Off the Cuff- Astrology is the real deal-how Mercury Retrograde funked me up
I struggle as I write this. The words have been churning in me for days and the ideas have finally started flowing in. As ridiculous as this may sound, I truly believe that Astrology is the real deal and that Mercury Retrograde really did have an effect on me.
I had been through a very funky period in my life, but for the most part I had been riding high on those funky waves and going with the flow and riding the tide and it was working for me. There was a slight bizarre period back at the end of the winter and during the eclipses, new moon, and full moon – a Triad of energy. I rode the wave through a fairly big loss and a subsequent series of betrayals and came into the Mercury Retrograde feeling on top of everything and feeling very good and empowered. I was only fooling myself.
The reason why I really think that Astrology is the real deal is because this passed retrograde was in Gemini. I happen to have 5 aspects in Gemini. It is my Sun Sign, my Ascendant, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter. Gemini resides in all of the major aspects of my chart. Going into this retrograde I am alerted that this one COULD have an effect on me, but I stayed optimistic. I had been feeling better than I have in over 3 years. I launched this blog, the weather was fabulous and I was temporarily free from a full time corporate job. Ideas were flowing and I felt like I was on top of the world. Then Mercury went retrograde. A few days in I was still flying high and I thought “Huh, maybe all of this astrology stuff that I have been writing and advising about for decades is false”. Then BAM, 3 days in I started having electronic device issues, thought process issues and found myself struggling to focus. I spent 9 hours writing HTML code only to lose it right before I published the program. Luckily I saved the majority of the code in a Note document knowing that anything could happen during Mercury Retrograde. After that, I was done. I closed the lid of my laptop and shoved it under the seat where I am sitting and there it sat for nearly 30 days.
My mind has been in a fog, my sleeping patterns have changed and I have gone into a deep retreat; which is the main purpose of utilizing a Mercury Retrograde, to go into a respite and do some inner reflection. Oh, how I have had time to reflect, yet I did not, my mind was clogged. Tried as I might, no ideas, no words, no thoughts, just blankness.
I wondered if I was depressed, yet I knew I was not as I was still finding joy daily. I was keeping my house fairly decent (in all honesty not as good as usual), but I have been spending all of my time outdoors working on opening the pool, pulling weeds, feeding birds and playing with dogs and after a long frigid winter the only thing on my mind is being barefoot in the sunshine as much as possible.
Now, we are 8 days out of Mercury Retrograde (still in the shadow for another week), but each day I feel like I am regaining myself back again. I am writing; the ideas are flowing. I am cleaning and organizing and preparing to go on a 2 week sabbatical. A spiritual retreat if you will. No cell phones, no laptops, no social media and I am thrilled. There is still a part of me that is sitting in the shadows of the last remnant of Mercury Retrograde and I do not have the patience or time for anyone else’s bull shit.
After these last 3 weeks I am feeling hopeful and alive again and the only thing I can chalk it up to is that the Mercury Retrograde really did influence my mood and attitude and I am very grateful that it is over. I am grateful for these last 3 weeks nevertheless, as it gave me a chance to reflect on some really crappy events in my life earlier this year. It forced me to look at the people in my life and who they truly are. My rose colored glasses were removed and I have discovered that there are a bunch of people in my life that I no longer have any trust, admiration or kinship with any longer and that is A O.K. They served their purpose in my life, their mirror showed me what I did not like within myself and now they are no longer necessary and I came out on the other end of this Mercury Retrograde changed and knowing myself better than I ever did, stronger and renewed.
So the next time Mercury Retrograde comes knocking at your door, know that that shit is real. Oh and it will come back as it occurs 3, sometimes 4 times a year and the next one is this September/October. Don’t be afraid of it, embrace it and know that you can gain some really good insight to your life, yourself and the world in which you reside.