Mercury, the trickster planet, rules the signs of Gemini and Virgo and governs communication, travel, contracts, moving parts, your conscious awareness, and the intellect, among other things. Three times a year, it turns retrograde for about three weeks and daily life tends to get, well, fairly screwed up. Here’s the kind of thing I mean.
During the last retrograde, which occurred between May 19 and June 10, in Gemini, our washing machine broke down. It simply stopped spinning. Now, the common wisdom for these retrograde periods consists of a list of DO NOTs and among them is DON’T buy appliances, electronics, or any other high ticket item, especially one with moving parts. But there was no way I was going to do laundry in the swimming pool and pounding clothing against rocks. So I called a repair service. The verdict? The motherboard in the washing machine was shot and it would cost nearly as much to replace it as it would to buy a new washing machine.
We chose a machine from Lowe’s and when the email confirmation came through, realized we had ordered a dryer, not a washing machine. We cancelled that order and ordered the washing machine. The night before the delivery, we got a call about when the dryer would be delivered the next day. I called and explained the situation and was told the washing machine wouldn’t be delivered for another week.
By the time it was delivered, we were two weeks into the retrograde and I had been using our neighbor’s washing machine.
Today, September 17, Mercury turns retrograde in Libra and won’t turn direct again until October 9. So, I began preparing myself for the list of DO NOTS. In addition to the DO NOTs above, these include: do not sign contracts, make travel plans or, if possible, don’t travel great distances at all because your itinerary may change without warning. Do not submit manuscripts, make deals, hire new employees.
Yesterday, when Mercury was slowing down, I got a taste of what this retro may be like for me. I needed a mouse for my laptop, so I headed over to the closest outlet, a Walgreen’s. It was pouring rain and I darted into the store, found a wireless mouse, rather than one with a retractable cord. I bought it because I didn’t feel like driving around in the rain, looking for what I wanted. As I ran back out to the car, I realized I hadn’t seen anything on the box that indicated I could use the mouse on a Mac. So once I was in the car, I opened the box and looked at the directions. Not for use on a Mac. I went back inside, returned it, got my refund. Then I headed over to a small ATT store to buy my mouse.
Now it was pouring buckets. And, uh-oh, the store was no longer there. So I headed to Publix. Hurray! They had a mouse with a retractable cord. All of this suggested that the retrograde might involve inconveniences like this, where you’re running around like the proverbial dog chasing its tail.
While I was running inside Publix, however, I received an email from an editor about the deadline for a project that, as far as I knew, hadn’t been negotiated yet. This email suggests that the retrograde might entail missing communications rather than MIScommunications.
By the time I got home – with my retractable cord mouse! – I’d heard from our agent that we’d received an offer on our book about precognition.
So yesterday, I had a glimpse of the texture of this Mercury retrograde. Inconveniences? Fine. But what I also understood was that projects that seemed to have stalled or been forgotten, may come roaring back once again!
Mercury retro affects everyone. But if you’re a Gemini or a Virgo, ruled by Mercury, or a Libra, the sign in which Mercury turns retrograde, it’s up close and personal. To find out which areas of your life will be most affected, go here for a free birth chart and look for where Libra is in your chart – the 7th symbol in this little chart.
And do share your retro stories! We are going to be traveling during this retro and even though the plans were made long before the retro started, we’ll see what unfolds.
“Mess” doesn’t even begin to describe it! Can you imagine the SMELL coming out of that hole, even though the city is trying to keep it covered with tarps. Hole continues to expand in diameter. Don’t know yet about more depth. We’re just thankful our son doesn’t have to be involved in the clean-up. I have visions of amoebic bacteria dancing in the air. EEewwwww.
Middle son works here on the beach. Yesterday he came by after work and told his Dad and me that, of all the crazy things that could happen, the enormous septic tank for their facility somehow blew out on one side, and a huge Florida sinkhole was created! What a filthy mess! And that sinkhole is BIG and DEEP! Septic tanks are legally required to be placed very deep under the ground on the beach, and when this sinkhole suddenly dropped….it was like BAM! 24-foot deep hole. Thank goodness no people or animals were close-by at the time, because the hole is adjacent to the walking/bike path. Needless to say, the company must replace the septic tank, (UGH. Nasty! The bottom of the hole is filled with you-know-what!) but tank can’t be replaced until the sinkhole has finished dropping. Why does Mercury Retro have to be so MEAN!!! Can hear that trickster planet laughing at us from its view in the heavens!
Wow, what a major mess! This actually sounds more like a Pluto event than Mercury!
Mercury Retrograde: Now what? I’m even late in seeing this.
During the last Mercury retrograde I blew it off as something that wasn’t going to affect me. Ha! I went to a town faire and talked to a guy who was selling Internet service from Frontier. The salesman was personable and convincing that I would be saving money if I switched over to Frontier and they were also offering a $200 gift by so doing. I have no money so agreed and signed up.
An aside to this story, I think all these services are ripoffs and will eventually have to lower their prices when all the younger people stop using them for reasons not to go into here.
This was a Mercury retrograde contract mistake I am still living with. The technician from Frontier who set me up left me with a faulty clicker that had to be sent to me from somewhere else. Then my system kept going out unexpectedly, mysteriously – both the internet and television. After this happened a number of times and lots of tech support calls which I detest having to do, they sent another technician who re-wired everything. I should not have had to go through all that trouble and waste of my time.
Meanwhile, this is 4 months later. I have been on the phone to Frontier 5 times about the $200 gift. All the support people I talk to are sweet as pie and assure me that the problem is now solved. It is not. I have not yet received the $200. This is false advertising. One woman I talked to in Ohio was chewing gum while she talked to me. Screeeeem!
Yes, I did think that Mercury was retrograde when I signed up for this disaster and had the hubris to think that this was not going to affect me.
So now to this Mercury retrograde which just began. I am living the life these days of what I refer to as that of a hermit nun. I got sick this week with sore throat, cough, running nonstop nose, sleep sleep sleep. This happened 2 days before Mercury actually retrograded but I sure am in retrograde. How I got this bug is a mystery.
On a plus side, A cousin I have not seen in 34 years has surfaced in Utah. I have been wanting to talk to him about his 4 older siblings who have have died and want some information. So this is a good thing – stuff from the past coming to light.
Now what? This retrograde has just begun. It can’t be all terrible. I just won’t sign anything.
Thanks for letting me blab on about my boring retrograde issue – helps to let it out and complain about Frontier. Maybe someone out there in Frontier will “hear” me and do something about their poorly run company that I regret having anything to do with.
The frontier mess sounds like the worst part of a mercury retro. We had something similar happen during the last retro with a credit card payment. Rob kept at them and finally, right before this retro started, the thing got straightened out. Took 3 months! Feel better, Adele!
Hubby is a Virgo, but I’ll go check your link to see…
Oh Trish, you wrote about Scorpio. Why, if I may ask?
I wrote about scorpio because that was what the publisher asked for!
As i struggle with astrology, that new feature in iOS 9 print to iBooks in safari, well it helps in finding the place where the chart is. Also using that new spotlight search settings, it makes finding things a wee bit easier since i forget to title things.
Back to figuring out what 3 degrees in libra means….
Be well
Laurence
Uh-oh, I’d better update my stuff. I don’t have ios9 yet. Merc went retro at 15 d libra.
If you have not updated, do this first, back up your iOS devices to your computer not to the cloud. Folks who use OTA back ups to the cloud are finding the back ups gone. Big issue with this.
Back up thru itunes on your computer then do the update.
Oh, this is good to know, Laurence, thanks! I haven’t done the update yet, so I’ll follow your suggestions!!
PS. And I may wait until Merc is direct again!
Well, didn’t need to think anymore about re-scheduling my appt with the doc. The starter on our car went out this afternoon! Perfect vehicle until today, a Volvo…they never have issues, generally, but depend on Merc Retro to kick in, and out goes the starter. So, no going to Jacksonville. Husband will be picking up the new washing machine with his truck, but due to afternoon thunderstorms every single day, he hasn’t been able to get it. Needless to say, laundry is piling up! Another Merc Retro event….our middle son bought a rib roast yesterday to cook in their oven today. His fiancé had her radical hysterectomy yesterday so son in on KP duty at home, and…..the element on their kitchen oven blew out this morning! Those are expensive. I suggested he take the rib roast back to Publix and have the butcher cut it into steaks and he can grill them. But my heavens! A car starter blows and an oven element burns out on the very first day of Merc going retro? Hopefully things will settle and no more electronic mishaps!
That’s a whole ton of merc retro stuff in one day! Maybe it means that for the rest of the retro you can coast. You got all the ridiculous stuff out of the way on the first day!
OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO screams Alice as she falls down the Merc retro rabbit hole!
We, too, just purchased a brand new washer, not yet delivered. The older one that is going to appliance heaven has been shredding our clothes! Can’t be fixed. PLEEEZE, ole Mercury, let our new one WORK! And, I have an apt with my cardiologist this afternoon. Should I reschedule it? Am serious….would it be better to wait until after merc spins around? It’s just for a routine check-up……?????????We’ll be having these massive thunder/lightning storms when we go. Traffic terrible. I probably should keep the apt, but have felt uneasy about it for a few days, yet wasn’t aware Merc would go retro today. Yikes…….
I wouldn’t worry about the doctor’s appt. But double check the delivery time for the washing machine!
Reminds me of the in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure! LOL
EDIT: horoscope
Too funny! Except to the person experiencing all these snafus!
Good heavens! So that’s it!
I’ve been negotiating with Solar City to have solar panels installed on my house for 6 months, first, the ordeal of getting “grandfathered” in before Tucson Electric changes the rules (that had to happen by June 1), then 2 pre-inspection designers coming by, then an installation team that finally came by 3 weeks ago and informed me that I had to get an old evaporative cooler off the roof, repair it underneath, and cut 3 trees on the sides of the house before they could install.
$600.00 later, with trees and cooler gone, the installation team finally arrives (yesterday) and ……… it turns out that my electrical system box is too close to another structure to be legal! In all of this, it appears that neither the salesman, inspector, or previous installation team bothered to look!
Yeah, that’s a mercury retro story! Hope it gets straightened out, Lauren!
I will be attending the bloggers writing retreat October 1-6. Oh, great! And I’ll be thinking of Mercury Retro all the while. I hope your mouse is still working! 🙂