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Mercury Retrograde Astrological Mercury gets blamed for just about all snafus when he is retrograde. Remember that Mercury in the sky doesn't "cause" anything but simply informs us what kind of time it is. Accordingly, there may be some things you DON'T want to do and others that you WANT to do when he is moving backwards (retrograde). This is using time wisely. Mercury backs up each year three (or four) times for several weeks. Know when Mercury goes retrograde from 2008 to 2012
During 2008 Mercury will be retrograde during these dates:
During 2009 Mercury will be retrograde during these dates:
During 2010 Mercury will be retrograde during these dates:
During 2011 Mercury will be retrograde during these dates:
During 2012 Mercury will be retrograde during these dates:
AVOID signing any contracts This is perhaps the most important suggestion. Mercury "rules" all contracts, agreements and things signed. Mercury is also the trickster among the planets. When he is moving backwards (retrograde) he is even trickier and perhaps more slippery than ever. If at all possible, it is certainly advisable to hold off on signing on the dotted line and endorsing any ideas that were conceived during trickster times, i.e. while Mercury was retrograde. If the idea was conceived before and the signature just signifies the final execution of a an idea that was conceived under different skies, that would be a different situation. Here Is What You WANT To Do During Mercury retrograde times we are given an opportunity to have a respite from our hectic lives. It is the perfect opportunity to do anything that begins with a "re-". So now is the time to:
All these things and anything else you can think of that begins with "re" will give you a sense of pleasure now, a sense of having picked the right timing. Walk a different path If you do something the same way every day, for example, if you walk the same route with your dog or with a friend, change the route when Mercury is retrograde. You will be amazed at how different the world looks from a different viewpoint. Similarly, during Mercury retrograde, talk to someone from a different background than you have ever met, someone from a completely unfamiliar race, religion, or ethnicity. Find out what it is like to walk in their shoes. Slow down Most of all, during Mercury retrograde, slow down, reflect and rest. We need times like these and get them far too seldom. The Trickster is giving us these on a regular basis and if we do not take advantage of them, he may just mess our lives up enough to make us pay attention! An excellent book on Mercury retrograde is by Pythia Peay and is called Mercury Retrograde. Do planets really move backwards? No. If you were a giant and straddling a planet, it would not suddenly stop and then reverse, and then go forward again. However, from our perspective on earth, it appears that planets move backwards. Using Mars as an example, I have made this animation to show you how this can occur.
From the earth, which moves around the sun faster than mars, we look at Mars against the background of the zodiac. Astrologers plot this movement with the symbol of Mars (at the top of the animation) along the path (circle) of the zodiac. That is how it appears in your chart. As we move past Mars, it appears for a while that Mars against that backdrop is actually going backwards. This is known as retrograde motion.
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The
yellow dot is the Sun. The blue dot
represents the earth. The red dot
represents Mars.