My friends always give me a hard time for believing in things that traditionally fall into the category of "nonsense." I'm a huge conspiracy theorist and binge-watch Ancient Aliens like it's going out of style, but I always get the most exaggerated eye-rolls whenever I talk about astrology. 

Regardless of how stupid it sounds, I know that my life always gets weirder during full moons. I almost equally attribute this to astrological factors and to the fact that I'm very sensitive to light when I sleep and the full moon illuminates the sky brightly, thus interfering with my important slumber. Whenever a friend of mine mentions having weird dreams, it almost always coincides with a full moon! Based on this, I feel like the idea that celestial bodies can influence our lives isn't thaaaat crazy.

Anyway, with that out of the way, onto the theme of today's post: Mercury in retrograde! Mercury in retrograde is renowned for throwing people's lives into a tailspin. But what does that it even mean? Let's break it down!

Retrograde: an apparent change in motion across the sky—the object remains in its usual orbit, but from Earth we perceive a reversal of motion (planets typically cross the sky from west-to-east, in retrograde they move from east-to-west)

Mercury: (in astrology) a celestial body that governs all forms of communication, contracts, and codes—influence can be seen/felt in casual conversation, travel plans, term paper drafting etc.

We experience Mercury in retrograde more frequently than other planets because, due to its proximity to the sun, it completes more orbits per year, allowing for more opportunities for the planet to appear to us in retrograde. We typically experience a Mercury retrograde three or four times per year. For comparison, we experience a Venus retrograde once every year and a half.

When a planet is in retrograde, that means it is out of play, astrologically. That is to say when Mercury is in retrograde, the reigns are off on all of the areas of life that it typically oversees. And when aspects of life are left unmonitored, chaos is bound to ensue. In general, when Mercury is in retrograde confusion is bountiful, miscommunications run rampant, and businesses and relationships fall apart.

What should you do when Mercury is in retrograde? Pay close attention to completely listening to others, be cautious of signing legally binding documents, be doubly prepared when it comes to traveling, and overall try to compensate for what Mercury is leaving unchecked by being very aware of your decision-making. 

Most importantly, remember that we always make it through Mercury's many retrogrades even though we may have to learn some difficult lessons along the way. Mars retrograde on the other hand...

Anyway, I'm wishing everyone a super weird supermoon tonight! And may Mercury's retrograde leave you relatively unscathed.