By: Janette Dalgliesh – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
Mercury is in the shadow of the Retrograde zone already, but to be honest we can feel his influence and all the possibilities already (exact times below).
Because this is Mercury in his own sign of Gemini, and with the whole of the Rx happening in that sign it means he’s there for a loooooong time: May through July.
As the god of communications, borders and trade, our own neural pathways and thought habits, and systems of all kinds, this astrological period means a shift in perspective across all those areas.
And how you use that is up to you!
My personal Mercury Rx to-do list includes:
- review website copy
- research a new laptop
- smash the fucking patriarchy in my own head (an ongoing process, but it’s ALWAYS easier when Mercury is on board)
When any planet turns Retrograde (ie appears to go backwards), it is a shift in perspective. It’s like putting that planet’s powers on turbo-charge, so wherever we point that thing it’s going to be more potent.
That’s one reason why when things do go wrong, we REALLY notice them.
But things don’t go wrong BECAUSE the planet is Retrograde.
And in fact, our tendency to blame Mercury Rx for ‘bad stuff happening’ or ‘things going wrong’ is largely down to the confirmatory bias in our own brains.
For example – I just found out an incorrect setting deep in my email configuration has been blocking some people getting through (GAAAHHHHH!), and it would be SO easy to blame Merc Rx.
But some weeks ago, outside any kind of Merc Rx influence, we had a major system failure when the motherboard in our central heating fried itself, taking out some electrical circuits in the process. Yikes!
Much bigger problem. Not remotely associated with the Retrograde.
When your brain believes Mercury Rx is to blame for tech and systems hiccups, it will find evidence for it – because that’s how brains work.
When you believe that Mercury Rx is a gift, your brain will find evidence for that, too.
So how to make the most of THIS Mercury Rx?
The themes here will be:
- expect the unexpected
- activate all the same wiliness and cunning shown by Mercury himself – no falling for any flim flam schemes, please!
- recognise that sometimes things will feel unsettled or ungrounded, and let it be okay – no panic, and also no self-criticism if you catch heightened levels of anxiety (that’s just your brain getting startled)
- expect to have inventive, creative ideas out of the blue – you don’t have to act on all of them, but you’ll want to capture them as a smorgasbord of things to play with (do NOT turn them into a gigantic to-do list)
The most volatile dates will be the Eclipse season, between the lunar eclipse 25 May and the solar eclipse new moon on 10 June.
But for best results, assume that things can feel slippery underfoot throughout the whole of Mercury in Gemini – early May to the end of July. That’s thanks to some other astrological dynamics, which can be summed up this way:
- Saturn square Uranus (most of 2021) – the stability vs revolution paradigm
- Mars square Pluto – our get-shit-done action hero meets our darkest primal powers of transformation
- Mercury square Neptune – both in their own signs, the god of swirling oceans, dreams and surrender-to-the-unconscious-collective meets the god of borders, boundaries and articulate communication
- New Moon Eclipse in Gemini – the Sun (the full potential of who you came here to be) meets Moon (the ultra-connected, intimate spaces from which you emerged – and to which you will return one day)
In other words – OODLES of potential; not necessarily comfortable; and not to be undertaken without at least a smidgen of awareness.
I know YOU have lots of awareness, dear reader, or you wouldn’t be reading this.
😏
But that might not be the case for everyone around you. So if you catch people behaving weirdly and losing their shit, stay zen and wily, and avoid getting snarled up in it. Walking away is always an option.
And as usual, it’s smart to observe the best Merc Rx protocols:
- read the fine print before falling headlong into any enterprise, relationship or cult
- review, reassess, rethink
- activate non-judgemental curiosity
- don’t rush into anything – due diligence is key
- set intentions now, that this is going to be a brilliant Mercury Rx for you
- and if things get temporarily rocky, assume the long-term outcome will be to your benefit
And if / when you see stuff on the interwebz about how this is going to be an ‘extra intense Mercury Rx’ along with a bunch of anxiety-provoking warnings … please take it with a grain of salt.
Our brains are already automatically wired to be alert for trouble. It’s part of how we’ve survived as a species.
Instead of letting your brain freak out about anything you read out there, come back to yourself and remember – you are a powerful human with resourcefulness and resilience deep in your bones. Keep reminding yourself you can be trusted to handle whatever comes up, at any time – a central heating system blowing itself up in the coldest week of the year so far; or a weird AF email configuration hiccup.
If it helps, use the mantra “I trust myself” as many times a day as you can. Add in “Mercury Retrograde is always a delightful gift for me” for good measure.
And enjoy!
If you’d like extra support during this Mercury Rx, I have a few options for you to play with – you can find out more at this link.
Exact dates and times (US Eastern)
- Mercury enters shadow zone at 16° Gemini – 14 May
- Mercury turns Rx at 24° Gemini Rx – 29 May
- Mercury turns direct at 16° Gemini – 22 June
- Mercury leaves shadow zone at 24° Gemini – 7 July
Janette Dalgliesh is a coach and astrologer, who helps people from all walks of life to experience the deep joy of living their soul’s true purpose in the world. You can get Janette’s eyes on your chart, explore coaching options, or sign up for her emails at her website.
