for the Week of May 26, 2008     

by Lyn Hammond-Gray, DDiv
 

 Are you having the experience Stutter Butter….?? It isn’t Schizophrenia…

it is just Mercury Retrograde in the Sign of Gemini.  Mercury turned retrograde   on our token Memorial Holiday, Monday May 26^th around noon EDT.

 Make way for the reexamination of what you think you love to do! We have bit of a treat with this Mercury journey.  Venus and the Sun accompany Mercury on its retro journey.  Do expect to re-examine in your mind’s eye what you love to do, who you love and who loves you.  H-mmmmmmmmm?

Our first indicator of “What sup?” with this Mercury Rx is an intellectual experience… it happens mostly in the mind…and if you will….in the head.  Mercury in Gemini represents a kind of changeable duality.  This may occur as a “going in many directions at one time” kind of thinking.  One minute you may want to do A and before you know it, you may change your thinking to B, C, or D.

 The mind wants to collect information and fast. The Gemini mentality has a quality of “I know” but can change its mind in the middle of a sentence.  You will certainly find this phenomena going on.  Expectations look like this:

 1. Remembering past educational and intellectual achievements. We may return to some old intellectual project or go back to finish one we started a long time ago.

 2.  Thinking of our old learning styles and taking a look at what has happened to them over time.  Going back to pick up a study you started long ago.  (Maybe in 2002 for that was the last time Mercury was retrograde in the sign of Gemini).

3.  Experiencing internalized thinking.  Perhaps more than any other trait for this retro is….internalizing our thoughts….we are thinking, but it is going inside instead of outside. We may find it difficult to articulate our actual thoughts.

4. Going back to places you have traveled before.  Short trips may be experienced and repeated many times to the same place.

5. Finding an old letter, documents, paper work, or red tape.  You may even find a letter that you have never opened before. 

6.  Re-reading a book that changed your life or your thinking style.

7. Reconnecting with old childhood school friends.

We will certainly have our usual breakdown of communication.  There will also be breakdown of electronic items.   In all retrograde Mercury periods, the items that communicate, i.e. …phones, cell phones, computers, printers, tape players, cds/dvd’s, sound systems, automobiles, cable service, televisions, and now, I-Pods are ones that give us the greatest challenge.

Most assuredly, expect delay in the postal service!  Letters returned undeliverable, lost, damaged, and re-routed.  Oh, do expect long lines at the post office (h-mmmm, remember those good old machines where you could purchase a single stamp.  What happened to those?)

 Note that you will probably experience at least one electrical item that suffers a breakdown.  If it is an item that can wait on repair, it would be best to do so after the 19^th of June.  

 If you buy something major during the retrograde, chances are that it will be a “lemon” or it will never serve you the way you want to be served.  Can you borrow one?  Rent one?  This would be your best action. And then later return it.  And you ask... does this include buying a car?  Absolutely! Oh!  My gosh, Read my lips…..Especially a car.

 The art of human communication never runs smooth while Mercury is retrograde. 

It seems upside down…right side out.  The reasoning mind simply goes on hold during this period.  Or it goes off in any kind of direction that is not a normal direction. 

 We hear the sound as people speak to us, but alas, those words seem to go in one ear and out the other without a register.  The art of giving or receiving instructions should be approached in this manner:

  Repeat the instruction a couple of times as in:  

1. You repeat the instructions you are giving or write them down then re-read what you have written. 
2. Give the text to the receiver.  And save a copy for yourself.  
3. For the sake of clarity, have the other person repeat what they think you said.  

 In the case of communicating with our mates:

 The Retrograde can be a real challenge. You’ll hear: 

 You never told me that. 

I didn’t hear you.

You said what? 

No you didn’t. 

You said something entirely different.

And the “off-beat” goes on.

 The people that are closest to us are the ones we most take for granted.  When mercury is retrograde, it seems we just tune them out.  We hear the sound of their voice, but we aren’t really listening.  This causes great havoc and confusion in close relationships.  Take special care to bring your mind off-hold while your mate is speaking.  Make it your business to listen with all of your senses (plus your heart) and this would include your seventh sense.  This could save a great deal of heart-ache, heart-break and break-ups. 

 Arguments conducted during a retrograde simply become psychobabble.  They don’t make any sense.  If the debate is necessary, place it on hold until Mercury turns direct. You may find the inclination to debate just fizzles out once Mercury does turn direct (June 19^th).   One advantage of waiting is you may discover something during the retrograde that gives you more insight to the topic that could have been debated.

 And speaking of senses…Better make notes!  Mercury retrograde plays with all of our other senses…..site, taste, hearing, touch and smell.   They all seem to be dull or on hold at this time.  My personal experience is my voice simply goes raspy and rough during all retrogrades.  It returns to normal when Mercury turns direct.

 Here are your ABC’s for a smoother retrograde journey:

 Mercury retro always creates a repeating action.   Re-words are common.  Here are some re-words you will notice during the Gemini retro:

Rewrite - Text that you have written before finds a need to be rewritten.

Repeat – The action you are making during the RX period will probably repeat again during this period or a future period.

Remember - Yes, re-member is also a “re” word.  And you may find difficulty with short term memory. However, long term memory seems to be working fine.  It may feel like the dendrite pathways in the brain are water logged.  Don’t worry it isn’t Alzheimer’s…it is just retrograde.

(post note:  Speaking of Alzheimer’s, Alois Alzheimer was born with Mercury in Gemini.  He is given credit for the first clinical diagnosis of the symptoms of presenile dementia.)

Repair – The need for repair will arise.  If it is the kind of repair that can wait until Mercury turns direct….then waiting is the best action.  If you must repair the function during the retro, expect to repair it again in some future date. (Mercury turns direct June 19^th, 2008).

Reverse - You will be amazed at how many times you change your mind or reverse your thinking during this time.  Watch out for that guy/girl that is driving in reverse down the emergency lane on the freeway!

Recall -  Your mind will wonder back.  You will think of people from the past or you will encounter someone from the past.  If old lovers show up, don’t bet that it will stick.  Believe me... it is just for a “review.”  (And if it does last, I want to be the first to know about it).

Rewind -  Do be amused at how many times you find yourself rewinding and re-tracking.   

Review - If you are reading instructions, you may find it necessary to review them again and again.  They may not make sense because the publisher left out a step.  It happens!

Regroup -   It is a common experience with corporations to hear the boss say, ‘Alright, we are going to rework this thing and make it right.’  Later when the retro period is over, they go back to the old way doing things.  It is a laugh a minute.  Stand back and watch the comedy.

Reboot and Revise - The computer world is a definite place to watch the comedy. It is common for one to suddenly decide to revise their system during the Rx. 

Oh! Mercy!  That revised system may never function in the normal way.  Oh, please!  Do wait until the period is over.  However, it is fine to do your shopping for the new components during the Rx.  If you wait to overhaul until after the direction motion, you will find a better buy and will throw the retro plan away!

Return – Going back to the old ways of doing anything, a hobby, an old job, an old thought, an old hurt or an old injustice is simply common during the Rx.  Our minds just simply seem to go there without any effort on our part.

Rebirth – Often,  one will go back into the past and bring up old creative projects to work with during this time frame.  Sometimes it sticks and sometimes it doesn’t.  Only you will be able to activate the discipline to keep it going once the retrograde period is over.

Recover - You can bet that you will dig into your files, boxes or storage to recover something that you need…you can also bet it won’t be an easy find.  It is totally likely you will be looking for a legal document.  While it is possible that you may not find what you are looking for, you may find something else that you would like to put back in to use.  Fun!  Maybe you will find that diamond ring you lost.

Re-examine - Your beliefs, especially those that are religious, stand for a re-examination during this journey.  It is totally possible and highly likely for you to adopt a new way of believing when this retro ends.

Reduction – Over the years, I have been amazed at how many times a company or person decides to eliminate a job or to leave a job during the retrograde.  My historical observation is “a job changed during this period is 95% of the time regretted. 

Can you wait dear heart?  Can you leave and/or accept the position once the Rx is over?

And so it is.  Three times a year we live this “going to teach us a lesson in patience routine”.   

The Mercury Retrogrades usually follows a pattern of elements. In this year of 2008, we will have three mercury retrograde periods all in air signs. 

1. The first retrograde this year was in the air sign of Aquarius (January 28^th to February 18^th).

2. The second period (May 26^th until June 19^th) is in the sign of Gemini, an air sign.

3. The last period of the year, September 24 until October 15^th will be in Libra an air sign.

The last time Mercury was in a series of air signs was in 2002.  What can you remember from that period?

The flow of the universe is very, very interesting and electro-magnetic energy is going to have its way with us.

May you have peace and discovery in your Mercury retrograde. 

May you have humor and entertainment as you watch the show.

May you have patience with the long delays and wait periods.

May all of this lead you to some great freedom in the expression of the true you and what you love!

 Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is! ---Anne Frank

Lyn

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