Even planets have bad hair days … or weeks. In astrological terms we call it ‘retrograde’. No, this term doesn’t refer to a sci-fi inspired style of kitsch furniture – it means when a planet appears to be regressing or moving backwards, geocentrically, or from our earth point of view, in its orbital path.
This week Mercury enters a retrograde phase from May 19 – June 10.
As Mercury is the planet of communication, mental faculties and daily tasks, it’s more likely for misunderstandings and arguments to occur. People often feel misrepresented in some way or misinterpret others and there’s an undercurrent of not being on the same page. Key pieces of communication from emails and phone calls to documents and other important paperwork are often muddled or misplaced by circumstances beyond your control. Appointments can also be inadvertently messed up by turning up at the right place but on the wrong date. Worst of all, the technology we so heavily rely becomes just as fallible as the humans who built it often resulting in computer crashes, loss of information and plenty of backtracking.
In short, confusion and chaos reign supreme!
Now that I’ve painted a thorough picture of doom and gloom let me give you the upside … yes, there is one! Mercury in retrograde is a great time to reassess, refine, rethink, reorganise and reflect. Things are perpetually unfolding behind the scenes to create better circumstances as dribs and drabs of information come to light and with the benefit of hindsight you’ll see that delays are actually blessings in disguise. So you may miss out on a great deal but there’s an even better one around the corner. During this period talk really is overrated so use yourself as a sounding board and rely more on your intuition – it’ll reveal important inner revelations.
On a more practical level you can put some contingency plans in place to minimise stress. Allow yourself extra time when travelling, keep extraneous socialising, work and obligations to a minimum. Try to delay signing on the dotted line and if you absolutely must, go over everything with a fine-toothed comb! Above all, relinquish control, go with the flow and try to see the glass as half full.
What are you feeling with Mercury in retrograde at the moment? Tell us below…
