Mercury is in Retrograde, but What Does That Mean?

If you’ve heard people having a bad day proclaim, “Well Mercury is in retrograde, that explains it,” and found yourself staring at them in confusion, we’re here to help you out. That phrase is buzzing right now and for those who aren’t astrologically savvy, we’ve rounded up all the information you need to know.

Astrology experts believe that there is a significant relationship between the planets, their orbiting patterns, and human activity down on Earth.

The planet Mercury’s orbit is much shorter than Earth’s, but around three or four times a year, it speeds past Earth. This period is when astrologers say Mercury is in retrograde.

Mercury isn’t going backwards at this time, as the name may suggest, because it’s impossible. But as it speeds by, Astrology Zone describes the moment like a train flying past, “creating a powerful, turbulent gust of ‘wind’ in its wake.”

That powerful turbulence can be reflected on Earth in our day-to-day lives, so when Mercury is in retrograde, certain elements of our life tend to go a bit haywire. Let’s take a look at what to watch out for specifically.

The bad news is that Mercury is the ruling planet for all things related to communication, whether that’s important work documents to embarrassing texts we wish we could take back.

This planet is also the ruling one for all types of code, including computer codes, so when Mercury retrogrades, shipping orders are more likely to get messed up, laptops are more likely to crash, and basically all things related to technology could succumb to disaster at any moment. Deep breaths everyone.

So if you’ve noticed everything around you crashing down and think there’s a link between those mishaps and that speedy planet, we have some top tips to help you out.

And before you roll your eyes and think “Whatever, this planet malarkey is all we need,” these do’s and don’ts can help you de-stress at any time of the year.

When Mercury is in retrograde, it’s the perfect time to unwind, whether that’s with a social media detox, some meditation exercises, or just putting your phone away and chilling out with a book before bed.

Astrologers advise you not to make any drastic, life-altering changes during this period and to take it easy. So if you’re thinking about quitting your job and starting your own business or getting a bright blue mo-hawk, maybe take some time before jumping into that.

So when will Mercury be in retrograde again so we can prepare ourselves? Well, after this patch, there’s only one more time in 2019 from October 31 to November 20 when things could get a bit messy. 

As for 2020, key dates to watch are February 18 to March 9 for the beginning of the year, June 17 to July 12 for some mid-year madness and October 13 to November 3 as everything starts to slow down.

Keep your cool folks, we got this!

This article originally appeared on our sister site, Now to Love.

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