As Mercury goes direct…my favourite Mercury Retrograde tale…

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As Mercury goes direct…my favourite Mercury Retrograde tale…

Mercury turns direct tomorrow tonight, 28.8.24, at 28 Leo, 21.17 GMT ( uk time) . I will be leaning out of my third floor window, listening for sighs of relief. For me, this three-week period has been especially trying as Mercury (my ruling planet) migrates from Virgo which houses my Ascendant, to Leo, which houses six of my planets – then back again before slowly resuming forward motion.. All this action – or rather, thwarted action!! – has been taking place in the Twelfth House.

Mercury/Hermes

I have now been sharing Mercury Retro Tales off and on for several decades. Rather than regale you with this most recent saga – please, I need time to recover! – thought I’d read through the MRetro collection and share my favourite Mercury Retro tale with you, dear Reader. Feel free to use the comment boxes to share your own.

However, lest you readers out there imagine that Mercury Retrograde is all bad news, let me stress a fundamental principle of working creatively with planetary energies, whatever they may be:

To quote Dr Liz Greene in one of her 1990s Centre for Psychological Astrology Seminars:

“You have to give the god what the god wants. If it’s Mars, don’t offer a bunch of flowers!”

I have never forgotten this witty, sage advice. So – what should we offer Mercury in his retrograde phases, which occur three times a year ? First of all, philosophical acceptance that, the more Mercurial one is, the more day to day screw-ups on the communication and travel front one is likely to have. Just allow more time to do everything, and don’t expect too much to flow smoothly if it is anything to do with communication or manual dexterity.

And of course, paying attention to the Retro part gives you a clue that going back over matters to do with communication/writing is a constructive use of this time. On that positive note I am now heading off to lie down in a darkened room with a cold compress on my forehead. Enjoy the tale!