Many astrologers have opined about this May’s (2016) Mercury Retrograde, but the best piece I have seen comes from Marina Macario, who writes at Darkstar Astrology. Here, not only does she delve into the significance of “the most powerful Mercury retrograde of the year,” but she also dips into the import and role the Fixed Stars play at this time, something that most write-ups on “The Wretch’s” Retrograde don’t mention. Marina also provides a Calendar of significant Mercury Retrograde Period Dates, which includes the “just as bad” shadow periods (the first of which we’re in right now, btw) that extend the Retrograde period to almost two full months. It’s a great piece and I heartedly recommend it for your astrological enlightenment.
Consider that, since there are usually at least three and sometimes four Mercury Retrogrades during any one year, more than half of any given 12 months is spent in the shade of his retrogrades. In other words, although we can often be prone to experiencing Mercury foul-ups, If we are forewarned of these times, then we can prevent to worst by simply paying much closer attention to details (another thing that Mercury rules, btw) than we might normally do. To paraphrase a guy named Will, “The fault is not in our stars,… but in ourselves…” Nuff said.
BUT did you know that Mercury has another side, as one might expect from the Planet that rules Gemini, the dual bodied sign? I have called those spans of time, during which the “Winged Messenger” can literally fly through the Zodiac as rapidly as an amazing 2+ degrees a day, Mercury’s Peak Weeks. Indeed, between each retrograde period, he will pick up speed, sometimes even topping 2° 10′ a day. Now that’s pretty quick for a planet that’s not called the Moon.
Of course, these peak periods are not all of equal length or of equal “zip.” Some last for just 12 days and won’t reach that 2+ degree top speed while the longer lasting ones can hang around for as many as 23 days before slowly decelerating back to yet another retrograde.
Now if Mercury’s Retrograde can cause all manners of disruption in our thinking, communication, and commerce, might not this “universal trickster” bring a surprisingly positive element into play regarding all things Mercurial? Just to check this out, I did a little research that might validate this assumption. I looked at the birth dates of some of history’s well-known thinkers and communicator’s. Take a look at these famous names, all born during a Mercury Peak week, many of whom I might venture to put into the “genius” category.
| Galileo Galilei | Elizabeth Payson Prentiss | Joseph Campbell |
| Samuel Johnson | Jules Verne | Stendhal |
| Immanuel Kant | Christina Rossetti | Tennessee Williams |
| David Hume | Emily Dickenson | Orson Wells |
| Francisco Goya | Thomas Hardy | Betty Friedan |
| Johann Goethe | Alexander Graham Bell | Gene Roddenberry |
| Wolfgang Mozart | Charles Huysmans | Lee Iacocca |
| Charles Marie Fournier | Robert Louis Stevenson | Desiderius Erasmus |
| Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Sigmund Freud | Allen Ginsberg |
| Charles Lamb | Henri Matisse | Rene Descartes |
| Thomas Townsend Brown | Marcel Proust | Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz |
| Arthur Schopenhauer | Jack London | Blaise Pascal |
| Hans Christian Anderson | Albert Einstein | Woody Allen |
| Felix Mendelsohn | Adolph Hitler | Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) |
| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Ludwig Wittgenstein | Robert E Zoller |
| William Makepeace Thackery | Paul Joseph Goebbels | Steve Jobs |
| Dr. David Livingstone | Alan Turing | Edwin Hubble |
Now I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s quite an impressive line-up. Think Mercury moving at such a swift pace at these births was any indication that these folks were exceptionally gifted, for good or ill, in those Mercury ruled domains?
If you might be further interested, here’s a link to a piece I wrote back in ’09 for the NCGR’s San Diego Chapter that covers the same ground in slightly more detail.
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In case you’re interested, the Peak Weeks for this Mercury cycle is from July 14 through July 29, 2016. You might check your schedule for this period of acceleration and, if possible, do any important Mercury related work during these fortuitous days.
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