Mercury! Retrograde! August!

Our little buddy is slowing down in the sky relative to us, which just means that it's passing us, because it goes around the sun every 88 days like the speedy little devil it is, so it's time once again for it to get a little too close to us, which is when planetary energy acts weird (this is true no matter what we are talking about). This time, Mercury will begin to retrograde (appear to move backwards) in Virgo but then slide back into Leo. A very straightforward interpretation of this energy is that you go from overthinking things and taking no action (the Virgo part) to obsessing over either your love life or your kids (the Leo part). Another very basic take on this would be "renovations gone awry" because Virgo is the sign of redesigning and Leo is about projects you really *want* to do. Think: important components on backorder. Mercury setbacks tend to be temporary.

Some fun examples of Mercury retrograde from my own life: car problems, appliances that stop working but start working again after the retrograde is done, having to re-file paperwork I tried to file during the retrograde, accidentally sending people the wrong documents, and having the communications I am responsible for sending...not send. Mercury retrograde will not kill you, it will just annoy you to death, so just breathe deeply and try again regarding whatever it is that didn't work. I would advise against making major purchases if you can avoid it, or buying stuff you don't need, generally. If you're waiting for your phone to ring, it might not, because something might be wrong with it.

The actual dates are August 6 - 28, but you can count on communications and Mercury-ruled things and people being weird for all of August (a Mercury-ruled person is defined as someone with Gemini or Virgo rising). A very social Virgo rising I knew would get quiet and become a couch loaf like clockwork during retrogrades, and then toward the end, have an unstoppable urge to clean his house, and then he'd resume his social schedule once Mercury was direct again.

If your birthday is in that chunk of dates, please note: that means that your solar return has Mercury retrograde in it. This isn't a bad thing, but it's the energy you're working with for the year, so it's notable. Mercury retrograde in a solar return usually means that you have all the information you need, and often that your brain is full anyway, so you spend the year processing and assimilating what's rattling around in your head. If you wanted to write a book, for example, it would be a great year to write it but wait to publish it until the following year. Mercury's retrograde in everyone's solar return every 6 years, so this is a semi-common occurrence. If this is you, resist the urge to ask more people for their opinions for a while.

Once again, this is not something to freak out about, it's just something to pay attention to. Every time I did major paperwork with Mercury retrograde there was something wrong with it and I had to do it again. Like clockwork.