Mercury in retrograde

Negotiations for business deals dangling? Internet connections going funky? Past loves suddenly reappearing in your lives? Travel delays? And generally just weird shit happening all over the place? It's not you. Blame it on Mercury, the messenger of the gods!

It's the time of the year, when this little planet closest to the Sun, appears to be orbiting backward (due to the Earth's own rotation and own orbit, as well as Mercury's own thing). And whoa! The effect sure packs a punch! I normally don't believe in this sort of thing until last week, when everything seemed to just go bonkers on me.

It all began when I went out into the street outside our subdivision to wait for a cab. As I stood there on the curb...a huge green and black butterfly, the kind we all used to see in our gardens (only bigger!), fluttered down gently and landed on my handbag. It sat there for awhile and I talked to it, asking if it was Alex, an editor who had just passed away that morning. It didn't answer back of course, but I was very disconcerted that this butterfly was fearlessly sitting there on my bag. I shook my bag a little and off it flew away. Perhaps it was because my bag was red and the butterfly thought it was just another flower? But aren't these creatures supposed to be colorblind?

The week went downhill from there. After following up on certain projects, I was told it was either on hold 'til next year, and another well, was probably not going our way despite earlier assurances made by certain people. Through all this, my Internet connection was going nuts...with my Ibook indicating I had no Internet connection, and yet I was streaming music from ITunes and downloading Season 3 of the Entourage! But I was having difficulty opening web sites, even as I write this. By the end of the week, friends from the past reappeared or renewed communications with me, as well as other idiots I particularly didn't care for.

Mercury officially went into retrograde on Oct. 28 and is supposed to last 'til Nov. 17 – a full three weeks...damn! But I've been told that its effects can start start even before the official schedule and may last a few days after. So if it's possible, avoid signing any contracts or traveling as this will surely lead to delays. Double-check your appointments. And save your work on your computers!

There is an upside though. You can re-do things or processes that were previously unsucessful... like reading a book...or finishing a project, also reconnecting ties with old buddies. It also provides an opportunity for introspection and meditation. The important thing is to go slow...and be more understanding of others. There will be a lot of miscommunication and angry people because of this, so keep your cool! It's the only way to ride out this phenomenon.

For more info on Mercury in Retrograde, check out this site.