Mercury is in Retrograde: Why You Shouldn’t Freak Out

Love Grace Health, Love Your Mind, Love Your Soul


We always hear of people using ‘Mercury is in retrograde’ as an explanation when something bad happens. There can be some truth to this, but a lot of the time the meaning of this cosmic occurrence is misunderstood.

The planet mercury turns ‘retrograde’ toward the sun whenever it reaches 28 degrees distance a way from it: this cycle happens more often than any other planet. Mercury catches up with the earth’s orbit and appears to be moving backwards. This year, it’s happening first from January 5-25th.

It is the planet that rules anything to do with communication and information, including things like travel complications, lost keys, technological breakdowns, late payments, and communication issues.

Why does a planet’s motions affect us?

Because essentially all living matter, including humans, is composed of the same elements as all the stuff in the solar system, such as planets. Mercury’s dense concentration of iron is where this magnetic influence over us stems, as we are inhabitants of its nearest planet. Magnets interfere with electricity, and the nervous system and the mind essentially run on electricity and magnetism.

When faced with the chaos this creates, we need to simplify.

In today’s world, the flow of information we interact with on a daily basis is enormous. We can use the period of Mercury retrograde to streamline the information we let in and distribute. It’s a time to unplug a bit, use our gadgets only when necessary. Slide the light off and look within. Find the truth amongst the chaos of information around us.

Focus less energy on starting new things and receiving new information, and use this period to reflect and renew what’s already in your life. If new communication, contracts and travel do come up for you, don’t be scared – be aware. Refresh your body and mind by streamlining aspects of your life, eliminating what causes clutter on a physical and emotional level. Revisit lost plans and abandoned relationships. Tie up any loose ends, and go back to any unfinished projects with careful reflection. It’s a great time to step back, get nostalgic about the past, and let things go.

Make space for the new to come when it’s all over, and things will feel a lot clearer.

No need to fear Mercury’s energy and go against the grain of the universe. Let’s work with the universe’s energy, so it can work with us and for us!

By Isabella Gucci-Ruffalo