All About Mercury Retrograde!

Approximately every four months, for a period of about three weeks Mercury has one of it's infamous retrograde periods..Therefore, when Mercury turns retrograde by transit, think in terms of the possibility for communication breakdown.  Mercury is the Director of the Communication Department and while retrograde, is on sabbatical for about three weeks.  The details normally handled by the Communication Department aren't being tended to as carefully as they are when Mercury is direct.  All types of communication have the potential for becoming confused, delayed or misunderstood.  There can be confusion, changing of plans, indecisiveness, mail-slowdowns, lost letters, transportation problems, electronic equipment breakdowns, and failures in negotiations--all the more if Mercury's retrograde involves the sign Gemini or your natal third house.  For these reasons, it is felt that the Mercury retrograde period is not a good time for signing contracts, scheduling negotiations, or launching new projects. It's a good time for planning and organizing anything that will be finalized after Mercury has returned to direct motion

So, you may be wondering, what are these Mercury retrograde periods good for?  They are a fine time to draw on knowledge and guidance from deeper levels of consciousness.  The three weeks that Mercury is retrograde presents us with an opportunity for carefully considering all the possible ramifications of pending actions and decisions.  We are encouraged to take care of unfinished business, especially business put into motion during the months following Mercury's last retrograde period and preceding the current retrograde period. 

If possible, keep travel to a minimum. Wait to start anything new, unless it is connected with something from the past that you must re-experience. Postpone starting major new enterprises, signing documents, buying and selling, and making important decisions and commitments until after Mercury turns direct in motion. If you make a decision, be prepared to change it later as new information is received. Also, decisions made by others that affect you may be reversed. It's best not to commit yourself either verbally or by signature two or three weeks prior to, during, and a couple of days following a Mercury retrograde cycle. Do allow for unexpected factors, such as schedule changes, delays, telephone message and mail mix-ups, scrambled e-mail, misunderstandings, transportation problems, and keys misplaced or locked in the car. "Redo" accurately describes Mercury-related activities during Mercury retrograde cycles, so prepare to revise, research, rethink, recount, reconsider, reorganize, reevaluate, rewrite, reschedule, recheck, and anything else prefixed with "re". Plan head for these cycles, and back up your hard drive on your computer before Mercury goes retrograde.

You are especially susceptible to the delays and frustrations associated with transiting Mercury retrograde if Mercury is your planetary ruler--that's you, Geminis and Virgos... or if you work in Mercury-related occupations--journalists, printers, stationers, computer programmers, telephone operators, postal employees, radio and television announcers, teachers, clerical workers, and those connected with transportation.

In short here are "again" the general rules: