I know. I know.
I can feel the scrunched-up faces and deep sighs from here, but I swore to only speak the truth, and I’d rather you be prepared and not get sucker-punched by Quicksilver just doing what Quicksilver does. I go through this every single Mercury RX. I get to be the bad guy because I go against the mainstream feel-good posts saying “finally you can breathe easy – it’s over!”
You see, to every retrograde, not just Mercury’s, there are THREE phases. The Pre-Shadow phase, the actual Retrograde, and the Post-Shadow phase. In the first phase, the planet is just covering normal ground (space) and moving over the degrees of the sign it’s in. Then, at some point, it starts to slow down before slamming to a stop, turning around, and beginning its actual Retrograde phase. It goes BACK over those Pre-Shadow degrees, while here on earth, things simply feel like they have stalled. We get to experience the effects of the retrograde, but because most things under its umbrella have seemingly stalled, it’s really not as bad as all that, or at least not as bad as it will be. LOL
Retrogrades are built-in to force us to rest and not be moving forward ALL the time. That’s why when a planet is retrograde its effects are felt more inwardly than outwardly. It is giving us time to REthink these things. REexamine them and our choices. Venus goes retrograde; we rethink our self-worth, our earning and spending habits. Mars goes retrograde, and we are less forceful, and it is harder for us to find our fire. That’s so that we can REthink and REexamine the ways in which we use it. Jupiter goes retrograde, and we momentarily stop expanding, and we are given the opportunity to REST. We aren’t meant to always be pushing forward. The human mind and body have to rest.
Somehow the Universe knows this about us and built in the retrograde to not give us a choice. It’s the “go to your room and think about your choices” moment in astrology.
During a retrograde, efforts to force our way through are met with mishaps and obstacles. This is where the frustration and crappy attitudes come from that we’re so used to experiencing during a retrograde. Especially a Mercury retrograde, because Mercury rules over how we communicate, how we get from place to place, etc. This is why during a Mercury retrograde you will usually have to make two trips in order to get anything done. Have to run to the grocery store? You’re gonna forget something and have to go back. Have to go to the hardware store? It’s gonna be the wrong part, and you’re gonna have to go back again. There is where we find the upside to a retrograde phase.
There’s the UPSIDE to a retrograde. No, really, I swear that there is. Each and every one of those delays is there so that you will get something BETTER than what you were getting before. It’s like a protection that’s there to make sure you get what you actually need. That second trip to the grocery store? You’re gonna find something else you forgot, or you’ll find something better than what you were gonna get the first time. That delay to your schedule? It’s there to make sure you don’t walk into something you’d rather not walk into. It’s there for your benefit. Every single time.
That actual retrograde phase is annoying, but it’s nothing compared to the third and final phase of a retrograde. That’s when Mercury reaches the spot that the Pre-Shadow phase began on and then turns around to head BACK OVER THESE DEGREES FOR A THIRD TIME.
This is where we are right now. This is that moment where the sandbags disappear, and we can literally feel ourselves moving forward again. I get why people wanna say “It’s over! It’s over! The wicked witch is dead!” but it’s simply not over. Mercury will now retrace its steps and while doing so (and this is why it is my least favorite part) we are still under the influence of retrograde energies but now we are being pushed forward through our lives.
THIS is the phase that makes us look like incompetent idiots. During Phase Two that email you sent might never reach its intended target. It would be bounced back, and you’d walk around thinking they read it until they informed you days later that they have not a clue what it is you are talking about. But now… now it lands. It lands, and you have typos everywhere. It lands, and you misspoke about someone, and they happen to be reading over the recipient’s shoulder. It lands, and you commit yourself to something you have no way to fulfill. It lands, and makes idiots out of all of us. LOL
I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t mind the rest periods. I know when to kick back and take my shoulders out of the pushing forward that we usually do. At closer to 50 than not, I don’t mind the rest days so much, but being made to look incompetent I take issue with. LOL
This third phase is the Universe asking us to put to use the conclusions we thought we arrived at during Phase Two. It says “prove it.” Put it to use. Show me. THIS is the phase that you really, really, REALLY need to proofread your messages. This is the phase that you REALLY do need to double-check your bags before leaving. This is the phase that pushes us forward across the cheese grater of life. LOL
We have just as much time in the Third Phase as we had in the previous two. When this last phase ends you will definitely feel the difference in the energy around you. It’s like water that has built up behind a wall with a single hole finally is able to flow freely.
Mercury Retrograde happens usually three times a year, so effectively we get a month or so in between each one of the pre and post-shadow phases. Take the rest it provides when it comes. Apply yourself when it’s over.
If you want help figuring out where this and the next Mercury Retrograde is happening in your own personal charts you can always reach out for help. That’s what I’m here for. xoxo