Handling a Mercury Retrograde
How to Handle a Mercury Retrograde: 2015 Edition
If you’ve heard the term “Mercury retrograde,” odds are you don’t have good feelings about it. Take heart! Even if some people react to it as if the sky is falling, Mercury retrograde is not the end of the world. It’s a regular phenomenon that happens three or four times every year.
What does Mercury Retrograde mean?
First, the technicalities: Mercury is retrograde when it’s traveling backwards. That’s an optical illusion, of course, and comes from a change in that planet’s orbital speed in comparison to the Earth’s. (Think of it as the planetary equivalent of speeding up, passing a car and seeing it fall far behind after you in the rear view mirror.)
How this works: When Mercury is moving in reverse, the areas of life it governs do not play by the usual rules. Pay extra attention to anything related to communication and travel-including phones, computers and electronic devices, the mail (remember that?), cars, public transportation, and commutes.
Messages go astray; misunderstandings and confusion abound; technology malfunctions; traffic snarls; travel gets delayed. Postpone launching major projects, signing major contracts and buying big-ticket items. Double-check fine print, backup your data, and allow lots of extra time when you’re on the road.
The good news? This is an excellent time to investigate and research, finish old business, clean up paperwork, and get in touch with people you haven’t talked to in a while. Pay attention to who surfaces from the past, in person or in thoughts. Their reappearance could help tie up loose ends or resolve lingering business. Organize and prepare so you’ll be ready to move ahead when Mercury does!
Mercury Retrogrades in 2015
Mercury is retrograde from:
~ January 21 – February 11, going from 21 Aquarius to 3 Aquarius
~ May 19 – June 11, going from 13 Gemini to 4 Gemini
~ September 17 – October 9, going from 6 Libra to 0 Libra
It’s common to feel communication and transportation matters start slowing a couple of days before a retrograde begins. Once it ends, the change is not instantaneous. Wait a few days before resuming business as usual, to give the planet time to get moving again.
All of this year’s Mercury retrogrades take place in air signs. This creates a markedly different atmosphere than last year’s retrogrades, which began in water signs into air and took us from emotions and the non-rational into the realm of logic and intellect.
Instead, the winged messenger spends all of 2015’s retrograde stretches traveling where he is most comfortable, in the air. His ease and unfettered movement will create several effects, sometimes all at once.
On the positive end, this year’s air retrogrades offer mental distance and objectivity. This bodes well for research and making sense of events. Information you’ve been looking for may simply drift past you. People from the past may simply turn up; all manner of illuminating data may drop, in casual conversation, in social media posts, in snippets of songs and TV shows.
In the mixed-blessing department, air retrogrades also mean Mercury is moving quickly and deftly, which in turn means that confusion, snarls, and snafus could fly all the more easily, quickly, and deftly as well. Be forewarned; be prepared; be detached. The terrain of air will make it possible to find, eventually, a more philosophical response to the delays and disruptions.
Relationships, money, and values play a significant role in the first retrograde, from January 21 through February 11, in Aquarius. Mercury will be in the same sign as Venus, goddess of all we hold dear. You could reconnect with people and situations that were once quite special to you. Whether to weave them back into your life is part of the journey of discovery, especially where old flames and financial connections are concerned. “Aha!” moments could abound at month’s end, as Mercury reaches out to the ruler of the retrograde sign, Uranus, and opens a door to liberating perspectives.
The second retrograde, from May 19 through June 11, could be the wildest and wackiest. Mercury will be in his home base of Gemini, where warrior god Mars will also be conducting a tour of duty. His presence will bring energy, assertiveness and aggression to communication and travel. People will be in a hurry that blinds them to details, detours, and signals of coming snafus. Words will fly forcefully, excitedly and sometimes angrily. (Thank goodness Mercury retrograde has built-in take-backs when he goes direct.)Remember that Mercury is a trickster, and that Gemini doesn’t attach or hold on. Make light. Make jokes. Look for the next shiny object and move on.
Relationships and values come back to the fore in the third retrograde, from September 17 through October 9, in Libra. Those areas are important for two reasons: First, they are ruled by Venus, which also rules the sign in which the retrograde is occurring. Second, Mercury’s third backward trip follows Venus’ own retrograde (June 12 – September 6) and amounts to a cosmic clean-up of the summer. More information is coming about the heart’s recent journey and discoveries.
Get started in 2015 with Kathy’s guides for each sign.
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About the Astrologer
Kathy Biehl is an astrologer, Tarot master and Best American Psychics member who helps individuals and businesses understand (and laugh about!) themselves, their options and the people in their lives. empowermentunlimited.net
