The Truth About Mercury in Retrograde
Alice Scarlet Death
I just wanted to write a little bit about Mercury in Retrograde.
For those of you unfamiliar with what this means, “retrograde” is when the planets are perceived to be spinning backwards in their orbit. They aren’t spinning backwards. It’s just an illusion.
Besides the fact that retrograde movements are simply illusions. The memetic explanation of mercury in retrograde is also full of hyperbole.
Articles in your newspaper horoscopes will tell you to watch out. Bad things are going to happen. People on your facebook are blaming anything that’s going wrong on Mercury being in retrograde.
So, first, you have to get over the fact this is an illusion. Then we have to realize that Mercury in retrograde is not all doom and gloom. People seem to act like it’s straight up “bad” when it is just different.
I use the Qabbalah as a frame of reference since that’s what I’m most familiar with. Mercury on the tree is listed as Hod, which is the lower plane reflection of Chokmah. This would put it in charge of Wisdom.
Generally speaking, Mercury is seen as the communication deity. When it comes to these things we have two types of motion: prograde and retrograde. You can extrapolate syncretic philosophies to these types of motion. Prograde motion could be assigned to positive/active force. Retrograde could be assigned to negative/passive force.
Now, ‘negative’ doesn’t mean bad. It’s just part of a polarity. The opposite of something. It refers to the more emotional, introspective side of things than anything.
I feel that bad things happen during Mercury in retrograde simply because we are told bad things happen. Placebos can be pretty powerful, and belief can be irrational and strong.
How do we stop bad things from happening during Mercury in retrograde? Education.
Mercury in retrograde simply means you would be better appealing to someone’s emotional sensibility than their logical side and vice versa. This can cause problems because people are not used to getting in touch with their emotional side, and it can throw them off.
If you’ve ever studied persuasive writing you may be familiar with pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos is appealing to one’s emotions. Ethos is appealing to their credibility. Logos is appealing to their logic.
Generally speaking, you could use a balance of all three of these techniques at any given time. However, especially during retrograde, it may be better to keep these in mind.
Then again, it’s all an illusion so maybe you should just fortify and stop letting it bother you.
