'Survive and Thrive' Guide

Anyone with enough astrological knowledge to be dangerous has a favorite Mercury retrograde story. Everything from losing your passport in a foreign country to telling an off color joke at the office party gets blamed on Mercury and his supposedly malevolent mess-ups. 

Mercury has been managing the information highway, doling out data and divulging details to the human race for so long now that we take his presence for granted. In fact, it isn’t until that “code red” moment in the middle of the night when you really, really need to order a pizza and you can’t find your phone, and then you can’t find the phone book, and then you can’t find your reading glasses to read the number or see the buttons on that little tiny phone that you realize how much rests upon the seamless flow of information in your life. 

Of course, it’s easy to blame the messenger, but that’s not what astrology is about. In actuality, Mercury doesn’t change his pace or his direction one little bit. He keeps on zipping around the Sun three times faster than Earth does, so, it’s really an optical illusion of cosmic proportions, but the message is loud and clear, just the same. 

As Mercury appears to pause and retrace his steps three times a year, the resulting mishaps can play a mean game of pinball with the productivity level in your life. But, if you’re willing to be honest, the stressful situations that Mercury retrograde brings to the fore simply highlight those areas in your life where you’ve been trying to do too much, in too short of time, with too little preparation, and not enough information. 

The good news is that once that sobering reality sinks in, you too can become master of your destiny and neatly sidestep the muddled misfortunes attributed to Mercury retrograde. How? It’s easy — all you have to do is honor the message behind Mercury’s motion. 

The secret to succeeding in a world where the mainline messenger takes a breather every four months is to follow his lead. When he’s going backwards, it’s a good time for you to focus on the pile of past due correspondence, messages, memos, and projects, rather than pushing forward. ‘Revise, revisit, rethink, and resolve’ is the creed for savvy folk who have discovered how to make the most of Mercury’s cues.

Of course the traditional warnings about Mercury retrograde still hold water. If possible, postpone important meetings, proposals and purchases until after Mercury has resumed his forward march. And if that’s not possible, then clarify and verify all of the information that comes your way before making your decision. 

By now, you’re probably wondering when Mercury ‘goes’ retrograde next, so you can cash in on this heavenly ‘hang time’ to catch up and consolidate the data and details in your life. Just keep in mind that your boss probably isn’t as enlightened about the cosmic clues as you are, so, in his ignorance, he still expects that project on his desk by Monday—come hell or Mercury retrograde. 

Mercury is Retrograde:

October 28th through November 17th, 2006