Every year, there are things that trend on social media – things that get people talking and become the highlights of the year – this year, one of those things is Mercury Retrograde. It’s not happening for the first time, but this year people decided to pay extra attention to it. If you still don’t know anything about it, then this is your chance to learn about it and understand why everyone is talking about it. Who knows, maybe after reading this article you will be making memes and starting conversations about it.
What is Mercury Retrograde and what causes it?
“Retrograde” is when a planet appears to move backward in its orbit, as viewed from Earth. Astronomers refer to it as “apparent retrograde motion”, because it is an optical illusion. They say it is an illusion because planets always travel in the same direction around the sun – they never turn in the opposite direction; they just appear to do so.
Earth takes less time than outer planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) to orbit the sun because its orbit is smaller. Because of this, Earth often overtakes them, this is why they appear to travel backwards. Mercury has a smaller orbit than Earth, so it overtakes it and when this happens it seems as if it retrogrades. It takes Mercury 88 days to complete its orbit around the sun, so it retrogrades 3 or 4 times a year.
Why is it a big deal?
Astrologers believe that planets govern different areas of life. They believe that when a planet retrogrades, the areas of life it governs get affected negatively. Mercury is said to “govern intelligence and communication, it rules our rational mind, our capacity to collect and sort out information and to pass it on to others, it has power over our written and spoken word and our curiosity. It also governs the nervous system, transportation, and the ability to analyse.”
People have been blaming the Mercury Retrograde for everything that goes wrong in their lives: breakups, lost luggage, losing a job, lost mail, failing a test, car accident, etc. There are tips on how to survive this phenomenon – people have created long lists of Do’s and Don’ts during the Mercury Retrograde. Popular tips that you might find in every list online are:
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Don’t sign any contracts during Mercury Retrograde.
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Don’t make big investments.
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Don’t speak without thinking things through.
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Get in touch with old friends.
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Don’t buy electronics, because the Mercury Retrograde also affects technology.
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Don’t have elective surgery until Mercury Retrograde is over.
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Double check all your work.
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Back up your documents.
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Don’t start new projects.
Even though it seems like Mercury Retrograde is something you should dread, there is one good thing about it: you can blame it for everything that goes wrong in your life! Failing a test, saying all the wrong things at a job interview, all your misfortunes… If people ask you why you’ve made a certain bad decision, you don’t have to spend time thinking of a good excuse, you just have to say two words… “Mercury Retrograde.”
