Mercury retrograde isn't that deep.

Don't believe everything you see (or read), it might all just be an optical illusion anyway.

I was going to write a pure click bait-y title but then I felt bad so I didn’t..

I’ve been dying to talk about this for MONTHS. I felt like I should wait until everyone’s hyper-focused on it and it might help a few people to understand that what people say on social media is far more dramatic than what it actually is so don’t freak out!

But here we are, it’s Mercury retrograde!

(hence why I didn’t want to write the click bait-y title, it’s a sure fire way for everyone to get the wrong end of the stick).

I also was so supposed to have finished this, and my other Substack posts for the next few weeks, by now because I wanted to be prepared and not run the risk of posting anything with a tonne of mistakes during the retrograde but I didn’t. So.. yeah. Now I’m potentially paying the slow price for that. I’m also playing with fire by writing this on a computer that is 8 years old. She’s risky. Oops.

You’ve all read the news, watched the videos, read the posts telling us that everything is going to go wrong, your ex will come back, back up your emails or you’ll lose your life’s work and leave extra time before you travel.

While some of that is valid ‘advice’ I’ll admit - for the most part, it’s really not that deep.

When you think about it, Mercury goes retrograde literally 3 or 4 times a year for about 3 weeks at a time, on top of that you have what’s called the ‘shadow period’, all in all that would mean Mercury wreaking havoc on our lives for like 40% of the year.

Yeah. They don’t tell you that do they?

For perspective, if you live in the UK, it rains about the same percentage every year. 33-50% of the time, rain is falling from the sky (I know, I can already hear the gasps from those of you living nearer the equator, feel free to laugh it’s okay). Like imagine if we all just stopped doing life when it started raining, none of us would do anything. We would be like “oops guys it’s raining so I can’t travel today”. But we don’t. Instead we say “I’m so sorry I might be a little bit late because the traffic is bad in the terrible weather” or if we are really prepared - we leave earlier.

That’s what I want you all to think about, when Mercury retrograde starts - life doesn’t stop. We just prepare a little better and we laugh when our hair gets wet because chances are when we arrive at our destination, everyone else’s hair is wet too, unless of course they’re the prepared umbrella type.

Side note: if you don’t live in the UK and are planning to visit - bring an umbrella or just don’t bother doing your hair all nice because it’ll get ruined.

If you don’t know, let’s first of all discuss what a retrograde is, because honestly I feel like it’s something that is wholly misunderstood. The planet doesn’t ACTUALLY move backwards. It just looks like that from earth, it’s all about perspective (which I think is appropriate given what I’m going to say here!).

A retrograde of any planet is an optical illusion. Because the planets move at different speeds around the Sun, sometimes it looks as if one takes a loop backwards around and then catch up with one another. Imagine you’re driving around a race track and you drive past a car that’s moving slightly slower than you, for a little bit it looks like that car is moving backwards. Then when you catch them in your vision again later on round the track you see they’re still moving forward. It’s that.

Mercury is the planet that signifies communication, travel and also technology. So yes, when he goes retrograde it can cause communication issues, travel issues or technological issues. Like sometimes the communication gets messed up for some reason, but it can be as little as someone saying something and you get the wrong end of the stick - or vice versa!

If you’re thinking about this happening in the future it can be kind of stressful to think about obviously - especially if you’re someone who gets anxious when you communicate with other people already, but it’s not like a given. It’s more likely than not to NOT be catastrophic or anything, especially if you’re prepared and check things twice. It’s almost a lesson in good communication actually, can we be clear? Can we convey our feelings or what we are trying to say directly? Boil it down to it’s simplest point.

Delays or detours while you’re trying to go to a specific destination is a thing. It could be you have to go somewhere else first before you get there or make a little pitstop. Or maybe you’re working on something that will end up being delayed because of unforeseen circumstances.

I’m aware that I am listing all the nerve wracking things that I just said were things people say to make you nervous about Mercury retrograde. But I want you to understand just how little the situations can be.

So, yes, it’s frustrating. But it just requires patience. If you’re expecting things to happen yesterday - it’s not likely to do so, AND if you do rush that’s where the problems come in.

We all hate being patient, but it’s needed. Although, I don’t really know how true that statement is actually, do we all hate being patient or are we conditioned to be impatient in too quick a world? That’s a discussion for another day maybe. We’ll see. My main advice to you is, if you just take your time, slow down and accept that things might take longer, make peace with it, you’re going to be absolutely fine. Maybe with a few extra grey hairs but also a few laughs.

Definitely if you have to travel during Mercury retrograde, anticipate disruptions, leave enough time to get wherever it is. Set your alarm earlier or choose the flight the day before, those sorts of things you know? That way you will be left with a feeling of satisfaction even if the traffic is bad or the first train is cancelled, you won’t be late. Other’s probably will be but you’re lucky because you already know this information!

The advice has been given, take it.

We started this Substack in Mercury retrograde.

Oh yes, we did.

It wasn’t to be avoided really, the Astrology wasn’t good at all before and after and we were like you know what, we feel like doing it, the time is now or never. So we did. Actually it helped immensely, first of all we are perfectionists but the chaos of the retrograde was kind of like YEAH LET’S WRITE AND HOPE FOR THE BEST and actually the hoping for the best kinda worked out.

Now, we did wait until Mercury was on his way out and we didn’t throw everything out there straight away, but we posted before the Mercury retrograde ended and it did go well. Especially with creativity, sometimes I think a little retrograde gives you a bit of a go for it attitude. Like it is what it is. If you’ve been stuck for too long it’s an opportunity to just do the thing with no expectation.

The idea of shadow periods is interesting too. They’re a bit of a new-ish thing in astrology so some Astrologers don’t really use them or pay much attention to it. But a lot of Astrologers believe that the first one is a set up for what you’re going to experience during the retrograde. Then the shadow period after is like where you solve anything that came up in the transit. A little cleaning house if you will. I’m on the fence about shadow periods. I know they exist but I don’t believe the hype.

But I’m going to let you into a secret, something I love about Mercury retrograde (oof, I know, weird sentence right?) is that we get the chance to reflect on the past. We can revisit things and revise things. I said before that people will tell you your ex will come back - while that can be true, its more likely that you’ll just start to think about them again. It will give you some perspective.

I wouldn’t recommend reaching out to them though please, Mercury retrograde is not great for you to have a real honest conversation.

If you’re waiting for a message from an ex, don’t blindly trust what they say. Like please. It’s not that it’s all going to be a lie and they’re going to ruin your life and that, it’s just that it’s all a bit messy. Maybe it’s a drunk text or like a love bomb and ghost. Something that’s a bit icky. Just play it safe until we get Mercury back doing it’s thing again. Then if it feels trustworthy and safe you can maybe try to reconcile to your heart’s content!

Aaaaand another thing (I do realise that I’m throwing everything at you right now but hey, I’m here, let’s get detailed.)

As annoying as it is, sometimes you’ll have to go back and do something a second time which is, although a bit long and boring, actually good because the final product can be a lot better than you would have originally produced! You might not want to put out a project during the retrograde - there are spelling mistakes you made, there are details you missed and there are things you wish you put in! It gives you a chance to rectify or add those things.

If you’re a perfectionist, you can think of this as the refining period and lucky you - you get like 3 weeks to perfect so, go for your life!

And GUESS WHAT? There’s more good news! (cue that sound effect that’s like children going yaaaaaaaay)

Something lovely happens around the midway point of the retrograde which is called a cazimi. I love a cazimi. Give me cazimis any day.

A cazimi is when a planet joins the sun and gets a little boost of energy. So, when it’s Mercury’s turn we get like a moment of clarity through the fog. This moment is important because if you’ve had some issues in the beginning of the retrograde you have a mini turning point, even if it doesn’t get completely fixed - there’s that little light at the end of the tunnel you know? You’ll be able to take some steps to sort whatever it is out.

And BREATHE,

When Mercury goes direct, which is when it starts seemingly moving forward again, it’s when we feel the most relieved. Some of the problems or challenges we had will be ending or kind of coming to a finish in a way, or on their way to do so.

Something you all want to know, I’m sure, is how do you know a Mercury retrograde will be personally important to you?

You’ll be very pleased to hear - Some Mercury retrogrades you won’t even feel.

Okay, some will feel really intense let’s not lie, but others you’ll breeze through. Not every Mercury retrograde is the same. You have to check whether it’s stationing retrograde near a planet in your birth chart, or makes a more difficult aspect to one. If it goes near one of the angles like your Ascendant, Descendant, MC or IC then you could also have an important one for you.

You can also use things like Annual perfections, starting with your rising sign, count around the wheel until you reach your age. The ruler of the sign you land on becomes especially important for you in that year. So if you land on Gemini or Virgo for example, you know that things Mercury does this year will be relevant for you.

For me, Mercury retrograde is like pure overhyped online. It’s become more popular to use as clickbait and people want to make it out to be the worst thing in the world. I can think of way more difficult transits we might experience. It can be really frustrating yes. We don’t like frustration. We don’t want to experience that but it’s not something to fear. We just need to be aware of it and have some patience. Go in with the understanding that things will take longer and that we might have to think on our feet.

Going into it with that thought process can help you figure out a loose plan for the next couple of weeks. I will say that if you can delay things like starting HUGE new projects or signing contracts until after Mercury retrograde that might be helpful, like don’t start anything right at the beginning if you can.

At the end of the day life is literally life and sometimes there’s nothing you can do. We can’t call the estate agent and be like “hey mate, can we wait 3 weeks till we sign?’ like no. You can’t. If that’s something that happens, you just have to do what you can and go with it. Work on your patience skills, find things that bring you back down to earth and allow you to sit in calm.

That’s what we need, acceptance and calm.

It’s really about mindset. You need to hold onto patience, if you hate being patient - you’re not alone. I absolutely detest being patient, I want everything yesterday buuuut sometimes we really have to let go and know that in the end we will get there.

I challenge you to enjoy it, find something creative you can do. Paint, draw, make music, write - you don’t have to put it out there, but try something different. Fall on your face a few times at a new dance class. Write a poem that doesn’t make sense and enjoy it. Laugh at your awful jokes and pretend you’re a comedian. Experimentation could be your friend.

Important life stuff should really be thought through, but allow anything that feels freeing to be even more so.

All that to say, we don’t need to be doomsday preppers, we just need an umbrella and a diary.

Two Optimystics x

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