Changing Direction (Mercury goes RX and Venus goes Direct)

Photo by Patricia Herlevi, 2009

Too many people fear the retrograde movement of planets.  All planets, except the orbs (Sun and Moon) retrograde on a periodic basis.  The Mercury retrograde scares the lights out of people and most of this comes from ignorance of the meaning of a retrograde and I dare say, some people engage in superstitious nonsense which gives astrology a bad name.

So let's think of retrograde periods as time out in the area of our lives that the planet retrograde represents.  You can even go further and look at the house where the retrograde occurs.  Now, Mercury represents communication, short distance travel (not long distance travel), siblings, cousins, K-12 education, technology like computers when used for communication purposes and machinery.  Mercury is actually not traveling backwards but from where we sit on the earth it appears that way.  When Mercury gets too far ahead of the sun in relation to the earth, the earth shifts itself to accommodate the distance and this is a three week process that takes place three times a year.  We can't stop it, so we might as well accept it as part of life.

photo by Patricia Herlevi

Instead of begging for mercy and doing the oh, no, Mercury has gone retrograde dance routine, look at it another way.  Most people don't even consider that Mercury retrograde means that you'll encounter people from your past, like friends you lost contact with, you could receive long-awaited news, you might finally get your computer fix which if you admit it has been giving you problems long before the retrograde period.  This is also an excellent time to slow down, reassess, meditate, writing in your journal, edit old documents and manuscripts and pay attention to fine print.

While it's probably not a good idea to sign contracts now, if you have no other choice then read the fine print slowly and ask a lot of questions.  You might be able to delay the signing of a contract by saying you need to do some research, but if this is a job offer, then delay won't work in your favor.  A Mercury retrograde is a good time to return to school, return to an old job, return to an old project and return to a line of work from your past.  It's not a good time to start something new, but it does give you time to scrutinize any new activity before jumping in head first.  So the big message is SLOW DOWN.  And I'll add calm down to those people who go in a tizzy every time the communication planet does the backward dance.  You're not only annoying more thoughtful people, but you're giving yourself high blood pressure.  In that case, meditation is the cure.

Mercury, Wikipedia

Mercury goes retrograde on February 6 and since this is the shortest month in the year, the planet goes direct on the 27th.  Mercury starts out in Pisces which represents a heart-emotion space, then on Valentine's Day retrograde back into innovative and detached Aquarius.  I must say this year Valentine's Day is going to take on a airy-intellectual quality.  Hopefully we don't end up with too many interpretations of Violets are Blue and I think I love you...With Mercury in Aquarius retrograde you might want to clean out your e-mails, remove any unwanted programs from your computer, make sure your Fire Wall is up and running and basically do any repairs that come up in the realm of technology--not saying they will, but for anyone who has been sloppy about these things, it might.  Often when we're busy we forget to do the usual maintenance of our business machines and this retrograde will remind us of that.

We will see old scientific research surface at this time or university professors taking up more space than usual.  For some reason, I see some apologies coming from the higher education field in the realm of science, technology or research of some kind.  When Mercury squares Saturn around the 18th, we could see some unusual stories involving science with a confession quality.  I actually see a lot of investigation happening in February and some public outcry in regard to the information that surfaces.  However, since Mercury is retrograde it's best not to draw quick conclusions and do some homework before jumping on some bandwagon fighting injustice or any other cause.  We won't have all the information or we will have conflicting and chaotic information.  On the 16th, retrograde trines Mars in Libra so we could have some clear thinking around this time, but of the masculine analytical kind.

While Mercury goes retrograde in February, Venus goes direct on January 31st.  Now is a time to move forward with new relationships we have been holding at bay unless we receive a red light or see red flags waving in the wind.  This is the time also to put that skin regime, diet, nutrition regime, exercise program, etc that we have been considering for the past few weeks into action.  Go get a haircut (be careful to communicate clearly during Mercury RX), get a massage, a mud wrap, or some other type of body work that brings rejuvenation.

Venus resembling an egg, Wikipedia

For Capricorns and Cancers to a lesser extent older than 35 years of age, add supplements to boost your collagen levels since they have declined in recent years with Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Scorpio. Remember to moisturize your skin, use sun protection if you're in a sunny climate or taking a vacation in the tropics and drink plenty of water.  Also remember to get enough calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K along with magnesium and other minerals.  Now, is the time to boost your bone strength and get your joints in smooth working order.  Yoga is fantastic for this.  Yes, Capricorn you need to take time out from your busy schedule to give your body some loving attention.

Venus will remain in Capricorn until March 8th so we will have the discipline to take better care of our health.  Some of you are wondering how you have been able to stick to your New Year's resolutions, well you have Capricorn to thank for that.  Don't let your new habits slip after March 8, when Venus transits into Aquarius.  Stay away from over rationalizing returning to bad habits.  You have come this far, so stick with it.  We'll look at Venus in Aquarius in another post, but that will be an interesting transit too.

I'm ending with don't fear the retrograde.  Please don't freak out and then freak everyone else out.  We have enough in the world at this time to cause us plenty of trepidation so let's not add something minor like Mercury going backwards to the mix.  Think of it this way, you survived Mercury retrograde in the past and you'll survive it again, even if it feels frustrating that the social media and e-mail sites will all make drastic changes during that time.  Switch of your computer and find a corner to meditate.