Think of Mercury as the trickster. This little planet rules travel, conscious thought, communication, books, writing, computers, facts, education, and a whole host of other things – lungs, liars, nerves, language, even keys. Three times a year, it turns retrograde – when it appears to be moving backward through the zodiac – but in 2010, we’ll have four retros for Mercury. The next one begins on December 10, just in time for holidays shopping, and doesn’t end until December 30.
Usually during these retro periods, it’s wise not to buy big ticket items – you know, like that plasma TV, that newest iPad, that wonderful laptop you’ve been eyeing. In other words, do your holiday shipping before December 10, at least for the big stuff. Otherwise, you may be in that return line on December 26. It’s also smart to avoid travel. It’s the holidays, of course, which makes not traveling unlikely. If you must travel, be sure to buy your ticket before December 10. Be prepared for snafus. Your flight gets delayed, your flight is cancelled, a snowstorm shuts down your airport, you arrive at your destination but your luggage doesn’t. Best to nurture a sense of adventure before you get anywhere near the airport.
With the TSA situation in mind, this Mercury retro may prove problematic. It won’t be smooth sailing as it apparently was during the Thanksgiving travel. More people may be opting out of those body scanners or the pat downs by opting out of flying altogether.
Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo, so these retros can be particularly annoying for those two signs. On 12/10, it turns retro in Capricorn, then moves back into Sagittarius, so those two signs will be impacted as well. These retro periods are great for reflection, rewriting, re-thinking, re-evaluating. Finish off old projects, try not to start something new.Be sure to communicate clearly and succinctly. Take nothing for granted.
Old friends sometimes surface. Issues you thought were resolved may crop up and you have to re-visit them. Capricorn rules government, so it’s probably not a stretch to predict rehashing of old issues, general chaos and confusion.
If you’re mailing holiday packages to friends and families, be sure the stuff is mailed before 12/10. Otherwise, the presents may not arrive until 2011!
Skeptics hear about Mercury retro and laugh – until they experience this trickster’s antics up close and very personally.
Gypsy, We've got an updated post on MR coming up Monday. Wait until you read Rob's MR shopping trip!
update merc retro bank mess – still no documents from the fraud department of my own bank which were to have been mailed 10 days ago –
and – now my washing machine seems to have suffered a major electrical stroke and has to be replaced –
today is only the 11th…..uck!
Cole – your story is about on a par with one Gypsy sent in an email, bank snafus. Looks like merc retro may be starting early!
I think Mercury has sent out its vibes a little early to me. All day yesterday the 4th I had typos and deleted sections of my blog. I think my draft version was posted somehow, I had several windows open and I don't know what happened but it was a mess. I don't know what you read and how it sounded, (the perception post) but judging by your comment it must not have been too bad. Later though at night it was missing large sections. I freaked thinking that this messed up version is exactly what everyone who follows me must have read. Great!!! Then to top things off, on Twitter after giving the name of my blog to check out, I made a comment about learning lessons from those closet too you. What?!! Closet friends–great again. I meant closest friends. Duh, more like Mindless Mystic at work yesterday. I think I will hold off on any more long posts until the 30th. 😉
weirdness followed me into today, cousin – literally and figuratively – check out my dreamweaver post – girl, i can't even describe it!!! 😉
Oh geez Gyps…what a totally frustrating and infuriating day you had! I probably would have blasted that bank ATM with a bazooka! (Just kidding, guys!) Annnyyywaaaay. Gyps, get the site for the astro from Trish and read what she says about the entire month of December, beginning with your own Leo Sun and then go to your Rising sign, then meander through all the rest of the signs. Seems we all need to more or less delete December and go straight to January, and your December certainly was true to her forecast, on the very first day of the month! Arrgh and double-arrgh! The heavens are mad at us!
Cousin cj
# synchros for the day plus one dream to North Korea island… now mercury… Was reading a tarot this morning to someone and ''goosh' yes remember this Mercury is retrograde dont' sign anything i told my friend. And here you post.. Ahhh love today love today full of synchros
sansego – just fyi from my own personal experience – don't just listen to the macgregor words here, HEAR them and HEED them – i and everyone i know have experienced these exact kinds of things during retro periods – and it seems that my own have begun early – in any event, just hear and heed!!! forewarned and all that! 😉
oh, and the latest on my little side story sent via em – sitting at my computer just now and my CELL PHONE rings – apparently back to working – how that happened i do not know as i had not yet contacted verizon to have the come to jesus meeting with them over my phone service –
what a day!!! is it over yet???
The holidays are stressful enough, without a retro Mercury, but forewarned is forearmed! Thanks for the reminder!
ok, so yesterday at about 10:30 am i'm commenting here about the retro and wondering how it will go, etc – and then notice the wv of "derail" – well, almost exactly 24 hours later, this morning to be exact, i had my first encounter with the wicked hand of mercury in retro – actually, my first, second and third encounters, all in just about an hours' time – so i am done with the retro for MY PART – and via email, T&R, i've sent a little story of the travesties of the day – dear heavens, it has begun early!!!
wv – kinneu – can you? well, i JUST DID, thank you very much!!! make my contribution to merc retro! 😉
I remember Trish begging her sister to change her marriage date so she wouldn't be tying the knot while MARS was retrograde. Mary laughed it off, continued with plans.
The couple were divorced one year later. Since then, her sis has called about the stars when she's making major decisions.
Sansego – the stuff listed here – it's happened to us or to people we know. Appliances go belly up, too. Submissions to agents? No. Mercury rules communicai8ton and writing. Worst possible time to submit. Better to revise and rewrite what you've written.
Travel: if you do travel under a merc retro, then you may end up returning to the place you visit. This happened to us on a flight to Calif – we got bumped, under a merc retro – got tickets to return – and we did, nearly a year later.
I certainly experienced a lot of weirdness the past full moon…..I've definately felt like recently is a time for turning inward and doing inward work……..
I'm not convinced that Mercury retrograde is "real." Anyone have any personal examples from past experiences with it? I would love to hear more about it.
Having said that…what does this mean for someone like me who is job hunting. I'm not expecting to get a job this month anyway because companies usually don't hire people in December. I have a feeling January is better for the search, so I don't mind having a relaxed December.
Also, what does this retrograde mean for something like submitting a novel to agents for their consideration? I want to start that process again.
Thank for any advice or personal experiences. I'm open to any and all ideas.
I am so with you, nat. get theee behind me, oh merc retro! Susan Miller recommends putting stuff on hold till after Jan 15, because by then Mercury will be past the degree at which it turned retrograde. That seems kind of extreme for me, celebrating Christmas in the middle of January!
Yikes is right, cj!
Thanks for the warning, Trish.
Arggghhhhh! And right here at the holidays! I had read an astro site Trish directed me to a few months ago, and that astrologer noted that everyone, of any sign, needs to tip-toe through December and post-pone big decisions, purchases, contracts, etc etc etc, until January. What a bummer! A Comcast supervisor was just here working on our big-screen LR TV, (it was just a connection issue with the TV, thank goodness!) and even HE mentioned the problems they have when Mercury turns retro, and when we have an increae in solar flares, sunspots, etc. So it definitely creates impacts, just like the full moons do. Yikes. cj
Stupid typos – appear. 🙂
Oh, how i loathe thee Mercury retrograde. It is SO rude of you to apperar at Christmas time. Sigh………
Sense of adventure, Nancy!
Cole: gonners?? Yikes.
gypsy – derail!!
Mike – love your synchro for today
Thanks for the heads-up! Ugh, my whole family is traveling to Hawaii for the holidays – all on different flights…
Many thans for the info, I wouldn't have known otherwise.
Thanks for the heads up! Well, I am off to finish all those things that need finishing before the 10th. Ugh….
wv: ghoners (gonners) that one kind of freaks me out. I'll just pretend it means since I mentioned it above that I am off and running so it truly means gone.
OMGosh!!!!! THANKS SO MUCH for the reminder! – the trickster is just that: very tricky! interesting to see how things go nationwide/globally during this retro period –
and interesting wv here: dereel – derail???