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Writer's pictureEvelyn Behrends

Meet the Planets! Mercurial Wisdom, What is a Retrograde?

Updated: Jun 5, 2023



(Written by Eve, Psychic Quantum Astrologist)


Speedy Mercury


Mercury is the speedy planet. Since it is closest to our sun, it appears to move through the sky (and zodiac signs) faster than any other planet ! Mercury ā€œswitches signsā€ every 2-3 weeks.





This is where the expression of being Mercurial comes from, meaning someone or something that is often changing, short in duration, and or following different whims.



Mercury is related to Hermes, the Messenger God with Golden Wings on his Feet. (From Traditional Grecian wisdom)











Working with Mercury is a wonderful way to improve communication and speech, support shorter travel times, and get messages across clearly so that both people have a similar perception of the idea expressed.


Seeing ā€œeye to eyeā€, keeping ā€œstep in timeā€, moving ā€œwith the tideā€, are some of Mercuryā€™s attributes. This planet ask us to take a moment to appreciate how good it feels when these things are happening.


To help them happen more often, we develop a better relationship with Mercury and with ourselves.




Additionally, mercury would like to remind us that we arenā€™t supposed to be in those perfect states all the time, because humanity is beautifully imperfect and the moving in and out of perfect timing is actually perfectly aligned with mercuryā€™s consistent shifting !


This is part of the message given to us during the phenomenon of Mercuryā€™s frequent retrogrades. Caused by the alignment of our orbitā€™s shapes, and the ratio of their sizes, Mercury ā€œgoes retrogradeā€ more than any other planet in our solar system, from the perspective here on earth.


What is a Retrograde ?

An astrological retrograde is when a planet appears from earth to be moving ā€œbackwardsā€ in the sky, or backwards through the zodiac signs from Pisces all the way around the big sky wheel to Aries.


Every planet does this every so often (some more than others), because none of our orbits are exactly the same.


Each have their own effects, lore,and history.




The loops you see above are caused by the difference in speed of Mercury and Earth's orbits around the sun. They are also caused by the Elliptical shape of Mercury's orbit, which is why scientists call this planet of Mercury (more esoteric). Below is Mercury's orbit around the sun. See how funky?



So the Loops you see in the above first image are what we call a retrograde period.


When this happens, the planets influence on our energies is tracing through where the planet just was.


This means that it is a time to work with the planets influence to Review what was happening during that time.


If we try to begin new things during a planets retrograde, as far as that planet is concerned, we are not writing on a blank slate, but instead on the energy of that planetā€™s last time in that space.


So that energy may or may not be compatible with the new thing you are starting, meaning the new thing may or may not be aligned with the undercurrents. This is why many astrologers recommend waiting to do new things or go to new places until after a Mercury retrograde ends.


(This over lapping, non blank slate happens when a planet completes a whole circle as well, but the effects are way more supportive of newness because we are in a sense new, since we will have grown and learned a lot in that time. The space in the sky has also changed by the next orbit because of the movement of our entire solar system through the Milky Way Galaxy.)


Practically, Retrogrades can help us so much to fill in the missing pieces to understanding the things that have happened. They are great friends in that way. Each Planetā€™s retrograde has a different influence, (a galactic flavor if you will), and even the same planet will retrograde differently over time since each one is in a new sign.

For Example, Mercury will be in retrograde in Taurus April 21st to May 14th and in Virgo August 23rd to September 15th.


These are both Earth Signs, but the first in Taurus is Fixed, Steady, Stable, Stubborn, and Spring Influenced, whereas the second in Virgo is Mercurial, Bendable, Flighty, Adaptive, Harvest-time Influenced, and Generous. So the first and second time Mercury is retrograding, you will be asked to review situations in your life that had to do with those two different types of energy (Taurus and Virgo).


((And for those working with the Vedic School of Astrology, Mercuryā€™s retrogrades will be influencing Vedic Astrology in Aries and Leo.))


Mercury Retrograde is also an opportunity for Mercury to stay in one single sign for up to 10 weeks ~ Way longer than its usual 2-3 week stay. So every year, Mercury has 3 or 4 signs that it gives a little extra love to during its transits.



This is all governed by divine mathematics, and creates beautiful rhythms and shapes in the sky, just as it does in the lives of those who look up.



With earth as center, take a look at the night sky, touched down below.


Thank you so much for coming along on this Mercurial Journey with me.



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