Mercury Retrograde in Virgo: The Virgin separates the wheat from the chaff

The sky is falling!  Oh way, nope, it’s just Mercury in retrograde!

If you have a rudimentary understanding of horoscopes, you know that retrogrades are usually dreaded.  In the world of astrology, a retrograde means that a planet appears to be going backwards – it really isn’t, but its movement gives that look – because it is in said position, energies of said planet tend to get a little on the wonky side.  In this case the offending planet is Mercury which governs, among other things, communication.  Unlike the Saturn retro, which laid the wood to our thought patterns, habits, and lifestyles in an effort to get us to take a long, hard look at life and Pluto; which likes to makes us get our act together from the ground up (and in some cases, force us to dig a hole to lay a new foundation), Mercury’s four retrogrades a year affect mostly mundane things which, left unattended or to chance, can blow up into huge headaches.  All the stones, cleansing, Epsom salts and oils won’t stop Mercury from doing its job.

With all that doom and gloom spoken, it’s easy to get seriously down on this little guy near the Sun.  After all, Mercury retros are the time when data breaches happen, comm failures with cell phones and the internet are widespread, contracts and agreements are either incomplete or broken, and people simply say cross or errant things they otherwise wouldn’t.  The question we must ask ourselves is this – what is Merc really trying to achieve during a retrograde?  I have an idea based on what my guides are telling me this evening, and it may surprise you.  Of course, bear in mind an idea IS an opinion, and not always what suits you - follow your own heart and soul as needed.

The idea is quite simple – slow the hell down and be mindful.

In our rush-rush, round the clock, on-demand world, Mercury’s retrograde is a quasi-forced vacation for our conscious mind.  We can’t stop Merc from doing the backstep, so let’s look at what we can do to minimize the low-vibe stuff and amp up the high-vibe:

Don’t fight it.  A Mercury retrograde is actually one of the best times of the year to take a step back and really assess.  If you are in the midst of a contract negotiation, this is the time to take a break, look over the numbers and clauses and check, recheck, and check one more time.  Mercury forces accountability in all communication, and a retrograde is when rushed communication often results in mixed messages or foul ups.  If you are about to get on your lover for a poorly worded message, take a step back and ask yourself how you would feel if they did the same to you.  Anything Mercury governs take a deep breath, slow down, and pay special attention to.

Breathe.  Yes, everyone says “deep breath, deep breath” to the point we want to take these apparent Jupiter-infused wannabe Sagittarians, pulled them on their own bowstring, and launch them up Capricorn’s hiney.  (Please forgive the astrological humor...chances are it was way off). This is the problem – they have a point.  A  Mercury retrograde is the chance needed to catch our breath, step back, look at what’s going on with what we say, how we say, and what our intended-versus-received meaning is.  This is “the time” to practice thinking before speaking.  If your motto is “hashtag zero filter,” rent one.

Ground out.  Grounding during any retrograde is important, but Mercury’s retros can get pretty annoying, especially when it’s in either Gemini or Virgo.  These particular retrogrades make an ordinary Mercury backstep feel like your falling a proverbial cliff.  Anything which ordinarily happens is amplified a bit more than normal based on what that sign governs, but there’s an endgame.  By grounding out, you connect with the Earth and, since Mercury is going through an earth sign at the moment (Virgo), the effects and lessons learned will be more intense in a beneficial way.

Exercise Patience:  This is the time where you need to be diligent, careful, cautious and, above all, bite your damned tongues!  You want to get a good job, take someone’s advice and follow it to the letter.  You want to figure out a solution to your problems, sit back and let the solution come to you.  Barreling ahead during a Mercury retrograde, especially one in a sign it rules, is like driving a new car on an unpaved road at 70 miles an hour.  Sure, you’ll get it done and have fun doing it, but you’re gonna bang shit up and void your warranty.  Patience, young padawan, patience.

Now, onto the subject of how Mercury is going to affect relationships (because who isn’t caring about if they can have the person of their dreams?)  This is the time for reconnection, but not necessarily romance.  Don’t break out the Adele songs or the sappy love notes during this time – odds are they will not be received very well, if at all.  This is a time to look at practical matters – supporting an old friend in a job interview, providing advice for a family member who you haven’t talked to in ages, or revisiting a project you put on hold for whatever reason.  This is the time where revisiting, reassessment and reconnection is good, mostly because it allows us to measure where we’ve come from and where we are going.  Above all, avoid major contract decisions with a loved one, such as a lease, home or major purchase – contracts get FUBARed during this time.

Now, a word about Virgo here.  The Virgin tends to get a bum rap as it is – prudish, cautious, and plodding.  What most people don’t know about Virgo is that, being the female sign in the zodiac, she’s got a bit of “bitch” to her.  This comes out during a retrograde, and Mercury’s retrograde takes that bitch and adds about ten tons of “slap” to it.  Here’s the funny party – this is a good thing!  Think about it; if Virgo is the sign of order, neatness, and service, then a Mars retrograde in Virgo means we are going to make sure everything is in order in our lives, all our communication is nice and neat, and we are serving ourselves better in order to serve others.  Otherwise, Virgo is gonna break out her wheat stalks and start flailing at us in a serious way and, anyone who’s ever been slapped with wheat knows, that stuff can leave a serious welt!  Virgo knows what she’s doing, so let her do her job with Mercury’s retrograde.   You might be surprised how much you learn.

Now that that’s out of the way, a quick word about the retrograde as far as love goes and, of course, the soulmate search for many.  This is the time to look at yourself, and who you are.  Holding yourself to a higher standard, not allowing anyone to walk all over you, and what you are willing to accept is part of this retrograde’s mission.  This isn’t just about performance, it’s about standards.  Are we holding ourselves to too high a standard, not high enough, or just right.  Mercury’s retro into Virgo forces a serious fine tune of our relationships so we are looking past our ego, our hurts and slights, and realize that, in the end, everyone teaches us a lesson, no matter how painful it is.  Unrequited love teaches us to see what equal love is; abusive patterns teach us what we must refuse to accept; and communication snafus teach us how to be tender and forgiving for the most mundane foul ups.  That’s the beauty of Virgo – she points out the flaws in the plan, but also serves to show the way to fix it and prevent future occurrences.  She finds the narrow way out.

That’s all for now.  Have a great week, be mindful and keep the faith and discernment flowing.