The planet Mercury appears to go backwards three times a year. We know that planets cannot actually go backwards in their orbits, but is apparently so because of the interaction of the planets with the earth and each other in relation to their zodiacal backdrop. That is as scientific as we need to be today. The days of retrograde and direct are the most disrupted, but the three-week period of the retrograde time is still important, when things are still wacky.
What is likely to happen during a Mercury retrograde?
Mercury rules the written word, such as contracts and agreements in its relation to the sign of Gemini, along with news and the media. It rules work details and practical thinking in its relation to the sign of Virgo. Mercury also rules electricity in its high relationship with the sign of Aquarius.
When Mercury goes retrograde, your electrical and electronic gadgets, appliances and computers could malfunction. If your car or office equipment is malfunctioning, it is most likely electrical.
Making contracts and agreements during a retrograde Mercury is not advised because something has been left. If you must sign an agreement, create a contingency that you have the right to make changes after Mercury goes direct. Mail is sometimes slowed down, and communications can be either nonexistent or wacky. E-mail during these times is downright difficult. It is not a good idea to go to court during these times because the information could be wrong or left out, necessitating a return to court during the next retrograde Mercury time!
Mercury rules the signs of Gemini and Virgo, who are the most affected by the retrograde cycle. When Mercury is retrograde in your sun sign, you could be more affected than others. At this time we are being radiated with strong solar flares, which intensifies everything, including the Mercury retrograde period. The most recent cycle was in the sign of Aries, so Aries people could have been unusually affected. This was a bazaar cycle, stories to follow.
Personal experiences during a Mercury retrograde cycles depend upon your sun sign, where Mercury is going backwards in your chart and how the retrograde sign affects or interacts with your planets. Sounds complicated, but not to your astrologer. Look to what happened to you during that last cycle, between 19 March and 12 April. If it was crazy, did it get resolved, or was it just assumed it will work out? Did you take anybody’s word that the situation would be resolved, or did you personally check up to see that the situation was solved? If you let it go, guess what? During the next cycle, it comes up again, and is more difficult to rectify. Take the initiative and be certain the situation is rectified, and have back-up documentation.
2. One of the banks here in Delaware had a bag of cancelled checks and other financial information fall off the truck on the way to the shredder, with the papers scattered on the roadside. Bank customers were sent a letter that their information was in that bag, but “most likely your information was not compromised” and offered to close that account and open another at no cost. Oh?! Not compromised during a retrograde Mercury? One of the customers called to have her account changed, and was told again that the information was not compromised. Knowing about Mercury retrograde, she insisted on a new account, telling the bank person that thieves wait a while before using the numbers. Guess when that would have been? Between July 22 and August 15, the next Mercury retrograde. The bank was gracious about the change which was completed after August 15.
3. A friend mailed a check in payment to a local company. The check cleared and he was about to call for a refill of heating oil, but received a phone call from a stranger from a company he did not know: they had received the check and deposited it. They would send a check out to replace it immediately. After two weeks, there was no check. My friend called the company asking for the money, was promised, did not receive it. When he saw the cancelled check on the computer, he realized they had the same bank, which had accepted the check into the wrong account, and also deducted it from his account, two bank mistakes. So my friend called the bank, insisting that they correct their own mistake. They tried to say it was his concern, not the bank’s. It took being very insistent that it was the bank’s error before it was corrected, but it took a month, with the final transaction out of the Mercury retrograde cycle.