Mercury Retrograde: The Down and Dirty (from a few people that know)

Have you had a day from hell today? A day where everyone has misunderstood you, had car trouble, trouble with traffic and people driving like maniacs, and/or computer malfunctions? No, you're not going crazy. It's just Mercury Retrograde.

I'm no astrologer. My talent lies with tarot, so I will let astrologers deal with explaining the fun of when a planet like Mercury goes retrograde.

Here's a post from George Courtney regarding Mercury Retrograde: Back to the Future Mercury! Keep in mind that this was originally written for the Mercury Retrograde that happened at the end of March, but most of what George says here applies to a Mercury Retrograde in general.

Maria Shaw notes in her article Mercury Retrograde: What Is It Good For? what things CAN be accomplished during this time period. Mercury Rx is not a good time to start projects, but it IS a good time for finishing the unfinished ones. Have a knitting project that's been sitting? Time to finish it! Upset with your job? Don't start a new one during this time period, but DO revise your resume. I loved this part of her article:

"Think of any word that has an 're' in front of it. That’s what Mercury Retrograde is good for....re-doing just about anything."

So, let's bring it back to tarot now (after all, this is a tarot blog). What do the cards have to say about this Mercury Retrograde that lasts until August 26th?


Ace of Swords: Know that this is simply a fleeting moment in time. There is definitely a lot of righteous indignation going around. Do not be a part of that majority. That big sword in the Ace of Swords can cut both ways, and both you and your target will be injured in the process. Don't use words as a weapon right now.

Ace of Coins: Ground yourself. Seek solace in nature. There is so much prosperity around, but it is the potential of prosperity... it is not ripe for the picking yet. Let it wait; let it mature.


4 of Wands (rev): A call to move creative forces inward. The four wands in this card form a point of light that seems to be shining inside of yourself. It's almost a form of the Hermit card, but lighter. Introspection is needed. Lay low.


Very interesting that two Aces comes up in this reading. I personally like to think of the Aces as the potential of the suit they correspond to, not unlike the concept of "potential energy" vs. "kinetic energy". 


So, lay low, people. Tie up loose ends of projects that you began before Mercury went retrograde. Double-check all travel plans. Pad any plans you make with additional time, just in case. Be crystal clear in your communications, both written and verbal. Keep your eyes wide open while driving. And this Mercury Retrograde period too shall pass...


Has your Merc. Rx period started off with a bang? Let's chat about it in the Comments section!

2010, New Year's blessings, and a very late post

Happy New Year, everyone! I feel that 2010 has something really great in store for all of us. This is a year for communication and connections, even if (and perhaps in spite of) Mercury being in retrograde for the start of it! Mercury in retrograde makes everything wonky, by the way. I'm not really up and up on my astrology, but tarot.com has great articles on everything from tarot to numerology to astrology, especially this article on the effect of mercury retrograde on careers. Mercury in retrograde makes communication go awry or get misconstrued. In spite of that kind of start, I still think this year will bring breakthroughs in communication with people. We'll connect with people on levels that are deep and true, seeing through differences to connect to the core of other people. We'll realize that our differences are few when viewed with our universal similarities. We all have hopes, dreams, unfinished plans, procrastination, and faults we're looking to correct.

So, blessings to everyone that has found their way to my little blog, and blessings to everyone that hasn't. Blessings to my true friends and even people that aren't my friends, because both groups of people teach me lessons I need to learn. Blessings to everyone that I've read for, and blessings to people I haven't read for yet, because I learn a little bit from everyone. I take your journeys with you each and every time you allow me to read for you, and I thank you.

I took a wonderful workshop last year (ha, last year! but it's true, even yesterday was last year!) with Courtney Weber (don't you just love the photo?), professional tarot reader and class act. You can read Courtney's adventures at her blog, agirlcalledwoo. She definitely helped my tarot reading, simply by allowing the entire class permission to throw out the little white book that comes with a tarot deck and asking us to rely on our own interpretations of the cards. She also took us through several exercises that helped develop more of a personal relationship with our decks. This is certainly stuff that I should have been doing long ago when I first started reading tarot. When you do something long enough, you become more involved in the rote of it than with actually *connecting*. It never hurts to go back to basics... it can only help! It makes you look at things in a new light. Never a bad thing in my book!

Onwards and upwards, my fellow spiritual wanderers! Thoughts and comments are most certainly appreciated!