The Mercury Retrograde Who Came to Dinner

If you don't believe that Mercury Retrograde is a thing, I can accept and respect that.  Peace and love!  But then, this probably isn't the post for you.  Because, Mercury Retrograde, is, in fact, a thing, my friend.  And this is a rough one. Don't worry your head about it, though, we're going to talk about what it is, why the energy is strange right now, and perhaps come up with a couple of strategies for not losing our damn minds out of frustration before it ends on July 31.

So, who is Mercury Retrograde, and why is he out to get you?

Astrologically, Mercury is the planet that represents Communication.  Communication is not just speaking, it is anything that involves the transit of one thing to another.  This includes not just what you would think of as typical communications, but also travel and electronic devices.  All the planets go through retrograde cycles, and Mercury’s happens three times a year (sometimes four) and lasts for about three weeks.  When a planet is Retrograde, it means everything that planet represents goes askew.  And that my sweet, sweet reader, is why you have been experiencing mundane challenges such as:

Crashes of Servers

Delay in Connecting or Posting to Social Media

Bad Traffic

Electronics Deciding it Would be Fun if They Stopped Working

Cars Deciding it Would be Fun if They, Too, Stopped Working

Writing a Blog Post to Let People Know That They Are Not Alone During Mercury Retrograde Only to Have the Post Get Eaten Somehow Resulting in You Having To Re-Format Your Blog (Note: Based on a True Story)

…as well as challenges that are more esoteric and emotional:

Accidents
Misunderstandings
Complete Communications Breakdowns (Falling Out)
Emotional Meltdowns
Experiencing Fall-out From the Moods or Emotions of Others

Now, why is Mercury Retrograde out to get you?  The thing is, he isn’t.  He’s actually a really nice guy!  He’s trying to help.  Like a houseguest that does the dishes but accidentally breaks not only your favorite mug but all your mugs.  "Sorry! I was trying to help," he says, shrugging and walking away, leaving you to sweep up the broken ceramics that were once your prized mug collection.  

As frustrating as these things are, what you are actually feeling right now is the emotional piece of what Mercury brings up.  This is also true for a Full Moon, New Moon, and really any planetary event, especially if you are a sensitive person.  Sometimes,  for an example of how a planetary effect can work, if you are a sensitive person, and not listening to your intuition, things come up during these cycles to force you to deal with things differently.

We'll talk in another post (maybe next Retrograde) about ways to prepare for Mercury Retrograde overall, both esoteric and mundane, and how to get through each event.  But for now, let's focus on getting through the emotional fall-out part of this Retrograde.

True Confessions:  I am not usually that bothered by Mercury Retrograde, ever since I figured out how it works and what comes out of it.  If other people are going through emotional stuff, I know that it's the Retrograde, and certainly challenges do come up for me, but I don't normally spend the retrograde entire complaining about it.  Especially because what we consistently say or think becomes true for us and quickly, so why keep giving life to Mercury Retrograde?

But this one is a bit of a pain in the ass.

The main thing is to try to stay centered, which can feel extremely challenging during a chaotic emotional and energetic time.  And sometimes you don't have time to center yourself from one thing before something else happens.  It's like walking in a windy snowstorm.  You get yourself situated and in a good position, and then BAM, a heavy gust of Mercury Retrograde  knocks you down, steals your lunch money, and mocks you as you look around to make sure that no one saw, before getting back up again.

So, let's picture Mercury Retrograde less as a big mean guy that's knocking us down, and more like the Paul Shaffer-based character in Disney's Hercules.  That was Hermes, and not Mercury, but it's the same god. If you picture that guy trying to help you but temporarily making things worse, at least perhaps you'll smile, or perhaps the Paul in your mind will merge into classic Paul playing the keys on classic Dave and you'll have a nice soundtrack to get you through the emotional breakdown you are having in your car.

But seriously, folks…. here's how you stay centered, and also a few more things to do to get through the rest of this retrograde:

Stay in the Present Moment

When we are aware of being in the present moment, we can choose peace. Florence Scovel Shinn (and later, Louise Hay) both wrote, "The point of power is in the present moment."  What they meant by that is that when you are aware of the present, you are not wrapped up in the past, reliving the pain, or caught up in projecting the future, creating all kinds of horrible outcomes.  I may have used this before on this blog, but right now, you and I are having a conversation (even though you're not talking) and we are choosing peace.  Therefore, we are choosing peace in this present moment.

Use Affirmations to Center Your Thoughts

Meditation and Mindfulness are not about emptying your mind per se, but about allowing your thoughts to flow without taking over.  Noticing your thoughts instead of going into fear.  So if you are in a quiet moment and a worry comes up, you can think to yourself, "Okay, I acknowledge that thought, but I am going to put that aside now because in this moment, I choose peace."

Choosing peace keeps you present.  As I wrote a few paragraphs ago, we give power to what we think and what we say.   An affirmation is anything you think or say whether it's just once or over and over.  

So conscientious affirmations for centering can be: 

I choose peace.

I am safe.

All is well.

I am peaceful.

I am hungry  - oh, sorry, that was me.  I probably should have had more than Lucky Charms for dinner.

But I digress:  Choose peace.  You can literally say, I choose peace in your head as many times a day, hour, or even minute, as you need to.

Count to Four

If you find during this Mercury Retrograde that you are in conversation with someone that is agitated and the situation is starting to become volatile, here is a hot tip for you:  Count to four before you respond. Yes, in your head.   That way, you can respond, and not react.  In the time that  you are counting to four, you are both deflecting the other person, and giving yourself a space to choose peace in the conversation.

That's all she wrote tonight, folks, I better get some additional food!

You will get through this.  We'll get through together.

Peace and Love!