Mercury Retrograde: Why We Shouldn’t Be Scared of It

Feeling more blue and nostalgic than usual? Being overwhelmingly concerned about every single thing in your life at the moment? And did that old friend or ex of yours randomly text you out of nowhere? If you’re familiar with astrology, then you must know how everyone is immediately afraid when they see or hear the two daunting words: Mercury Retrograde. But, what is it exactly?

To clear things up first, the planet isn’t really moving “retrograde” or backward because it is impossible. Mercury is simply just orbiting around the sun faster than us so it appears as if it’s behind us in our line of sight from Earth and creates an illusion. This video demonstrates and clears up the confusion of the physical phenomenon that is happening.

In astrology, Mercury is known to rule all forms of communication and thought processing. This is why when it comes to retrograde, one’s thinking may be fuzzy and there are lots of issues with miscommunication or misunderstandings. Your past may be coming up and you’re probably overthinking more than usual. Collectively, it’s really hard to have a clear grasp mentally, which is why it appears to be such a troublesome event for people. 

I used to dread (and sometimes still do) these periods of time because of all the emotions it brings forth and how everything seems to go wrong during this time. However, it wasn’t until my best friend sent me this extremely reassuring article that explains why we should shift our negative perspective towards Mercury Retrograde and instead embrace it as a form of a wake-up call. The term “retrograde” appears as a fearful action of going back to the past, but it’s actually a well-needed time for deep reflection. This time period helps reveal to us the truths we already know deep down inside. I’ve grown to see it as a time to look back on what has happened in my life and what needs to be fixed, changed, or improved. Since it’s a time of reflection and reassessing, one may feel nostalgic and have lots of memories. Hence the feelings of sadness or mixed emotions, which are perfectly normal to have around this time. 

Essentially, Mercury Retrograde has taught me that it’s okay to slow down and take breaks. Sometimes in order for us to move forward, it’s okay to take a step back and absorb everything around us that has happened so far. 

This specific retrograde will take place from January 30th to February 21st in Aquarius. I found that this video helped me understand it more and summed it up perfectly. 

Mercury retrogrades 3-4 times a year and is set to happen another two times this year so buckle up and prepare, but try not to be fearful of it the next time around.

• astrology
• mercury
• mercury retrograde
• zodiac