Beware Of Mercury!

(Mercury is coming around again).

Yesterday I was working on an invitation for a small get together and after a hour of formatting pictures, colors, and fonts it disappeared. My hard work gone. I threw up my hands, stepped away from the computer and after a big sigh moved on with the day. I knew why this was happening. Mercury comes around again!

As of Thursday, November 24th, Mercury moved into its third retrograde phase of 2011. The actual retrograde motion comes to a stop on December 14th when it reaches its direct station, but this is only halfway through the cycle which isn’t released until January 1, 2012.. Sounds interesting right? However what does retrograde actually mean in regards to a planet? Does is actually stop and move backwards? Not really.

A planet moves into retrograde when it slows down in relation to the earth. It never actually stops or goes backwards but instead just appears this way.  This can be likened to driving next to a car that is slowing down. They appear to be going backward, but in truth aren’t.

The actually period of going into retrograde begins when the planet starts to slow, which in this case was on November 5th. While Mercury is a distant and small planet, it has very fast spin and this can cause us on Earth to really feel its effects. Mercury generally affects thinking, perception, processing and all types of communication and technology. Periods of retrograde often cause a higher degree of technology failures, financial troubles, misunderstandings and transportation breakdowns. It is not a good time to make important life decisions or changes, purchase new technology (hello holiday season!) or to take financial risks. If you have to do these things make sure you are double and triple checking yourself since you may not be thinking as clearly.

Mercury in retrograde can also be a great time for personal introspection into our own lives and getting ready to make changes come the end of the direct station in late December or January.

In the time I started this blog post and taught a yoga class my I-Pod died and I saw a car slide off the road into two 360’s and almost flip over. Mercury at its best!

Have you noticed anything off the past few days? Please share!

Photo Credits: horoscoper.net