Each year, Mercury the planet of communication, commerce, transport and language starts (three or sometimes four times a year) an apparent Retrograde movement of the planet through the sky. The motion is not real in that the planet does not physically start moving backwards on its orbit. It just appears to do so because of the relative positions of the planet and Earth and how they are moving around the Sun.
During the times that Mercury is retrograde, people often notice more challenges with correspondence, our communication as we interact with others. It can also show up in our relationship to our neighborhood, our siblings and challenges with cars, transportation or electric equipment.
To be more specific, Mercury in Astrology rules everything that has to do with communication, including listening, speaking, learning, reading, editing, researching, negotiating, selling, and buying. Mercury also rules all formal contracts and agreements, as well as important documents such as book manuscripts or term papers, agreements, deeds, contracts, leases, wills. As well as any type of code such as computer codes but also transportation, shipping, and travel. So, when the planet retrogrades, all these areas tend to get out of control because, the planet is like in a sleeping mode so the domains that Mercury governs do not have a well functionating energy to keep them in check.
The Mercury Retrograde cycle will start this year of 2021 in the sign of Aquarius, following two more retrogrades periods further down the year within the signs of Gemini and Libra. These are all Air Signs and very mind-oriented compared to previous years when Mercury was predominately in Water signs touching intensely not only our minds but our emotions as well.
Mercury will be in apparent retrograde motion during the following range of dates (depending on the time zone, the dates will slightly differ):
- January 30 to February 20 – Aquarius
- May 29 to June 22 – Gemini
- September 27 to October 18 – Libra
Mercury governs the signs of Gemini and Virgo in Astrology, thus everyone with their Sun, Ascendant or Moon in these signs or that have a strong relationship with Mercury in their Astrology charts are more likely to be affected by the transit.
Being aware of our Shadow:
At a personal level, one way of looking at Mercury Retrograde is that it reveals disowned components in our awareness, communication, and interaction with others and with the world around us.
Mercury in Gemini expresses the way that we reach out, interact and discriminate our neighborhood. The shadow of Gemini is Sagittarius. When Mercury is retrograde, it often expresses the negative nature of Sagittarius, thus the tendency is to generalize, anticipate, judge or assume, without checking first to see what is real or not.
Mercury in Virgo expresses the way that we integrate our experiences and recognize the world around us using our mind. The shadow of Virgo is Pisces. When Mercury is retrograde, it often expresses the disowned nature of Pisces thus we can imagine that others will make things happen for us or we could simply disconnect to our inner core searching an outer connection instead, thus becoming victims of our own ignorance.
The blessing of Mercury Retrograde:
We can use these retrograde times to reflect and see where we are being caught in the patterns of our shadow, especially that it’s in these times where be become less conscious thus it’s a good introspection exercise.
Also, the Retrograde period can be a blessing because it mainly reveals what it’s no longer working properly and needs a new approach, or things that it’s important to resolve, fix or address; by being centered we just need to become aware and make the necessary changes down the line.
We can say the Mercury retrograde cycle happens at two levels:
1st – Being more aware of others actions and how they impact us – at this level there’s not a lot that we can do, just to double check things and be prepared for delays or errors that may occur.
2nd – This is a more personal level that we can avoid the consequences of our actions by becoming more centered and being aware that when we are not acting from our hearts there are always some after math that we need to solve or take care. Our wounds and buttons are being pushed in order to become conscious and work with our reactions and not by re/acting from our shadow self.
Here are some activities that is best to pay more attention to and avoid or postpone until the period ends:
- Signing important contracts (best time to review contracts and/or important agreements);
- Buying electronic equipment (including mobile phones or cars, etc);
- Taking any major decisions;
- Travelling (delays, accidents, losing items might happen, etc);
- Buying expensive items (you may see them on Sale after the period end);
- Communicate a new release related to information and/or data.
Mercury in Aquarius: January 30 to February 20
From January 30 to February 20, Mercury will retrograde through the innovative, humanitarian and progressive sign of Aquarius.
Aquarius rules technologies, groups, collaborations, associations as well as social life and anything that is connected to humanitarian pursuits. These areas will be in the spot light for all of us so any previous plans, goals, dreams that we had, need to be re-evaluated and tweaked, improved or let go for good if they do not serve us anymore.
We should be more aware about possible disagreements and misunderstandings between the groups or associations we are part of and review any communication (spoken or written) that we want to initiate and that could escalate into something more serious down the line.
This is also a time to be aware of your tech devices since Mercury affects those too.
Aquarius energy is about thinking outside the box so we are encouraged during this time to think from a different perspective then we normally would in order to find solutions to the issues that may arise during this time and could force us to change trajectory.
The planets from Taurus (Uranus, Mars) and those from Aquarius (Saturn, Jupiter, Sun, and Mercury) are in challenging aspects during this whole period of the retrograde. In this scenario, Taurus representing Earth, Aquarius representing Air are in a cosmic “fight” to decide the next right move forward. The Question we all need to answer is what is our reality now and what is utopic or idealistic but we think that cannot be grounded and made a reality yet. In the mist of this metaphoric “fight” it will win just those that have a grit and the energy of manifesting their own reality, taking charge, knowing that we create reality and that it’s not random. Ideal is just a reality that was not given enough energy and trust to be brought to life – we gave up on our dreams and sacrifice them on the altar of the current conditions and limitations. So, work your spirit muscles now, gather all the information you need during Mercury retrograde and only act on your findings once the period ends.
Below are the domains of life where each zodiac sign will be triggered by this Mercury Retrograde transit to review and reconsider (look for your Sun, Ascendant, and Moon Signs):
Aries: friends, future plans, aspirations, ideals.
Taurus: career, public image, reputation, social status.
Gemini: beliefs, principles, relationships with foreigners, studies
Cancer: renunciation, power, sexuality, unpaid money, loans.
Leo: relationships, couple, association, marriage.
Virgo: health, work, colleagues, daily schedule.
Libra: love, children, creativity, hobbies.
Scorpio: house, family, dwelling, soul.
Sagittarius: communication, electronic equipment, studies.
Capricorn: money, personal goods and values, talents.
Aquarius: decisions, self-actions, ambition, physical body, image.
Pisces: health, relationship with God, self-analysis, letting go of battle.
Many blessings,
Isabela
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