

A note on timing: October 18^th Mercury at 10^o Libra resumes forward motion, progresses through Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn; then stations at 10^o Aquarius for a little dance in and out of the latter two signs – a very short retrograde period – in January. To complete the pattern, retrogression through the Air signs, the next is in Gemini in May (2022)