Getting a Second Chance with Mercury Retrograde

Use Mercury Retrograde effectively, not fearfully...

By Tarot.com Staff

Personal growth is about engaging life's opportunities and challenges and learning from them. Giving up power and avoiding what life has to offer isn't helpful, which can result from uninspired astrological interpretations -- as is the often case with Mercury Retrograde.

The messenger planet Mercury turns retrograde in Aries on April 1, 2024, and it will continue backpedaling until April 25. This reversal pattern happens 3-4 times a year, and it is well known among Astrology fans as a time of complications, when data and details go awry, communications get clunky, and technology tends to fail more frequently.

The reputation of Mercury Retrograde has gotten so bad that some people are afraid to initiate any significant activities during this 3-week retrograde period. Some astrologers will even tell clients they won't do consultations during Mercury Retrograde, but this is not a very helpful application of astrological information. It is disempowering to suggest that we should go into a defensive mode for the 18 percent of the year that Mercury is retrograde.

Living with challenging Astrology patterns

Sure, being more cautious with important communications and double-checking critical details makes sense, but while suspending work three times a year sounds like a good vacation plan, it's an impractical way to live.

There are also other astrologically-challenging patterns, difficult aspects, and planetary placements that are considered unfavorable according to traditional beliefs. If we decide to barricade ourselves in our homes every time one of these is in effect, we'd spend much of our lives behind closed doors. It's old age, fear-based thinking like this that reduces Astrology's value in our lives, yet its higher purpose is to help us understand the cosmic environment so we can use it effectively rather than fearfully.

Every moment and every experience has value and meaning. Instead of running or hiding from Mercury Retrograde, it's helpful to recognize that the planet is revisiting recently transited territory.

Using Mercury Retrograde to clean up past mistakes

Instead of interpreting this as a negative step backward, we can view it as a time of second chances. The conversations we had and the connections we made (or missed) can be reviewed from another point of view, providing opportunities to clean up mistakes and make more valuable use of recent events.

Because even though Mercury is moving backward, life continues to move forward. Denying the potential of this or any other period of time is surrendering the power of your consciousness to over-simplified and negative interpretations that might not be entirely false, but which are far from being entirely true.

Reveal the second chance that could be coming YOUR way during MRx »