The Mercury Retrograde

The Mercury Retrograde is by far the most popular "level 2" concept in astrology. You can hear the question, "Is Mercury Retrograde?" pop up in the most unexpected places from the most unlikely people who are using it as a moniker for "Things in my life are really screwy." I would venture to guess that the Mercury Retrograde is rapidly ousting the Moon for supremacy in the "What's to blame for my life not working" department and will soon find it's way into the astrological hall of fame right next to Saturn for "The planet most likely to succeed in making a mess out of your life." I could write hundreds of articles (and I have) extolling the virtues of this phenomenon but as with all things our truth will be defined by our beliefs and changing those sometimes feels next to impossible.

Deep within our psyches lies a mythology of Gods and Goddesses playing chess with our lives. Our early ancestors devoutly believed that these higher forces could rein random havoc on us and we have for centuries bowed our heads in humility praying for their mercy, hoping to diffuse their wrath. It's hard to shake centuries of training. Most of us still have a nagging inner voice reminding us that "The Gods must be angry" when things are tough and like children we seek safety.

Those mythologies are easily transferred to our parents. As children, our parents were our Gods and Goddesses setting the rules, administering the punishment or rewards at their disposal. We were too young to understand the complexity of the rules so we quickly learned to read the signs of impending danger by developing pretty sophisticated survival skills. As we grew up, we retained the lessons of our early God and Goddess (our parents) expecting the "real" God or Goddess to respond to us just like our parents did; if your father was distant or absent, so will your personal God or any male authority. If your mother was worried and erratic so will be your inner Goddess or any female authority.

For many, the planets in our solar system have become the symbols of authority, the Gods and Goddesses of old; Saturn the stern teacher, Mercury the playful trickster, Mars the God of War and so on. Our relationship with our parents will tell us our relationship to these "authorities". If solid, safe parental support given to a child then that child is likely to see the planets as a reflection of perfect order but if fear was primarily used to discipline the child, that child will likely grow up expecting the worst. I guess I don't have to tell you which child is in the majority.

Taking the challenge
We have all heard of an "inner Child" (a psychological part of us used to help us identify our emotion condition) but imagine looking at your whole life as if it were a child and You the responsible parent. Your life responds to you much the way a child responds to its parents, it needs encouragement and support; it believes anything you teach it, and it will absorb all of your fears and doubts. You are now the reining God or Goddess that can reek havoc on your 'child' or offer support and wisdom. Yet we have a tendency to treat our lives much worse than we would treat a child. Hurting ourselves with messages of fear and self-punitive thinking, looking for rules that if broken result in eternal punishment and simply repeating the pattern learned from our parents because we aren't given many safe alternatives. It's not easy testing new waters of how to live but if you don't try, you will remain in the cycle taught by your parents, which was taught by their parents and their parents before them. It's just a choice you make, a literal decision, to give your life a gift that every child deserves, the gift of Self Love, Self Encouragement and Self Compassion. Then, like the saying goes, once you have it for yourself, you can give it to the world.

Mercury
Our friend Mercury, the planet that represents our reality, how we organize our thoughts and our world, our communication both verbal and non-verbal and our chattering inner voice is going to appear to move backwards about 3 times a year. It's not really moving backwards, that would surely signify the end of our solar system, but we are passing it on the cosmic highway and it looks like it is moving in reverse. Now, traditionally, astrologers would say, " The planet of communication is moving backwards, don't sign, don't buy and be cautious in everything you do or say." Most of us know that song and dance and that is likely why we can't get rid of the gnawing sense of caution that is in the air, remember, any authority is going to be an easy target for our parental projections so if they scare you with the ill effects of Mercury, you'll likely listen closely for fear of retribution. We all know how to approach the retrograde with fear, that’s the easy part, now let's look at the following possibilities of the Mercury Retrograde and agree to choose at least one of them as the food that we are feeding ourselves. Think of it as giving your child something other than a TV dinner of fear and hopelessness, something homemade and tasty. The following are real possibilities available to us during the Mercury Retrograde:

• Now thoughts that have been lost to me can come back renewed and ready for consideration.
  
• Finally I can slow my obsessive mind down and start feeling my life and actually take in the grandeur of spring.
  
• I can now meet with [insert name of boss, friend, co-worker, sibling, parent, child, etc.] and clear up that misunderstanding.
  
• I can abandon my routine in favor of spontaneity.
  
• This would be a great time to re-look at that important decision.
  
• My mind is less attached to things, now I can release that "bad" habit without the fear.
  
• Disney and Microsoft incorporated under this transit…imagine what I could do.
  
• It's time to put attention on my Car or that Toothache or the computer.
  
• I'm tired of the same boring vacations, Mercury is Retrograde and I'm ready for some fun.
  Remember, this could be a time of celebration and grandeur or a time of fear and isolation and you get a real choice and what's even better; there is no extra charge for upgrading to first class and no fines if you embrace your life a bit differently than you were taught.

  Peace to you.
  Mark