Mercury Retrograde 2010

Mercury will be retrograde in 2010:

January 1 - January 14

April 18 - May 10

August 20 - September 11

December 10 - December 29

Mark your calendars - Mercury Retrograde is coming!  During these time periods, astrology tells us at avoid activities such as signing important contracts, launching brochures or promotional materials, doing a major mailing - any matter where communication is absolutely essential.  We're to expect delays with travel, computers, all forms of communication... cell phones dropping calls at the worst possible time, faxes not arriving when they should, the printer copies your documents all wrong. 

But does Mercury Retrograde have to be this way? 

On the one hand, I have many clients who feel the chaos quite viscerally, and are careful to manage their activities during this time, checking and double checking everything.

Other people, myself included, are barely aware that Mercury is retrograde.  We walk blithely through our days, taking out mortgages, granting interviews, and sending out important communications without a care in the world.

As I've observed in my years as an astrologer, folks have different sensitivities to different energies.  The shorter astronomical passages, in particular, vary as to how strongly they'll make themselves felt.  Mercury is retrograde for a short duration, and thus has a shorter time to make its impression.  Not everyone will experience it so strongly.

Same thing for the full moons, or the eclipses.  Some of my clients will call me up, pulling their hair out, crying, "What's going on out there?  When will it stop?"  Others will experience these times as nothing but a pleasant interlude.

The reasons for this are probably found in your chart.  Those with a strong sensitivity to Mercury Retrograde may have prominent Gemini, Mercury or third house influences.  Those reeling from a particular eclipse or full moon are probably receiving a strong transit to a sensitive natal point.

Best advice?  Notice Mercury Retrograde, and mark it on your calendar if you notice a big influence.  But use it as a tool, like a weather report.  After all, YOU determine your future.  Astrology fleshes out and makes sense of what's happening, and offers guidance, a dose of realism, and a dose of hope.  ~Carole Gaudet, CompleteAstrologer.com