Mercury retrograde March 13th: Two steps forward, one step back

Get ready folks, Mercury is preparing to turn retrograde on March 13th and its motion has been slowing down for a week or so now as it prepares to make that U-turn.  You may be thinking: “I thought it already WAS retrograde????”  Communication and plans have been thrown awry since December when Mars turned retrograde, and Mars continues to appear to move backwards across the sky from our perspective on earth.  Read more about retrograde Mars here.

Mercury is in Aries now, and if you know an Aries you will recognize that this is one sign that does NOT like to move in any direction other than forwards.  “Shoot first, aim later” my Aries friend tells me, and that is the motto for these fiery types.  Mercury in Aries needs to get the point across and to come up with ideas and plans that are immediately put into action.

This has been exacerbated by the transit of Mercury past a conjunction to Uranus last week, and because of the retrograde turn of Mercury this conjunction will remain in effect for the next couple of weeks.  Uranus is the “awakener,” waking us up from a sleep of denial and complacency as our awareness and understanding shifts and new ways of visioning the world make themselves known.

Uranus also tends to bring surprise, and when tied to Mercury, the messenger god of communication, there could be actual messages in the form of letters or emails that shock or disturb us in some ways, or which open doors of perception so that our awakening can truly take place.

The second conjunction of Mercury to Uranus occurs on March 18 just before the Spring Equinox.  The chart for the Equinox contains a triple conjunction with the Sun, Mercury and Uranus in early Aries suggesting a very exciting spring full of surprises!  Mercury slips back into Pisces on the 24th, but for the next two weeks the mental realm expands and blossoms.

This is a beautiful time for writers and anyone with an imagination, since new ideas are flooding the Universal Consciousness.  I suggest carrying a notebook to write down any intuitive flashes of wisdom that make themselves known, because the veils between dimensional thought are thinner right now than usual.

The retrograde periods of Mars and Mercury do not promote ease and comfort, but they serve a valuable role in human life.  We can’t always be moving forwards, hastening through our life.  At times we must rest – we must re-examine the beliefs that we hold true, we must re-design aspects of our lives which are stale.  We often need to re-negotiate our agreements in relationships, and re-assess their importance.  Mercury retrograde serves a valuable role by encouraging us to look backwards and re-do that in our life which may need re-doing.

So no complaining!!  Let’s embrace the gift of Mercury Retrograde instead.

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