Surviving Mercury Retrograde
by Dr. Victoria Scerbo
Next to knowing one’s Sun sign, the phenomena of Mercury Retrograde seems to be one of the most well-known phenomena in Astrology. The mere mention of it strikes fear in the hearts of schedulers everywhere. Don’t sign contracts, don’t buy a car, and don’t get things fixed, lest they will have to be re-fixed later, don’t plan a trip.
Well as with most things, understanding the phenomena on a deeper level is helpful. Astronomically, Mercury retrograde is not a ‘real’ backwards movement of Mercury. It is an apparent backwards movement. Let me explain with something most have experienced. You’re on a train and next to you on the other tract is another train. You are both moving at the same speed, then the other train slows a bit. It is still moving forward but from your perspective on your train, the other one looks like it’s moving backwards. The reason is that your train is moving faster. As too with Mercury retrograde, the Earth-train is just moving faster than the Mercury-train. The other important physical reality of Mercury retrograde is that when Mercury is retrograde it is actually closer to the Earth.
Now that we have the physics out of the way, let’s talk about what this means practically. With Mercury closer to the Earth all things Mercury gets louder and bigger. We live in a very noisy world to begin with, and with all the devices we now rely on information overload is a real danger even without Mercury retrograde. This may be why Mercury retrograde has become such a well know phenomena. We have become a society attuned to greater and greater amounts of information. Yet information and wisdom are not synonymous and more information doesn’t necessarily make for smoother sailing.
You may be wondering what my qualifications are to be an expert on Mercury retrograde. Well, besides the fact that I’ve studied Astrology over 20 years, I was born with a Mercury retrograde. In fact many people are. How would you know? Well the best way is to have your natal chart done, this will tell if you have a Mercury retrograde in your chart. When Mercury is retrograde we are required to never take information at face value. Information must be run through our internal filters. People with Mercury retrograde will be more introspective. And so when Mercury is retrograde, everyone needs to be more introspective. Introspection takes time, so we must give ourselves the time to figure things out from the inside out. We can’t take things for granted. Information must be checked and checked again. When Mercury is retrograde we must pare down the information we receive to the essentials. This may seem like a lot of work to those who are not used to doing it this way, yet it is necessary if we are to navigate our way through this time. So it doesn’t mean we can’t sign contracts, we just need to read them very carefully. It doesn’t mean we can get things fixed, it just means that those fixing them need to take their time. And it doesn’t mean that we can’t buy things, we just need to think things out and not make any rushed decisions. And if you’re still not sure, ask someone with Mercury retrograde in their charts, because when Mercury is retrograde these folk seem like geniuses. So when we hear that Mercury is about to go, or is retrograde, don’t get caught up in fear or anxiety. Just understand that it is now time to slow things down, become more introspective, more careful. And understand that this an awesome time to glean some deeper wisdom through the process of introspection. |
Trending NowSynchronicity - The Way It WorksAbout the Author![]() Victoria graduated New York Chiropractic College in 1987. She began private practice in Massachusetts in 1991. She practiced in Plymouth for 17 years until she opened The Seeds of Transformation Healing Center in Wareham, in April of 2009. Articles written by Dr. Victoria Scerbo were published on Awakening People with the author's explicit written permission.
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