We are pleased to announce the launch of our new free monthly newsletter! The first issue was published on April 20, 2017, as the Sun entered tropical Taurus; and we will publish every month around that time, as the Sun enters a new sign of the zodiac.
You can subscribe to the newsletter at our website. You can also find copies of back-issues on that same page, in case you missed any. (Of course, there's only one back issue right now... but they will all be here as we go along.)
The newsletter will contain a variety of astrological information: general commentary on current transits, common questions about astrological concepts and principles, news from the astrological community, and more. (Your ideas are welcome!)
Enjoy!
Mercury is retrograde from April 9 - May 3, 2017. Over the years, I've written a number of articles about Mercury retrograde (including this one at the MyAstrology.net website), but let's write one more just to go over some ideas.
First off, the idea of "retrograde" itself is essentially just an optical illusion. A planet is said to be retrograde when it appears from the earth to be moving in the opposite direction from its normal motion in the sky. The effect is caused by the relative motions of the earth and another planet in their orbits around the sun.
For planets outside the earth's orbit (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), the retrograde happens when the earth in its orbit catches up to the other planet and passes it -- sort of like a runner "lapping" another runner in a race. The visual effect is essentially the same as when you are driving down the highway and pass another car: from your point of view, the other car appears to be moving backwards as you pass it.
For the two planets inside the earth's orbit (Mercury and Venus), the retrograde happens when the planet is on the opposite side of the Sun from the earth. In this case, while the earth is moving in one direction in its own orbit, the other planet is moving in the opposite direction around the back side of the Sun. Seen from the earth, the planet appears to be moving "backward."
Astrologically, the period during which a planet is retrograde is a time when the energies symbolized by that planet tend to be turned inward, or in a direction opposite their normal direction. The planetary energies "take a break," as it were. Rather than moving full speed ahead, they pause for a period of introspection or consolidation.
Mercury specifically represents the conscious, intellectual mind -- the faculty through which we as human beings organize our existence into logical patterns. Mercury retrograde, therefore, shows a time when logic is much less emphasized. Rather than being used to organize the outer world, logic is turned inward and used more for self-examination. And indeed, logic may at times be suspended almost altogether, with instinct or intuition coming much more strongly to the fore.
Mercury retrograde has a reptuation for "things going wrong." But things going wrong (if indeed they do so) is simply the Universe's way of getting your attention. It's not the "going wrong" that's important. What's important is that the things that go wrong under a Mercury retrograde are areas where some sort of change or re-evaluation is required. This is because the retrograde period itself (of Mercury or of any other planet) is the portion of that particular cycle when it's time to pause, to step back, and to re-evaluate the overall course and progress of the cycle.
In terms of Mercury, much of this process happens with very minor or mundane things. You get a flat tire because you've been neglecting that tire and now the Universe is forcing you to pay attention to it and fix it. Had you done this earlier on your own, you'd have been spared the Mercury-retrograde "inconvenience" of the flat, which disrupted your entire day. Perhaps under Mercury retrograde you overdraw your bank account -- you should have been paying more attention earlier and this would not have happened. And so forth.
Mercury retrograde is therefore an excellent period for finishing up unfinished business, for tying up loose ends, and for catching up on all the little things you've been putting off for so long (probably for three or four months, since the last Mercury retrograde). Stop trying to move ahead so quickly, and instead take care of all the little details you tend to overlook. Because if you don't take care of these details on your own, the Universe will come along at some point and force you to do so.
Many astrologers say that you should not initiate important new ventures under Mercury retrograde, and that's often a good idea. But there are exceptions. For example, remedial efforts are excellent candidates for launching under Mercury retrograde, especially if the problem they are fixing has been ongoing for some time. That annoying faucet drip that's been bugging you for several months, the recent knocking and belching of your car's engine, that nagging little physical problem you're going to ask the doctor about "one of these days" -- all of these things, and anything like them, are prime candidates to take action on while Mercury is retrograde. Make the time, and deal with the issue. Otherwise, it's likely to become one of those "things that go wrong" under Mercury retrograde, and you'll be forced to deal with it anyway, but on the Universe's terms instead of your own.
Additional note, April 14, 2017: As if on cue, a long drawn-out insurance claim that I had filed last December was finally settled yesterday -- under, of course, the current Mercury retrograde. The claim was filed on 12/15/2016, just a few days before the last Mercury retrograde began. It got tied up in red tape (and, I think, some stonewalling from the claim examiner), until yesterday when it finally got shaken loose and settled within hours of a phone call. A prime example of how Mercury retrograde can help finish unfinished business, and of how Mercury retrograde periods can often relate to one another.
