On October 13, Mercury turns retro in Libra and turns direct again on November 3, election day. This same pattern existed in the election of 2000.
On November 7, 2000, Mercury had been retrograde since mid-October – first in Scorpio, then it slipped back into Libra and at 9:20 p.m., it turned direct in that sign. When Mercury stations – which means it’s about to turn retrograde or direct – the potential for miscommunication is strong. But for that date, the station caused bedlam because it was election day in the U.S.
Astrologers were predicting chaos and, sure enough, at 7:49 p.m., NBC decided they had enough data from exit polls in Florida and Tom Brokaw called the state for Al Gore. With Florida’s 25 electoral votes, it meant he had won the election.
However, shortly after 10 p.m. – less than an hour after Mercury had turned direct – Brokaw backtracked and said that George W. Bush had won the state and the election. We all know what ensued after that – the endless dispute over the chads on Palm Beach County’s ballot and the eventual decision by the Supreme Court that Bush was the 43rd president of the U.S.
In this election, Mercury turns direct at 12:50 PM ET. The same chaos will exist but in this election but it will be worse because of trump’s continued rhetoric about mail-in ballots, his attempt to stoke fear and distrust of the election system. “Get rid of the ballots,” he said. “Then there’ll be a smooth transition.”
If it’s not obvious to most people by now that trump is an autocrat who seeks to steal the election in any way he can, it will be obvious in the days between November 3 and Jan 20, inauguration day.
In order to navigate this retro period more smoothly – follow the three Rs: revise, review, reconsider.
PS. Today, Oct 12, while Mercury is stationary and getting ready to reverse course, I had a preview. First thing: Megan and I were headed out and Rob’s car wasn’t in the driveway. But Megan’s was. I failed to pay attention to that and backed up into her car. My fender now has damage that indicates the car is made of tin foil. Megan’s car has a scrape.
Second thing: When we got home from the dog park today, I realized I didn’t have my cell phone. It’s new. The pass code wasn’t engaged. I sped back to the park, watching the dark storm clouds gathering overhead. As I was running in, a man was coming out with his dog. “Did you see a cell phone in there?”
“Sure did. On that bench.” He pointed at the area where we’d been sitting.
I raced across the park and there it was. I swept it up and ran back to the parking lot to beat the rain.
