Mercury retrograde is when the planet appears to move in reverse in the sky. Astrology links it to communication problems, and it occurs three or four times a year. Its bad reputation is due to its association with mystical meanings in the past.
When your plane reservations get mixed up or your voice mail goes haywire, you may have started hearing an unusual excuse. “Well, isn’t Mercury retrograde? What can you expect?”
What is Mercury Retrograde and why does it get such a bad reputation?
Back when the stars were believed to be all equidistant from the earth, embedded in a hard shell that moved above us, the planets required some explanation. They did not remain in the same positions with respect to the fixed stars, but wandered through a band of constellations which became the Zodiac.
If that wasn’t confusing enough, periodically, they reversed direction and circled back for a while, before turning again to move in the same direction with the rest of the star field. When they do, they are in “retrograde motion,” moving against the tide of all the stars and other planets. Thus, Mercury retrograde refers to the appearance of the planet “in reverse”.
Now that the relative positions of the earth, planets, and stars are understood, it is easy to see that while the earth is also in motion, often the planets will appear to reverse direction in the sky. But when astrology was the main science, all planetary retrogrades, including Mercury retrograde, took on more mystical meanings.
Since Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and its orbit is quite short, there are more instances of Mercury retrograde than any other planet, reversing its direction three or four times per Earth year. And since Mercury the mythological figure was the messenger of the gods, Mercury retrograde is thought by the mystical mind to wreak havoc with human communications.
The astrological associations with each planet link Mercury retrograde to problems in connections, computers, and other communication-related activities. This notion entered the mainstream as a new Murphy’s law, a shrug, a “who knows?” So, when your boss asks why you haven’t replied to his email, or your ID has gone astray, he checks your ephemeris and then (if appropriate) blames Mercury Retrograde. Sometimes it makes as much sense as anything else.
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