Your Mercury Retrograde Survival Guide

YOUR MERCURY RETROGRADE SURVIVAL GUIDE

The dreaded Mercury retrograde is about to begin once again. Although feared by most of us, Mercury retrograde is a natural part of our cosmos, and brings us just as many gifts as troubles. Occurring three times this year for three weeks at a time, Mercury is the most frequent planet to station retrograde. If we learn how to navigate these times wisely, we can create opportunities all year long for realignment and inner growth.

The first thing to understand is Mercury is not actually traveling backwards in our sky, he just appears that way. Mercury is the fastest moving planet in the Solar System, he circles the Sun every 88 days, which means he laps the Earth up to four times a year. When he is passing us, it creates an optical illusion, much like when a car passes another, slower moving, vehicle. It appears that the faster car is actually moving backwards for a moment, until it fully passes the slower car. This is the same effect which creates Mercury Retrograde.

Mercury rules our communication, including all of our technology and systems of information exchange. Mercury rules the part of us which absorbs information in an instant and transmits that information to others. When he retrogrades, the normal flow of energy is reversed. Ideas and thoughts seem to get stuck within our mind, instead of easily pouring out to others. The same thing occurs with our digital communication; e-mail servers go down, social media platforms show their bugs, and our normal systems fail to meet our expectations. It can certainty be a frustrating time. We can have a hard time speaking, writing or even creating art. The energy seems to get stuck, then like a sling shot, it breaks through in an unorganized way, confusing everyone. Below are some tips to help you get through this time and actually use it to help instead of hinder your world.

COLLECT YOUR WORDS

Through the period of Mercury Retrograde, pause before you speak. Take a few deep breaths and collect your thoughts, especially if you feel at a lose for words. If you are communicating with a partner, take pauses throughout the conversation to give both of you time to regroup. Respect that it can be hard to clearly deliver your thoughts, and find compassion for yourself and others. If you are making a big speech, give yourself at least five minutes of quiet time to find your center. Understand that any perceived blocks are superficial. The information is there, it just needs to break through the Mercury retrograde barrier. Luckily, it’s a small barrier and can be easily overcome with some time and space.

LET OTHERS SPEAK

Once we do break through and allow the words to flow, Mercury retrograde can influence us to keep talking and not allow others to get a word in edge wise. Watch out for taking up too much of the floor in meetings and dominating the conversation with your consciousness. Again, pause and breathe, take time to slow yourself down a bit. Recognize when you are taking advantage of a closed caption audience and throttle the stream of information that may be pouring out of you. As others speak, send them energy to help them clarify their thoughts. Create a balanced conversation, where everyone feels seen and respected.

CONNECT WITH NATURE

Things do have a habit of breaking during Mercury retrograde, especially technological systems. If your website crashes or you are locked out of your e-mail, use the time to disconnect. Go for a walk, look at the sky, or dip your feet into the ocean. Remind yourself that not everything is digital, and sometimes we need a forced break from our devices to connect with what really matters, ourselves. Use this time to communicate with nature and you’ll find yourself better equipped to deal with what is man made.

READ THE DETAILS

You can sign contracts in Mercury Retrograde - BUT you want to read them thoroughly twice, maybe three times. Mercury retrograde has a habit of helping us miss the details, especially in the legal department. Our eyes and mind move too quickly over the words, and we don’t give ourselves enough time to process the meaning. Again, breath and pause. Read things slowly, take your time with them, you can even ask for an extension. Completely understand what you are signing before you take ink to paper. If you are not comfortable with the terms, allow Mercury retrograde to break the contract and start anew. You’ll be better off for it in the long run.

CONFIRM PLANS

Much like contracts, we are more prone during this time to miss details, leading to switched times, missed planes or forgotten dates. For the next three weeks, double check all meeting times and travel arrangements. Even if you are a thousand percent certain you have the right time, still verify. Likewise, have compassion for others if they miss a meeting or run late to your lunch. Time is tricky and Mercury retrograde makes working with it even harder.

SPEND TIME WITH YOURSELF

A wonderful side affect of Mercury retrograde is the increased ability to talk with yourself. Retrogrades spin the energy inward. With Mercury, our communications begin to flow inwardly instead of outwardly. This allows for deeper access to our heart, our intuition and our inner compass. Spend time journaling, pulling cards and exploring the inner workings of your mind. Try to start each morning listing your gratuities and affirmations for the day. This clarity will help you pace your day and avoid some of the common Mercury retrograde pitfalls.

BE OPEN TO REALIGNMENT

If Mercury Retrograde breaks something in your world, consider it a good thing. If energies are perfectly aligned, Mercury won’t be able to affect them. If he does wreck a few things, then they were never aligned in the first place. See this as an opportunity to build anew from the ground up. This next version will have a better foundation, hopefully so aligned it’s impervious to Mercury Retrograde, or anything else for that matter.

Make the best out of the next three weeks, slow down, enjoy nature and be open to the gifts of this Retrograde. Instead of fearing it, get excited for the chance to realign your world and the information it contains. Happy Retrograding!