Mercury stationed retrograde last Friday, and that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling: stalled, and starting to move backwards. The week leading up to the station was exhausting, thanks to an ugly interaction with a difficult client, a visit from a long-lost friend I hadn’t seen in fourteen years (fun visit, but such reunions inevitably make one a bit tense), and some of the most disgusting weather in recent memory. Forgive me for complaining about the weather (in the 90s and brutally humid); I do realize I live in a city with one of the world’s most enviable climates. But on the other hand, we pay dearly for that climate, and we get a little scratchy when it turns on us.
As for Mercury retrograde… I get snippy when clients push to organize our work together around Mercury turning retrograde, then get their knickers in a twist when, for whatever reason, that proves to be impossible. Look, once Mercury enters its shadow period (reaches the degree where, while retrograde, it will make its station before turning direct again), that bus has already left the station. At that point, you’re better off, instead of pushing, simply heeding the advice of the universe, which advises us that Mercury approaching or in retrograde motion is a time for contemplation, not action; reflection, not proactivity.
If you’re pushing too hard to make a decision about something before Mercury turns retrograde, ask yourself: what am I so afraid will happen if I wait? Use the period between now and mid-August to slow down and relax a little. Catch up on your correspondence, balance your checkbook, reread a favorite book. In the frantic pace of Mercury direct times it’s easy to overlook things, and to make assumptions based on past experience. Mercury retrograde periods, on the other hand, are an opportunity to recover what’s been lost, to examine assumptions, and to see what new information presents itself. Often, it’s exactly the information you need to make a really good decision.
