This week my texts looked like this:
The Mercury retrograde vibes have definitely HIT.
I ended up doing a little Q&A over on my IG stories the other day, and the questions that came through were important, and heartfelt (as always!!)
I wanted share and expand on some of those questions here.
Before we get into it, I want you to keep this reframe top of mind.
Mercury retrograde is not here to punish you.
One of the biggest lessons of any retrograde is the reminder that we are not in control of the world around us. But, we can absolutely manage how we respond to it.
We canât stop life from getting a little chaotic, or weird, in certain moments. But we can meet it with more grace, more grounding, and the willingness to feel.
Thatâs the whole practice.
Okay, letâs get into it!
What the fuck is happening in the stars?
I got asked this about forty different ways, so letâs start at the top.
Thereâs a lotttt of energies shifting right now.
Mercury retrograde in Cancer is flooding our roots with emotional drama. Home, family dynamics, our deepest fears about belonging and love â all surfacing. All for the purpose of healing.
The Mars-Uranus conjunction over July 4th weekend made the vibes extra spicy.
Weâre also in brand new territory with Jupiter in Leo, and still settling into Saturn and Neptune in Aries. A lot of fire energy making change feel more urgent.
Itâs a lot!! If thereâs a creative idea you canât get out of your mind, or a conversation you know you need to have, be brave.
This astrology rewards truth and authenticity.
ââŚokay but how do I make it stop?â đ
Yeahhh, unfortunately thereâs no off button to the universe. However, there are lots of tools to make it better / smoother / less jarring.
Like I said above, retrogrades are times to be extra mindful about how we respond / react.
Noticing our triggers, and the stories our minds tell when something feels difficult, emotional, or intense, is literally a fast track to healing.
Itâs a lot of inner child work, honestly.
All your extra grounding tools are super important right now. Your movement, meditation, breathwork, journaling, somatic and nervous system techniques, feeding and hydrating yourself well, getting sleep, etc.
The more willing you are to feel your own aliveness in the chaos, the disappointment, the feelings, the unexpected twists and turns, the more empowering retrograde energies become.
I also really cannot stress enough the importance of the Mercury retrograde ritual.
I do this every retrograde and it gets Mercury on your side. I do it at the beginning, but itâs not too late â if you do it now it will still help shift the energy for you.
Why itâs landing so hard in your body and your home
First of all Cancer is the sign most connected with the home, so issues around home are very likely with this one.
Second, itâs a water retrograde. So not only are we getting the typical retrograde chaos, itâs water, like the chaos is extra emotional, and able to slip through any and all cracks.
Once again I want to reframe this as not actually bad.
Itâs honestly better to know and see our most sneaky leaks now, sooner rather than later.
Here are some of the questions that came in:
âIâm having soooo many emotionsâ
Yes babe. It wouldnât be a water sign season without some tears, major nostalgia, and a little emotional chaos.
Feel those feels!!
âIâve just felt so lazyyyâ
Rest up <333
Cancer energy wants us to be fully fed, hydrated, and nourished. Honestly, love some cozy reset time for a Cancer szn retrograde.
âMy dreams have been going crazy! Whatâs up with that?â
Makes complete sense. Water sign energy is connected to the unconscious and the dream space. Write them down!!
I also have a fun AI prompt for dream analysis. It honestly slaps:
âMoving into a new home has been such a shit show!!!!â
Def a chaotic time to move, but it just goes like that sometimes!!
I would look at your 4th house or moon in your chart and see what you can ground into there.
Be patient with yourself.
Questions on conflict, exes, and the heart
Once the water settles a little, you start to notice what it stirred up. Retrogrades have a way of surfacing the exact thing youâd been quietly avoiding â a tension, a person, a decision you keep circling. A lot of you asked about that directly.
âIâm a Gemini and facing so much conflict energy lately. It feels quite overwhelming.â
With the Uranus-Mars conjunction in Gemini July 4th weekend, and Mars now moving through Gemini for the next several weeks, this makes total sense.
Again, time to lean into grounding practices. Breath. Journaling. Movement. Nature. Treating your body with so much love. Nervous system stabilizing.
This wonât last forever.
The bigger picture of the conflicts youâre expeirencing is awakening.
This time is meant to shake you out of some stale habits / patterns / ways of seeing.
Be gentle with yourself in the process, and lean into change where you can.
âIâm in the deep of navigating a post break-upâ
This can be so tough, but also liberating.
The retrograde will actually help you clear out stuck emotions, maybe things you never allowed yourself to feel during the relationship.
Retrogrades donât break things. They reveal whatâs already leaking and make it un-ignorable.
This retrograde/Pluto heavy summer season is preparing us for big expansion. Trust your path.
âMy situationship is situationshipping. Should I cut chords?â
Oooo ok, this one is kind of hard to answer here because context is lacking, and I have many thoughts about chord cutting!
It is definitely possible to cut energetic chords, but the idea of it is kind of misleading. Nothing cuts a chord like some real deep shadow work and immense amounts of true self love.
My advice here is to really honestly check in with yourself. Notice the stories youâre telling yourself about the situation. Where are you convincing yourself into a certain reality?
Mercury retro wants us to see something differently. Observe yourself observing your life, and see where that leads.
When you have to actually make a decision
Even though itâs retrograde 101 to not sign anything during retrograde times, life doesnât pause for the retrograde. So letâs talk timing for a sec.
âIâm in a 3rd round interview but wary of moving forward since itâs retrograde. Thoughts?â
Sometimes retrogrades actually bring opportunities! So this isnât necessarily bad.
Best practice is to not rush through anything, especially contract details. And to see the opportunity as a step, not the be-all-end-all.
The best days of this retrograde for signing contracts etc. are July 12, 13, and 14. Itâs over July 23, so youâll have to see how the timing shakes out.
âI feel like Iâm stuck in energetic purgatory, in between something ending and something beginningâ
Yeah, itâs kind of giving that.
Thereâs likely something deeper happening in your personal birth chart that would explain this, and also offer a path out of that feeling. Or at least a timeline for when the rebirth will fully activate.
But in general, liminal times are times of initiation. Challenges prepare you for more claiming of your gifts. In-betweens are very sacred times to connect back to your intuition.
Breathe babe.
If you take one thing from all of this
You canât stop the retrograde, but you are not powerless inside it.
Feel the feels. Rest. Do the ritual. Ground where you can. Be gentle with yourself. This whole swirly, lost-at-sea summer is clearing out what was already leaking and preparing us for something more aligned.
You are right on time.
Trust your path.
I promise, August will feel different.
Youâre invited to our next ritual, for the Cancer New Moon
Join us Tuesday at 10:30am EST on Zoom to ground and recenter on one of the brightest most meaningful days of this retrograde cycle.
Gain access to all rituals + replays with a paid subscription right here, on Substack [$22/month, cancel anytime]
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âś Astro Moves: Cancer Season Pilates // A full-body mat Pilates class guided by the current sky. A combination of my 3 beloved modalities: astrology, pilates, and meditation, leaving you feeling ready to meet the season ahead, steady, open, and fully in your body.
Saturday, July 11, 12pm, Ritual Moves, Dumbo, Brooklyn â
âś Leo Season Breathwork Gathering // Another sweet gathering of like hearts in Brooklyn to align with the nurturing, soulful energy of Leo Season.
Friday, July 24th, 7pm, Williamsburg, Brooklyn â
âś Heavenly Bodies: Aquarius Full Moon // âHeavenly Bodies is a unique experience bridging heaven & earth. Class begins with an astrology forecast for the group, followed by juicy embodiment practices and a potent guided meditation.
Tuesday, July 28th, 6:30pm, Moonrise, Tribeca â
Have we met?
Iâm Eden, an astrologer, writer, and pilates + meditation teacher based in NYC.
I came to this work through my own hormone healing journey, and young years as a serious ballet dancer with injuries, mental and physical health struggles, and a dark night of the soul that astrology helped me navigate. The years I spent finding my way back to myself taught me that loving and honoring the body, and anchoring in spirit, is the foundation of everything.
This is why my astrology practice isnât about predictions. I write reflective horoscopes that ask questions, pointing you inward rather than fixating on imagined futures. I create spaces where transformation isnât forced, but where it can be felt, trusted, and tended.
Thanks for being here đš
WITH SKY KISSES.
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.