Mercury Retrograde in Libra
From September 9th until October 2nd, Mercury, the great Communicator, goes retrograde, making it a grand total of six planets doing their slow backward dance. Along with Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, this may feel like the straw that broke the camel’s back – if we let it get to us.
Or, we can work with this energy and turn inwards, slow down, have patience and reflect. Nothing is likely to move forward or progress very easily. With Mars, the action planet, also in his pre-retrograde ‘shadow phase’, this inertia is even more emphasized. Relationships in particular are a hot topic, what with Mercury transiting through Libra and then moving back into critical Virgo. We may be having second thoughts about a particular person, about a break up or a step that we were hoping to take. In Virgo, Mercury invites us to tend to old or unfinished projects, iron out details and ensure that we have taken care of the fine print.
Of course, as we know by now, retrogrades are a time for review, for responsibility, a retake, reassessment and reordering. And as always, we are advised to not making any major decisions, especially with so many other planets also putting the brakes on. It’s tempting to be impulsive and rash, and we may be unable to see the wood for the trees. When this happens, we’ll need to take a deep breath and access the rationality and balanced thinking that Libra is famous for. Team that with Virgo’s precise and methodical style, and you have a winning combination – as long as we take it slow. After 2 October, we can begin to move ahead with more purpose. We’ll have a better idea of what relationships mean to us and of how much compromises we can willingly make without sacrificing too much of our own goals and dreams.
The main aspects Mercury will make during his time in retrograde are two oppositions to Jupiter, and two trines with Pluto. Overall, these are good aspects and ones that invite enthusiasm, optimism and depth. However, we may need to be careful of making promises that we can’t possibly keep.
We may also be urged to delve deeper and know more, to explore our psychological roots and have important conversations that go beneath the surface. With that said, we must be aware of becoming obsessive, particularly in our own mind and in how we communicate our ideas.
All in all, it’s essential that we be gentle and kind to ourselves and well as others, seeing as we’re all likely to be feeling the strain of retrograde energy. Meditation, spiritual work and other nervous system calming tools are non-negotiable for our mental and emotional wellbeing for these next few weeks.
