Mercury Retrograde and what is really means

Epimethean retrograde: The most significant characteristics of the Epimethean retrograde phase, which lasts for approximately eleven days, is the forced review of environmental conditions. The reflection upon the inner landscape is equally intense, though not s externally dramatic. If that time is fraught with frustrations, then it is almost certain that those disconcerting events are a direct signal to learn more about reading the signs that one has been too occupied to notice. A review of personal motivation and perspective becomes necessary.

The entire retrograde phase is transitional. It is likely that one needs to uncover issues directly related to the house that Mercury is transiting during this phase. The bits of information that surface, or the dramatic confrontations with unresolved issues. That they frequently take the form of trickster jokes is simply a technique that our unconscious frequently employs to attract attention. It is the descent phase, the early cycle of reflection. Essentially, the beginning of the retrograde phase is marked by an abrupt departure from the commonday experience and is frequently disorientating. There is a tendency to reject the signals that indicate that one would be best suited by ceasing forced activity and reflecting upon it instead.

This should be the time when a concerted effort is made to engage in reflection and review. A form of loosening is taking place, a solution to a stuck situation which disengages one from what was in order to prepare one for what will be.

Inferior conjunction: A seed is planted at this dark time. This is a 'new' Mercury phase. It marks a time to rest and recuperate, scaling down initiatory action and allowing the unconscious to work. Progress is only measured by reflection on its worth, and by looking back one sees how far one has come. What is revealed at the conjunction is appropriate to the new beginning which emerges at the stationary direction point.

Promethean retrograde: One feels more impatient at this stage, but hastening the process simply will not work. It is possible to be both forward and backward at the same time, that is, experimental yet cautious. One can actively lay the groundwork for the future by being passively receptive to the current conditions.

Not signing contracts or initiating new enterprises or making major purchases, still stands. It is a stimulus to let go of the past, and the stimulus to begin to gather new resources, a conflict arises in mid-cycle. The existing energy of new beginnings combined with a sense of restraint creates inner tension.

One needs to engage in a  dialogue with these apparent dichotomies and to develop a kind of dialectic with which to birth a new idea. That idea can only come from gathering new information, testing new territory and exploring fresh alternatives. Over the ten or eleven days between the inferior conjunction and the station-direct, one should allow some latitude for new potentials, options and opportunities to develop. By not making major decisions, and resisting the impulse to wade in, seizing power and executing action, one contains one's anxiety and builds a more appropriate method of operation. 

It is a time for surveying the scene and scanning the horizon for new tools that might b useful in the near future, hence the association of this phase with research. The unconscious is busy acquiring input that will surface in a more concrete way during direct phase.

The awareness referred to earlier is ripening now, and will be of great assistance to the type of attention that will necessarily occupy the greatest part of the direct cycle. This final phase of retrograde Mercury is profoundly educational time, and intensely creative in an embryonic way. Because it remains a time of holding back full power of executive action, yet is till highly stimulating in a developmental fashion, the phase might be experienced as frustration due to the inability to formulate fully matured ideas or situations. This is where trust and letting go become profound lessons.

Something must be completed during this phase, it is wise to insert a 'provisional change codicil' to obviate serious planning flaws. if one is prepared for change, though the details of the change are unknown, then flexibility becomes an asset. Mercury retrograde is to teach graceful movement through a course of cosmic obstacles. After all, the rocks are part of the path.

Promethean direct: The direction of Mercury is the indicator that it is time to engage in observation and begin to pay attention.

We can fly headlong towards accomplishment with little introspection. The forty-seven or so days of the direct phase are a time to act on instinct, with little regard for the results that will manifest in the environment. The inner urge is the primary motivator, the excitement of freedom is unbound - the mind now has full control and the powers of observation and action are heightening. Action precedes thought and, though mental activity is at a peak, consequences are not necessarily taken into account. It is the perfect time to test he untried and to market the idea or product of the retrograde reflection. This forward thrust is the opportunity to allow full creative freedom, seizing all possible circumstances for growth and expansion - personally, professionally and creatively.

It is possible to be blinded by will and ego force and not rationally guided. It is also possible to be struck by the pure genius of one's own actions.

This way lies madness, but it the recognition of these apparently complicated machinations comes from within, with awareness, then paying some attention to them prepares one for the inevitable fluxes in life.

An experimental phase of action, a time when one can fly in the face of convention, but eventually one's ideas or actions must be tested against experience.

Epimethean direct: The forty-seven days approximate between the superior conjunction and the station-retrograde are when a 'completion of action' stage dominates.

The maturity of projects, ideas and actions has arrived and is an opportune time to reap the full rewards available. The ego is no longer subordinate to wild and pure mind, since bursts of creativity are more likely to be checked against a measure of practicality. The mind is more pragmatic, even in experimental areas, and thus more rational, logical and organized.

Much of what has transpired over the last couple of months could use some review. The cycle will either slow processes down or halt them altogether, now as punishment from the gods but as a natural part of cyclic evolution.