It’s that time of year again when everyone starts to blame Mercury Retrograde for all the fuckery in their lives. Yea… about that and let’s break it down.
Mercury is the planet of the mind, communication, and thoughts. It’s how our minds take things apart and put them together again. It’s a storyteller, a cosmic gatherer of info (Jenn Racioppi, Cosmic Health). Mercury governs technology, transportation, and traveling. It’s the way we intellectually interact with others.
Mercury’s orbit happens in 88 days, compared to most other planetary orbits it’s mfing fast!
Archetypally, it’s referred to as the Messenger of the Gods, Hermes the Trickster making things interesting. It’s the mercurial, rapid unpredictable shifts. It’s our relationship to keeping an open mind, our need to understand, and capacity to explore the depths of the unconscious psyche. In it’s shadow expression, Mercury can be scattered, inconsistent, and restless.
Mercury moves the way we change our minds and is strongly connected to the Underworld, the archetypal unconscious but also once thought to be the source of all wealth because of the soil/agriculture and gold/mining (Alice Sparkly Kat, Astrology & Storytelling).
May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor...
About 3x a year, Mercury stations retrograde (Rx). This tricky planet appears to be moving backwards but is just an optical illusion. Past issues may come to the surface and things might feel confusing or sluggish. But it’s not the all hell breaking loose shit show it’s come to be known for.
Mercury Rx is a time to embody “re,” the prefix, in our lives.
Re: visit
view
flect
organize
store
pair
vise
calibrate
novate
lease
birth
assess
think
We take this time to turn inward, stay calm, slow down, and be the observer.
Connect, Relate, Communicate
Mercury stationed Rx in Libra on 9.26.21 and will remain so until 10.18.21.
The full cycle runs:
9.6 - pre-shadow
9.26 - stations retrograde
10.9 - midpoint conjunct the Sun
10.18 - stations direct enters post shadow
11.3 - post shadow ends
Pre shadow is the preview of what’s to come, time to prepare and preserve.
Post shadow is time to change + integrate the lessons learned.
Currently, there’s five other planets stationed Rx: Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto & Chiron (minor planet/comet). By the end of October, four of these will station direct.
As I mentioned, it’s the 3rd Mercury Rx of the year. All of which happened in Air signs! Air signs express how we communicate, relate, and think. So there’s been a shit ton of thinking this year!
Mercury Rx/Libra touches on relationships of all kinds, with an emphasis on the Other over the Self. Libra, ruled by Venus, initiates balance, aesthetics, and peace. Relationships, justice, fairness, freedoms, diplomacy, and compassion are key in Libra energy. Libra energy asks us to equally see the beauty in all things, to fight for what’s right but not at the sake of one’s own needs and joy.
Mercury Rx/Libra will bring all the thoughts up to the surface. Writing it all out might help to process it through. Remember to pause before speaking, even if listening & thinking is tough right now. Mercury Rx/Libra wants to connect, to relate, to communicate with others. Your relationship to these areas in your life may add to this energy. Libra can be known to be wishy-washy, indecisive and might make things feel a bit heavy & hazy.
Your individual experience will express itself in the area that Libra & Mercury are in your natal chart. Want to learn more...
But That's Not All Folx!
Nothing happens in a vacuum! It’s not only Mercury Rx impacting our day-to-day but many other cosmic connections. There’s a lot going on but particularly, this retrograde includes a square (a dynamic placement which causes stress, strain between two planets that leads to expansion & growth) with Pluto Rx/Capricorn. This square aspect started 9.12 ending 10.9 and back again from 10.27 - 11.9. So we’ve had some experience with it already!
Pluto rules upheavals, breakdowns, breakthroughs, and rebirths. Capricorn is ambitious, ordered, organized, and structured. So this energy is about transforming structures and the struggles with “powers that be” (Leah Whitehorse) that comes along with it.
Unlike Merc/Libra, Pluto/Cap could give two shits about beauty and aesthetics, it wants the truth even if we can’t handle the truth. In its shadow, it’s an obsession to get to these truths and what lies underneath. The tension comes with the mental fury & force swirling around with Mercury Rx/Libra.
The Moral of the Story?
So just remember, Mercury Rx isn’t a free-for-all shit show, just a time/season which appears to give us the gift of introspection. Time to look inward and an opportunity to hit a big fat reset button on how we communicate, think, and relate.
Don’t believe the motherfucking hype!