On June 17 at 9:59 PDT and June 18 at 12:59 a.m. EDT, Mercury turns retrograde in Cancer. It turns direct again on July 12 at 1:26 a.m. PDT and at 4:26 a.m. EDT. Ugh. That’s about three weeks of Uh-oh, my life doesn’t seem to be working.
When the planet of communication turns retrograde, things seem to go haywire faster than usual. The radio in your car dies for no other reason than it needs a rest. Your computer goes bonkers after an update, your apps crash, you miss an important appointment, your AC dies, miscommunication runs rampant.
In the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty in this country, in the world, Mercury strolls backward relative to Earth and we humans suddenly feel like we’re caught up in a kind of Ground Hog’s Day.
Mercury rules both Gemini and Virgo, so these two signs and the sign in which the retro occurs, usually experience it most strongly. That said, it impacts all of us in some way. As a Gemini, I’ve had inklings of it for about a week now – weird glitches in my phone, my computer, my car, and miscommunications with the people around me. The environment of this pandemic, the racial turmoil of the protests, the idiocy, incompetence, and danger of trump and his administration inflame the worst aspects of the retrograde.
My general rules are simple and gleaned from personal experience. They consist of a lot of DO NOTS.
Don’t sign contracts
Don’t buy a car, computer, electronics, or anything else with moving parts
Don’t take anything for granted. Check and recheck appointments.
Don’t submit anything.
Don’t start anything new
Don’t make travel plans, unless you don’t mind sudden changes and snafus in your itinerary.
Don’t move.
Don’t travel. But if you do, it’s likely you’ll return to that destination.
Strive for patience even when your patience well has run dry.
Review, revise, reconsider
For an explanation of how this retro impacts your sun sign, check in the June forecast in the masthead.
And remember: a Mercury retro invites us to revisit situations, relationships, and events we might prefer to forget. Slow down, breathe deeply, be grateful, kind, and mine your passions, whatever they are. And know that it’s all over on July 12!
If your state is mostly locked down, you don’t have to revisit difficult relationships at all. The pandemic has been enlightening in that way. People you’re on the fence about seeing again? Maybe never is soon enough. The retrograde will let you know. I’m curious, even.
Good way to look at it!
Yikes! Just what I don’t need.
None of us do!
Ugh. And my taxes will be submitted during this time.
Hmmm. Any chance you can get the taxes off today?
Thanks for reminding me! I knew it was coming soon, but now I’m girding my loins for the duration.
One more this year – October, and Mercury turn direct on election day, the same thing that happened in 2000.