By Missy Mitchell of Spiritually Sourced
We all see the memes circulating a few times a year, blaming everything on a planetary movement.
Even those who don’t subscribe to astrology seem to jump on board the mercury blame train when it goes retrograde.
So what in the cosmos is it?
Many believe that when a planet goes retrograde, it begins to move backwards, when in fact it’s just taking a hot minute to chill and rest. Not going backward, just moving ever so slightly forward. This means that while Mercury is taking a break, we feel its disturbance here on Earth. Mercury is the ruling planet of communication, technology, awareness and intellect, which is why everyone freaks out when it goes retrograde.
Side note: all the planets rule certain areas of life within our natal charts. Just as Mercury rules retrograde, Venus rules love and aesthetics, Mars rules passion and aggression, Jupiter rules abundance and growth etc. (if you have heard of your Sun sign and how it depicts your identity, picture the other planets working in the same way for different aspects). Back to Mercury.
Communication mishaps, tech issues (anyone remember last year when instagram was down for three days during mercury retrograde?) and confusion are high on the list during mercury retrograde.
What I want to point out though, is not what to blame/avoid during mercury retrograde but how to harness its energy to help you grow. During this time typically many would warn against signing contracts, starting new relationships and entering a new career path but how is that empowering us? Giving away our power to a planet's movements is not serving us in the slightest. So instead use this time to do your due diligence. Focus on reading contracts, looking at foreseeable mistakes, start a new relationship based on communication and trust, enter a new career following your intuition and what lights you up.
Allow this time to be a period of growth and taking responsibility for your actions.
Astrology can be a double edged sword if we allow it to be, focus on using it for self awareness and empowerment rather than setting your destiny in stone. You are a sovereign being with free will, use that free will to evolve and grow.
