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Easily the most famous and feared event in astrology, Mercury retrograde is also one of the few astrological phenomena that affects everyone in the same way. No matter your Sun or Moon sign or whether you even care about astrology, Mercury influences your communication. Because the normal flow of energy is reversed during a retrograde, when the planet appears to retrace its steps, the part of yourself that absorbs information and transmits it to others is inevitably affected to some degree.
That includes all means of information exchange, including technological as well as relational glitches. Ideas and thoughts can appear to be stuck instead of easily pouring outward. We can experience the same blockages with our digital communication—e-mail servers might go down, social media platforms can experience quirks, and our normal connections fail to work as expected. Communication seems to be stuck…until, like a slingshot, it breaks through in an unorganized way that confuses everyone. It can be frustrating.
But it is possible to navigate the havoc that can happen during Mercury retrograde with relative ease. Following are a few simple practices that will remind you that even if you can’t change your situation, you can still maintain some measure of control as to how you show up to it.
When Is Mercury Retrograde?
Mercury retrograde occurs three and sometimes four times each year. The current Mercury retrograde begins August 23, 2023, and lasts until September 15, 2023.
9 Ways to Make Mercury Retrograde Easier
1. Carefully Consider Your Words
Pause before you speak and take a few breaths to center your thoughts. Also, don’t rush yourself if you’re not ready. Silence is better than mixed messages.
2. Give Other People Space
In conversation, encourage both parties to take a deep breath during moments of confusion or interruptions. Mercury retrograde can cause our minds to move very fast, giving way to talking over one another and not listening.
3. Check for Typos
Mercury retrograde is infamous for committing typos, creating grammar glitches, and hitting “send” before you’ve completed your message. The mind speeds up during these three weeks of seemingly backward motion, jumbling our thoughts and our fingers. Read your message more than once before sending and ask someone else to edit your important work during this period.
4. Read the Small Print
It’s technically best not to sign important agreements during Mercury retrograde. If you must, read each line three times. Know that Mercury retrograde only “breaks” anything that isn’t perfectly aligned. So even if you do overlook something, it will only fall apart if it isn’t a strong fit for you.
5. Confirm Plans
This goes for your own plans, including travel itineraries, as well as your meetings with others. So double check those dinner reservations and try to convey compassion and understanding when people do miss calls and meetings.
6. Get Outside
Connecting with nature can help you get you out of your head and recenter your energy, especially when you’re experiencing technological breakdowns. It also affords you, and your technology, time to reboot.
7. Spend Time Journaling
One of the benefits of Mercury retrograde is greater access to your thoughts and feelings. Conversations with yourself are easier during this time and answers may effortlessly rise to the surface.
8. Be Open to Redirection
If Mercury retrograde breaks or delays something in your world, consider it a redirection. Any “destruction” is an opportunity to create a situation that’s stronger and more aligned with who you are and where you’re going. Besides, if things are perfectly aligned, Mercury retrograde won’t be able to affect them.
9. Stay Centered
That same grounding that you experience during your yoga practice or when you’re outside needs to be accessible even when you can’t step away from your current situation. When you practice staying centered in yourself and grounded in the moment, as you do during your yoga practice, you help not just yourself but everyone who comes into contact with you.
About Our Contributor
Jill Wintersteen is the founder of Spirit Daughter, a lifestyle brand devoted to helping you live your best life through understanding the energy of the Universe. She also writes workbooks on each full Moon as well as other astrological events. Follow her on Instagram @spiritdaughter.
