The Right to Retrograde

If you are a bit interested in astrology, you must have heard about the “famous” or depending on the perspective the “infamous” Mercury Retrograde.   From what I seem to be noticing, somehow Mercury got so famous that it is now a part of daily coffee conversations, usually coming with a “Beware of the Mercury Retrograde!” warning sign.

For those of you who might be wandering what is she talking about, here is a quick intro (with my apologies to all astrologers for the over-simplification):

In astrology, Mercury is the planet called “the messenger of the Gods” that governs the areas of communication & information, the intellectual arena including writing, speaking, language, learning, as well as telecommunications, electronic devices, all forms of transportation, and many more.   Please check detailed resources if you are more curious.

I would just like to focus on the Retrograde aspect, for now.  When Mercury is in its Retrograde period, which happens about 3 times a year and lasts 3-4 weeks, a lot related to communication and transportation can be confusing, delayed, not so reliable, so it is recommended that you do not start something new, buy new electronic devices or sign new contracts and so on.  It is best during these times that you take time to revisit, relax, rest, reorganize, reorder your inner and outer closets until the planet goes to forward motion.

Apparently due to my time of birth, I have Mercury as my ruling planet, ta-daa.  Maybe that’s why I seem to be taking more “off/down” time as the current system would name it.  I’ve had long periods of “elif retrograde” recovering from an intense corporate life not fit for me and re-balancing.  And it has become a regular practice to stop and take some space to reconnect and come to center whenever I feel “off” in one way or another – I know I need it and I know it always works, based on experience.

In a progress driven world that keeps shouting “Next!” that expects you to continuously climb up the ladder steps, this can be quite odd or challenging – which reminds me these lines from the movie “You’ve Got Mail” about relationship:  “…and then I take it to the next level, and then to the next level, and then to the next…until… it becomes absolutely necessary for me to leave”!

Forcing things or ourselves to move ahead all the time, in any area, can be overwhelming and not exactly organic.  Each of us is unique and has a different balance and cycle.  As in astrology, a lot of things in the natural world are cyclical, not just full force ahead.   Mother Earth has its seasons of fall and winter every single year, when it takes time off, meanwhile something else is always cooking, seeding, being nurtured underground.  Isn’t it interesting that we never think of nature as not moving ahead in winter?

What is your natural cycle or cycles?  Can you feel and hear when you are off balance in any given area?  And what is your dance of retrograde?

In a scarcity minded world that keeps saying in a thousand different sneaky ways “you are not enough”, I am telling you, choosing to say enough, choosing to rebalance yourself and retrograde is a revolution!

So let’s fall in love with the Retrograde:

Birds do it, Bees do it,
The planets in the galaxies do it,
Let’s do it,
Let’s retrograde…

OK you might say I am taking it a bit too far, but hey, somebody has to stand up for our rights…So I would say by all means exercise your natural “right to retrograde”, and take all the chances to stop, take a breath, relax, revisit, reconsider, realign and ask yourself: Am I OK?

(This is where we go into rhythmic fade out, dancing to theme music Smooth Criminal,  “Annie are you ok? Are you ok? Are you ok Annie?”)

May your retrograde be as smooth and fun as Michael Jackson’s moonwalk…auww!!

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