People who follow
astrology tend to default into a form of learned helplessness during Mercury
retrogrades. Magical practitioners are
often the worst, engaging in a kind of self-directed Schadenfreude: “Of
course, my magic isn’t working. Of
course, my car died, computer melted down, accounts hacked, permits and
licenses no longer valid, family members aren’t speaking to each other, and
maybe I’m about to be sued by my former business partner. Of course, everything is going sideways—IT’S
MERCURY RETROGRADE!” But it doesn’t have
to be like this.
For those who don’t know (and it’s hard to imagine there are people who don’t, but there’s always someone in the back row going, “Huh? Mercury what?”), Mercury retrograde is an illusion that makes the planet appear to be moving backwards in space, given the speed of the Earth’s rotation and our distance to Mercury.
Planets don’t actually do this, but it looks like they do. And that optical illusion has an astrological reality apart from the truths given to us by the science of astronomy. A useful, simple way of thinking about any astrological phenomena is: what we perceive in the sky is reflected in our lives whether or not we are accounting for hard scientific truth. And when we perceive the planet of communication, mind, intelligence, writing, media, technology, commerce, and thievery going retro, it means that these elements in our lives will go retro. Or they’ll try. As witches and magicians, we have the ability to work around this.
There are three paths we can take through it. The first path is that of the astrologer, who pays attention to the daily phenomena that take place during the three retrograde weeks. This means working in a detailed way with the pre-shadow (retroshade), the stationary sign, the first storm, the direct, and the second storm. The astrologer will look at these parts and behave in a way that puts her in harmony with their changes and effects. It’s a good way to navigate a retrograde, but it can be exhausting, especially with some of the longer retrogrades of other planets. Mercury is far more navigable in this respect than, for example, Venus.
The second path is the one of self-analysis. Retrogrades encourage reflection, editing, and review of everything the planet stands for in your life. This means if you’re writing a novel, you might analyze what you’ve written and make some edits. You might analyze a business relationship or evaluate whether you need to buy a new laptop (waiting, of course, until after Mercury retrograde to do so). You might journal more and consider whether you’re making progress on personal goals. This is a great time for insight into these things.
The third path is that of the sorcerer. Being a Hermetic magician, I have not historically had an easy time during Mercury retrogrades. I used to experience a “numb” period where all my magic either failed or went away. It was extremely painful, since for me magic is like breathing. So during times of non-Mercury retrograde, I researched and developed some magical ways to circumvent the fallout: (1) make offerings to Hermes-Mercury (or a comparable deity) before the shadow of the retrograde comes about; (2) store energy in magical batteries (symbolic containers) for use when everything around you feels dead; (3) learn and practice the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram to keep celestial influences at bay, recognizing that Mercury retrograde doesn’t remove the influence of Mercury as much as it inverts it; and (4) meditate more. Meditation is so important during retrogrades because it makes you finely aware of how your energetic environment has shifted.
Ultimately, retrogrades are here to help rid the world of stasis and encourage dynamic growth. They can be difficult, especially when we’re deeply engaged in things that they affect, but they don’t have to be. The best way is to approach them as challenges to practice and opportunities to assess and shake things up that may have become stagnant.