Mercury rules the thinking mind and the kind of learning, communication, perception, and data collection that is typically a left-brain event. Yet, a few times a year, our logical mind is asked to take a back seat so we can access a new type of learning that is based in the heart, not the head. We are reminded (sometimes forced) to slow down, pause and listen instead of speak. We need to go inward to go outward and re-evaluate current experiences and patterns so we can more efficiently move forward.
There is no reason to fear Mercury retrograde. Mercury is the divine messenger of the gods, after all, and thus brings important messages.
This particular Mercury Retrograde plays with the first two signs of the zodiac as it goes retrograde in the early degrees of Taurus on April 9. By April 20 it makes its way back to Aries before stationing direct May 3. It is important to recognize this retrograde starts on those dates but we have been feeling this cycle for weeks.
What does it mean?
In Aries, we claim our sense of self and assert who we authentically are. In Taurus, we explore and embrace what is really of value and what really defines us.
I am, and I am worthy.
Yet, this can be a confusing and perhaps even dangerous contemplation.
What if I am so myself, I make the rest of the world uncomfortable?
What if my authenticity is not sustainable in a material way?
We all have choices as to how (and if) we express ourselves. In essence, we are meant to be brilliant and shining for the entire world to see, never dulling our sparkle. Yet, there is a certain reality we also live in that sometimes requires dulling to get by. Exploring this balance is what this retrograde is all about.
How would you present yourself to the world without the need for outside validation?
What would it look like if you were truly yourself?
Because Mercury Retrogrades remind us that words have power. Mercury is one of the few gods that can go between worlds traveling between the spirit world and the world of matter, linking intention with form. Words are objective meeting energy and purpose meeting potential. With words, we cast spells that create our very reality weaving our unique experience in dynamic ways.
Often we err on the side of caution absorbing the stories and incantations our culture and conditioning casts upon us. We begin to validate the light of our worthiness only as it is reflected back at us instead of shining from within. Powerful hexes about security, acceptance, lack and external endorsement easily become the criteria to which we make our decisions. There is nothing inherently wrong with some attachment to an external focus. It is only when that focus becomes so grounded, so stubbornly resistant, so fixated on stasis; there is no space for change.
The truth is, if we take a job, choose a career path, or commit to a relationship based primarily on monetary value, outside validation, safety or accolades, we will end up earning every penny.
Because borrowed values are baseless truths. They are castles made on shifting sands.
This retrograde will ask you to evaluate who you are and why you do what you do in an attempt to bring clarity to what is really important in your life. It will ask you to assess your current stories and spells to decide if they reflect YOU.
Where is the learning?
Everywhere. Just look around.
Where is the tension in your life?
What isn’t working?
Where are you meeting resistance?
Look to your body, your relationships, your job, your bank account- all of it.
What is that resistance trying to tell you?
If your life is a reflection of your mind what is it revealing about your sense of worth, validation, and abundance?
What habitual spells (in the form of beliefs and inner dialog) are being cast upon your reality?
Your intuition is speaking loud and clear. Are you listening?
Because the dynamic energy of a Mercury Retrograde shows up as real life events, choices and experiences making the learning obvious. Things stop, unwind, pause and reach a standstill to offer no option but to point out what isn’t working. It is the energy of disorganization in an attempt to get your attention. By definition, chaos precedes all great change.
It is as if in the closet that is your life the universe has thrown all your clothes on the floor and saying, Okay. Look carefully. What do you want to keep? What haven’t you worn in months? What is no longer your style? Find the clothes that are no longer YOU.
In all the nooks and crannies find
The damaged shoes
The hopeful jeans
The shaming sweaters
Find All that is no longer YOU and simply
LET it all GO.
So must we also do in the space that is our mind.
It is time to simplify.
At the end of life, no one says, “if only I’d worked more”. No one wishes for more stuff, more debt, more accolades, or more rewards.
What is wished for are the simple (not always easy) things. Like love, time, connection, nature, cooperation, service, and experience.
Because real worth is not measured in complexity but in simple truths. Often we are so fixated on making a living we forget to make a life.
So take a pause, reflect, and assess all of it. Symbolically, metaphorically, and even physically clean out and simplify the closet that is you. Let go of what you no longer need no matter how long you have held onto it.
In the process, you will discover yourself. Perhaps for the first time.