What is Mercury Retrograde?
What to expect, how to prepare, and what bad retrograde advice looks like.
What is Mercury retrograde?
Mercury retrograde is a period of time when the planet Mercury appears to move backwards in the sky – from our vantage point here on earth.
Mercury is the fastest moving planet in our solar system, and when it slows down an optical illusion occurs. Imagine a train next to you moving, making it seem like you're moving backward even though you're still.
Mercury goes retrograde several times each year, which is why this transit is constantly being talked about.
Why pay attention to Mercury retrograde?
Astrologically speaking, Mercury impacts our mental wellbeing, communication, and how we perceive the world.
During Mercury retrogrades, we often encounter frustrating yet enlightening mishaps and unexpected opportunities, making it a powerful time for reflection and new perspectives.
What's Mercury's significance in astrology?
In Western astrology's Greco-Roman myths, Mercury (or Hermes) represents communication, messages, and trade.
Mercury is curious, playful, and always in many places at once.
Mercury embodies the trickster archetype, as well as the magician.
As a master of words, stories, and deception, Mercury uses the fickle nature of the mind as their ally.
Although Mercury is often referred to by male pronouns, in art and mythology their gender identity is fluid.
What does Mercury signify in your birth chart?
In your natal chart, aka a map of the sky the moment you were born, Mercury's placement reveals your:
communication style
learning process
how you experience memory
what you are curious about
self-expression
What can you expect during Mercury retrograde?
“When you move half as fast, you notice twice as much.” – 3rd Ritual
In general, when a planet is retrograde it invites us to tend to the areas it rules.
Mercury retrograde asks us to slow down, re trace our steps, and re orient some aspect of how we’ve been mentally moving through life.
Mercury retrograde effects everyone differently, however, there are some common experiences that have given Mercury retrograde its claim to fame.
Classic Mercury retrograde happenings:
Technology glitches
Unexpected encounters with past lovers or friends
People you haven’t heard from in a long time reaching out, or maybe you are that person.
Delays and changes in plans. i.e. around travel, contracts, negotiations.
Miscommunications
Accidental email / text mishaps
Freudian slips
The repercussions of lies / gossip coming back around
This is why you’ll often hear the advice to not plan important things during Mercury retrogrades, like signing contracts or launching business ventures.
My belief is that sometimes life can’t wait, and the best we can do is to calmly triple check everything and say a prayer to Mercury for support.
How to prepare for Mercury retrograde:
Mercury is deeply connected to the nervous system, the pathway of communication between our mind and body.
Any tools you have for nervous system regulation can be extremely helpful, especially if this retrograde period brings up things that tend to make you feel triggered.
Some nervous system regulation tools to explore:
Breathwork. My favorite breath tool for everyday.
Mind-body practices
Co regulation with pets & loved ones
Meditation. You can meditate with me here.
On the practical side:
Try to not overbook yourself. The timing we’re hoping for tends to get thrown off in Mercury retrograde, so leaving space & time for your commitments & energetic output is always helpful.
Back up your computer, proofread before you send, etc.
When Mercury retrograde upsets do inevitably happen, the best strategy may be to face them in a mercurial way – laugh with them, see the humor if possible, and see the opportunity to try responding to your situation again in a new way or with better information.
The missed connections tend to happen when we’re rushing, so a good Mercury retrograde practice is to take a deep full breath before doing or saying something that carries importance for you.
What does bad Mercury retrograde advice look like?
Be vigilant. Being clear, grounded, and ready, is different from being in a trauma response that creates more anxiety. This is something to explore within your own mind-body experience, or with a qualified practitioner.
Being born during Mercury retrograde means you are a bad communicator. Communication is a skill we all must learn and grow with throughout our lives. Many people are born during Mercury retrograde. Speak to an astrologer you trust about how this placement shows up in your life.
Mercury retrograde is a time of misfortune. Challenging and frustrating things can happen at any point in time. Of course we can have difficult or painful experiences during Mercury retrogrades, but it is not an inherently “bad” time.
Take note of the shadow period.
The two weeks before and after Mercury retrograde is called the shadow period.
It is a time to continue to apply thoughtfulness as the retrograde energy is building and releasing.
I’ve found it useful to not take the dates quite so literally, and instead see them as times filled with the potential energy where things may manifest.
The gift of Mercury retrograde.
Retrogrades reflect the fact that our life experiences are non linear.
We spiral in and out of relationships, interests, patterns, and beliefs.
Periods of slow movement, however frustrating, can create the necessary space to head in new and more aligned directions.
Mercury retrograde illuminates how delicate our mental perceptions are, and offers us a portal through which to see something we might have otherwise missed.
Mercury retrograde also has a way of reminding us that we are not in complete control, which is always a hard lesson for us ego-based beings, but is in the end, a fact of life.
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW.
xo Eden Sky
I acknowledge that I live and work on the stolen, ancestral lands of the Lenape people. I humbly give respect and reverence to those who have always been here.