By Madame Zia
How y’all doing out there? Hopefully you’ve backed your phone and your computer up, and be careful with your communications because Mercury is still retrograde till the 7th of September. He started this retrograde on August 12th. Mercury is the planet that rules communication, our minds, travel, and technology. Mercury’s speed is legendary and his winged shoes (which Nike used for their swoosh symbol) spin him around our Sun faster than any other planet in only 88 days! But our speed loving friend has a slow and backwards time 3 or 4 times a year, for 3 weeks each.
This is called retrograde and in truth it is an illusion that Mercury is going backwards. During a retrograde, Mercury passes the earth in its orbit. As it rounds the bend, Mercury slows down and appears to stop (station) and spin backward (retrograde). Of course, it really ISN’T moving backward, but much like two trains or cars passing each other, this creates the optical illusion that one (Mercury, in this case) is going backward. When Mercury is in his retrograde times, it can be very frustrating as all technology, travel and communication goes completely wonky.
Now we need to talk about this particular Mercury retrograde. It’s a biggie. It is hot hot hot this month as this retrograde will take place in the anxious and analytical sign of Virgo and then go backwards all the way to Leo. Mercury will go back to the “activated” spot (28° Leo) where the Solar Eclipse happened on the 2nd of September then STATION there to go direct! Our dear Mercurial friend will then sit there cogitating till September 7th when he finds his winged tennies again and flies off back into Virgo and on his way back racing around the zodiac. So pay attention to Mercury, he will not be over shadowed (pun intended) by the grand Solar Eclipse that happened on the 21st and will keep the energy rippling there till after the 7th of September.
As always, Mercury retrogrades ask us to slow down and breathe. With all this intense fiery energy, I know it is hard, yet it is very important to take time to set intentions and focus. What is your intention for these last hot dog days of summer? How can you cool your jets and listen to what needs to be done opposed to what you desire? This is an excellent time to practice being mindful and compassionate. Emotions can flare and all sorts of things can go wrong but if you are going slow and easy, you have time to react in a conscious way. Hang in there, we’re almost though this hot hot time.
