If you’ve ever read your newspaper horoscope, you know what I’m talking about. General and vague.
This is because the paper is covering one part of who you are in Astrology (and it’s Western Astrology, the type with circle charts. Vedic Astrology has square charts). I am not an expert in all kinds of Astrology. Western Astrology pretty much keeps me busy. I’m also not an expert even in Western Astrology. I find it a fascinating study in human dynamics. So did Carl Jung and Albert Einstein.
I think it’s also worth mentioning how far back Astrology goes in history. Again, I’m not a huge history buff, but the stuff is found in many of our ancient civilizations.
Retrograde means “backwards movement.”
The Earth has an orbit around the Sun. So does Mercury. Because it is the closest planet to the Sun, it’s orbit is much shorter/smaller compared to the Earth’s orbit.
About three (sometimes four) times each year, Mercury, goes whizzing by Earth.
To an observer standing on Mars, Earth appears to be moving ‘backward’. Mercury is surging ahead and Earth is left behind. This is ‘retrograde motion’.
Mercury is the ruler of communication.
Here’s a list of some of the things you can expect during Mercury Retrograde. Keep in mind that they won’t all happen to you! Just one or two, usually.
Some may be more strongly affected. An astrologer (me) can help you determine this. For example, if the transiting retrograde Mercury visits with any of your inner birth planets, then your life is going to be strongly affected by that retrograde!
Mercury Rx is our time-out to rest.
We lead very stress-filled, super busy lives, right? Which one of us, voluntarily, is gonna say: “Hey, I’m gonna have a ‘time-out’ for 3 weeks, kick back, relax, and just take it easy and let my poor mind and body rest up from the punishment I give it.” I don’t see any hands raised. That’s right, Mercury Rx is our ‘time out’ from stress and the humdrum orderly life we lead. The phones quiet down, the email demands diminish, the faxes stop making your floor look like white rolls of paper. Your mind goes ‘elsewhere’ and you just wanna daydream, or just stop thinking altogether. It feels good to ‘unplug’ and rest. If you won’t voluntarily do it–it will do it for us to some degree or another.
Astrology. Yup, that’s what it says. I like it very much. I do believe in it, it’s true!
I have been using astrology in my life since the early 90’s. I remember my step-grandmother’s book shelf filled with wonderful topics, astrology among them.
Astrology was usually poo-pooed. Raised generally Christian, Astrology was a no-no. This made it even more mysterious to me.
I guess in a way, Astrology found me. At the time, I was looking for anything and everything to be happy in an unhappy marriage. I was looking to fix me and maybe (hopefully) understand him. Understand myself. Understand period.
