The first time I heard about Mercury being in Retrograde, I almost flipped out!

This was a few years back when the movements of the planets were obscured by my profound interest in the Moon, in fact, I think the Moon and I went steady for a while there.

Coming out of my Lunar fog, I was told that Mercury would be spinning backwards and that all manner of hell would break loose in my life. What did this person mean, spinning backwards? Did Earth ever spin backwards? What the bejaysus was going on?

What Mercury actually does is speed past Earth in its orbit around the Sun a few times a year, and when it does so, it leaves all of us Earthlings in a bit of a tail spin. What’s the bloody hurry anyway? But since Mercury is closest to the Sun of all the planets, I’m imagining that they have their own thing going.

And that’s fine, as long as I’m prepared for the fall-out.

Today, Mercury goes into Retrograde until the 25th of January.

During this period we should be careful of activities pertaining to communication, beginning a new venture, and signing contracts –give or take a dozen other areas affected by Mercury’s freakish race with itself.

No worries, say you? I’d agree, except that I have just released a novel, I write (communicate) for a living, and am showing my house to potential buyers tomorrow. Fertheloveofgod!

Ok. Breathing again. What to do about this celestial phenomena? How to mitigate its effects?

Here’s the thing. Mercury is not the only culprit here. Mars and Venus also go on a bit of a speed wobble several times a year. That would leave us very little time to do whatever we need to do without losing our minds.

As a practicing witch, let me assure you that I do not underestimate the fact that heavenly matters are reflected on the earthly plane. I wouldn’t have ‘As Above, So Below’ tattooed in permanent ink on my wrist if I did; I wouldn’t consult the stars before casting magic…Mercury have mercy!

My best advice to myself and to you, my sweet Earthlings, is to go with the flow.

1. Remember that no matter what happens, you are still in control of your reaction to it. Do the best with what is handed to you during this period. There is no getting around the thing, so join Mercury on its journey. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, never mind, let’s not go there.

2. Allow for miracles to happen. Let’s make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear – except that we would never do that in real life, sows need their ears. What I mean is, sometimes really good things come from the most flabbergasting situations. Just stay open for the best even though all your stars are not aligned. Sometimes, I just say, you guessed it…Whatthef*ck! and let things ride as they will.

3. Be kind to yourself. If you must do the things that are not advised during any kind of retrograde, remember that this, like any other day in your life, is a day you cannot recapture. Put your best foot forward and take time for meditation, long, hot baths, yoga, sex.

If you are like me, you will look up every bloody retrograde going for the year and do the best with your awareness of these events.

And really, it does boil down to that. Awareness- of your inner and outer world. Mercury, I’m not afraid of you…will you take me around the Sun? I could use an adventure.

Image: WikiCommons