Retrograde alert

Yes, our old plague, Mercury in apparent retrograde motion, once again. If we weren’t on the surface of earth, I suppose we wouldn’t see the illusion. But then again, there would surely be another planet apparently retreating from its usual path to be the blame-catcher for minor irritations and major would-be calamities, whatever world we were standing on at the moment.

All of us reading this column and/or writing it are familiar with what Retrograde Mercury entails, so I won’t bother to recite the characteristics to you again. But do take care with any legal documents presented to you, especially those needing your signature. Read them over at least twice. If you can, put off the deal-making until October 2, when this errant little planet resumes forward motion.

Be sure to check any appointments or schedules during the coming weeks. Take nothing for granted that you think you recall as to dates or time, until it’s verified.

Bear in mind there are younger astrologers who’ve been advancing a theory that there may be a grey area before and after the usual span of Mercury’s retreat. This shadow of events slowing down, of meetings disrupted or people arriving at the wrong place would begin intruding into daily life a week or ten days before Mercury goes retrograde, and for a week or ten days after the planet goes direct.

For hundreds of years, Mercury has had a retrograde period of approximately twenty-one days, more or less. The shadow theory would add weeks more to its effects happening in our daily lives. But we can wait for the new theory to be completely borne out and proven before accepting five to six weeks of a difficult transit involving communications and the means to send those communications great distances. Until that’s a given, we can continue ‘making the best of it’ and dealing with ordinary Mercury retrograde effects as they arrive for three weeks or so.

Or we can give ourselves ulcers and sleepless nights by worrying about uncontrollable circumstances for weeks and weeks and weeks.

Myself, I’m ignoring the shadow theory until it’s positively proven. Dealing with an ordinary retrograde transit is sufficiently exciting for me.

And I hope this one is so dull and without problems for you, my dear readers, that you recall those trivial incidents with a yawn. MZ

#MadameZombra