Mercury Retrograde & Why It Affects Us

Unless you guys have been living under a rock then I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the words Mercury Retrograde at some time in your life and well since I know a lot of us are wondering what the heck it is, I thought I’d talk a bit about it and why it affects us the way it does.

For those of you who don’t know, Mercury has just begun its latest edition of its retrograde process. It started on August 12th and will last until September 5th. In the weeks and especially days leading up to it, we start to notice its effects as Mercury slows down and comes to a stop before moving the other way. I know, I know, that’s a lot of science stuff so why don’t we get to the point of how it affects you and me, right?

The planets are swinging around at all times, and their movements affect us all in different ways. All planets go retrograde, but Mercury’s journey seems to impact people much more than any other. So why is that? It’s because Mercury rules communication, clear thinking, truth and travel, so when the planet goes retrograde — which means that it looks like it’s going backwards in the sky — all those things go backwards. They start to get ugly and tangle up. Mercury isn’t really going backwards, it’s just hanging out by the sun, but from Earth, that makes it look like it’s in reverse. It typically runs for a couple of weeks, a few times a year and lucky for us — we are IN IT NOW.

::Sigh::

More often than not when I notice people start going off the deep end it’s during Mercury Retrograde. I swear, all sorts of things happen. It is as if everyone know has suddenly gone mad. You can find yourself getting into weird arguments about nothing (which actually happens to me all the time, lol), your electronics might go cray on you and travel can be a total B****. They do say that you shouldn’t make any big decisions or sign any contracts during this time as well.

With all this and more, here are some of my best tips to surviving Mercury Retrograde if you are feeling like it’s hitting you hard:

Be sure not to take things too personally. People will often say offensive things they didn’t mean around this time, because their thinking is clouded and their communication skills are on pause!

Don’t purchase any big ticket items because they will probably have flaws or issues you weren’t aware of. I mean, I can’t say this will happen every time but might be good to wait a few weeks. If you really need to get it, then really make sure you triple check all of your paperwork to make sure its A-OK!

Double-check any information you’re given, especially as relates to travel arrangements.

Read all emails and documents before you send. (I could do this more regardless)

Renew your commitments instead of making new ones.

Practice forgiveness. Finish processing what’s unresolved so you can let it go.

Good luck surviving Mercury Retrograde!! Stick in there and be positive!

Love, Olia

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