BY KAROLINA DOMBAXI, STAFF WRITER
Mercury retrograde finally ended on Oct. 18 and what a relief that is. The retrograde started on Sept. 27 and has affected everyone over the past four weeks. In astrology, Mercury is the planet that rules communication. According to Cafe Astrology, not only does Mercury represent communication but also coordination. Mercury in someone’s birth chart shows their style of communication.
Mercury usually goes into retrograde about three or four times a year. When Mercury goes into retrograde the planet appears to be spinning backward from west to east. During this time communication, technology and travel can all become disrupted and chaotic. This year’s Mercury retrogrades were from Jan. 30-Feb. 20, May 29-June 22 and Sept. 27-Oct. 18. This recent retrograde was the final one for this year. And it seems to have impacted people the hardest.
Since Mercury retrograde can be such a difficult time, astrologists and other people who are interested in the stars suggest that the best way to get through this period is to do nothing. Do not do anything extreme. A retrograde is a period of time where everything seems to go wonky. Think of bad communication, unsent emails or texts and emotions running hot. But it can also be time for healing. Mercury retrograde can be a time to slow down in life and reflect. It could be a time for self-love. Sit back and review what kind of energy is being put forth into the world.
How was the world affected during this Mercury retrograde? On Oct. 4, 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down. There was a major outage that lasted more than six hours. Users took to Twitter and Snapchat to express their concerns and outrage. A popular tweet on Twitter featured comments such as when a user commented that it is such a coincidence that there would be a social media outage during a retrograde. This is a great example of how technology can be skewed during the retrograde.
Another example of how the world was affected during retrograde was the oil spill in Southern California that happened earlier this month. It was reported on Oct. 2 that a pipeline leak spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil.
Even though Mercury retrograde is over, there is still a two week shadow period that lasts until Nov. 2. During this time many secrets can be revealed and even some relationship drama. But this shadow period is a good time to start mending what is broken and healing relationships and situations that may have come apart during the retrograde. It is good to apply the lessons that were learned during the retrograde.
However, even though this is the last retrograde for Mercury, Venus will begin its own retrograde in Dec. Since Venus is the planet of love and money, Dec. will be a time where relationships are heavily impacted and boundaries will need to be set.
