Back up your data!
Don’t sign any major contracts!
I feel like the 2-3 times a year that Mercury in retrograde comes along, there is a scale that ranges from hesitation to severe panic and dis-ease amidst the peeps I know.
And if you’re like me, ten years ago you probably didn’t know it existed but now it’s like:
ALL HALT FOR MERCURY IN RETROGRADE!
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, M.I.R is a 21-day astrological cycle known for being a buggy little bastard and mucking things up like our hard drives, heart-to-hearts with our besties and flights to Antigua.
(Technically Mercury goes retrograde, today, October 4th, at 1:02PM EST, but effects can stretch a week before and after, just so ya know.)
I get the warnings and awareness surrounding it—if we’re prepared we might just be a bit more cautious about backing the fourth chapter of that memoir that’s going to get us on Oprah or not throwing our iPhone into a puddle when it fritzes.
Yet, in researching M.I.R. it was alarming how many adjectives I found in the negative vein:
“crazy” “haywire” “bumming you out.”
Yikes. No wonder we’re terrified of it.
Your subconscious is more pronounced at this time, and that can be intense. No. Fricking. Doubt.
There are some not so pretty things in there, and to get even more cosmic (pardon the pun) you could easily be processing and having things come up that aren’t even your own thoughts or feelings. Ya, interconnectedness might not feel so swell in those moments.
But as with all ebb in life, M.I.R has delicious aspects that call for us to quiet down and take some stock. Admittedly not something many of us like to do until we are forced to do it, so let’s consider the next 21 days an invitation to do so, until mercury goes “direct” again on October 25th.
In our conditioning and society, particularly in America, a calmer time and way of Yin energy, is rarely celebrated with the bravado of masculine energy and “taking charge.”
Ok so yes, cleaning out your closet is not very sexy. But knowing who you are, reexamining how far you’ve come and having a little more Universal stillness to drop into meditation are things that clear, big time. (Spiritual Windex!) And all the gorgeous, sparkly, big dream, destiny things on the horizon don’t usually show up to a dirty closet.
Here are a few select tidbits on how to make the most of these days:
“This period is best used for re-organizing and reflecting. We look at the world a little differently–through different filters–and can come up with some very important inner revelations. It may be difficult to communicate them under this influence, but not everything needs to be rationalized. Mercury retrograde periods can be times of heightened inner awareness, when meditation, benefiting from keeping a journal, reworking old plans, and reviewing past work are favored. Minor breaks in the mechanical aspects of communication can actually re-connect us to other means of communication, such as when there is an unexpected power outage and we’re forced off the computer and television, finding different and often satisfying ways to entertain ourselves.” –Café Astrology
“Mercury retrograde is a great time for completion.It is a time of clearing things, so you have more energy for the new. Meditation and contemplation are also a good use of this cycle.” –Lori Yamamoto
“Rather than hunkering down in your bunker, this is a positive time to tie up loose ends, reconnect with people from the past, make mechanical repairs and get systems in order. This can also be a productive period for psychological review as new information can be gleaned from old experiences.” –Star IQ
“Your discoveries about your subconscious self during Mercury Retrograde can be revealing and healing. Although being aware of your deeper emotional and mental patterns would be useful at any time, during this unusual three-week period you can see, feel, and hear the workings of your emotions and your mind more easily that usual. This is because of the tendency during Mercury Retrograde for your subconscious to be more prominent than usual.” –Cosmic Living
So, we know to be aware of all the fritzes. How about taking advantage of the time to own and be gentle with our patterns and clutter? With some inner revelations + emotional windex-ing, we might just discover that Mercury in retrograde is not quite the evil little bastard that we thought.
Here’s cheers to retrograde: reveal, reflect, renew.
Namastes all around.
xx
