Using my trusty ephemeris, Mercury Retrograde started on April 28 and goes until May 21. The god/symbol of communication appears to go backward in the sky, relative to earth’s orbit. This happens a couple of times each year, and this time it goes back from 23° Taurus to 14° Taurus.

What does that mean? It means the first time Mercury hit 14° Taurus was about April 15. At that point we entered the “shadow zone,” the area that is passed, reversed over and passed again. Three times Mercury goes over the same space! Wherever those degrees of Taurus land in our chart will be evaluated and reevaluated, those degrees get the third degree, you know what I’m saying?

They say that during Mercury Retrograde you shouldn’t sign contracts or make serious life decisions. But there’s almost a month of it this time, you can’t just sit around and do nothing til May. We’re just processing information in a different way. It might seem like there are breakdowns regarding anything to do with communication: actual conversations, emails, texts, etc. People have a harder time understanding others and being understood. Mercury rules communication, rational thinking and information processing, how we think basically and how we express our thoughts. When it backs up and goes over the same area like this, our thoughts collect themselves differently.

There are a lot of different interpretations of this. In ancient times it was considered a bad omen, no transactions would occur if the gods did not agree. In a more contemporary sense, it is a frustrating time because the messages aren’t getting through. Because retrogrades happen when the planets are closer to the earth, some say that the energy is internalized rather than outwardly expressed, the planet goes to the ‘underworld.’ This might account for communication breakdown during Mercury Rx because what normally goes out to other people goes instead to the inner life. We aren’t thinking the same way.

In the sign of Taurus, all I can think with this Rx is “got my mind on my money and my money on my mind.” Taurus is the 2nd zodiac sign and is associated with value: worth, esteem (especially self), your coins, etc. Taurus wants pleasant surroundings to enjoy all the senses, very much in the body. It’s the first fixed as well as earth sign, this makes Taurus generally calm but immovable. So with Mercury flying around in our zone of things that are ‘mine,’ we might have some communications that might not go anywhere. Everyone is reevaluating their self-worth, self-esteem, how those coins are piling up (or not). This makes everyone defensive of what is ‘mine.’ Mercury is going over everything with a fine-toothed comb, and we might bristle as our sense of self worth seems challenged. You also might be thinking about the way you collect money, is it working for you, are you getting paid your value?

The reason they say not to make life decisions during Mercury Rx is because generally when it’s over and we’re back through the shadow zone, you’ll feel more like yourself again. These times of intense scrutiny, especially right now over what we hold to be dear, to be part of us, can be very trying. My thing over the last couple of days when I feel there are hiccups in communication is to kinda shrug it off, jokingly say, “It’s Mercury Retrograde,” and move on. If I can see the conflict, I’m not going to escalate it in any way. Of course, if there’s some major stuff you need to change or confront, you gotta do it. It’s never more important to be perfectly clear than in these times when people are likely to misunderstand. Don’t use your communication to fight, but fight to communicate.

Mercury will go forward, or direct, again on May 22. This will be the last pass, so hopefully everything got settled during your retro. We’ll pass 23° Taurus again on June 8, and at that point our ccommunication, especially in relation to our self-value, will move into new territory.

Thanks for reading my stuff, even when I post about Mercury Rx as it’s already happening.