Let's blame Mercury

Everyone's favourite scapegoat right now.

Feeling tired? Feeling out of sorts? Feeling prone to miscommunication? If you mention this to one of your more astrologically-inclined friends, you may be hit with the old 'Mercury's in Retrograde' comment. But what does this even mean, and how does this affect us?

Mercury's retrograde cycle is when the planet goes around the Earth. This movement in the sky typically occurs three or four times a year. Right now, we are stuck in the midst of it: the current retrograde period for Mercury started around September 9th, and will end around October 2nd. Some of us have been awaiting this period with much fear for months, but others of us are only in the loop from an odd Facebook meme or a Co-Star notification. I fall into the latter category.

There is, of course, two approaches. One, to blame every current mishap on the movement of the planets, for surely we can let someone else take the blame, whilst the second is to disregard astrological predictions with incredulity and scorn. Let us hypothetically approach the Mercury Retrograde as if it does have a palpable effect on all of us.

Mercury is the planet of transportation, of intellect, and above all, of communication. Hence, it is often suggested that the retrograde will have the greatest negative impact on these areas of our lives. For some astrologers, they believe we could be subject to miscommunication at work, late public transport, confusing romantic feelings and misdirected emails. Mercury is certainly a tricky little devil, bringing confusion and mayhem into our everyday lives. But perhaps it is not all bad. The period can also bring about closure from the past and a new perspective on things. It can help you learn how to communicate with others better.

Reading my Aries horoscope, I can relate to what was predicted to happen for me in this month. But it is also easy to question the opposite. I'm always quite fickle, so surely I am prone to miscommunication any time of year? I religiously catch public transport, so isn't a late bus going to be a regular occurrence?

So for now, I'm not sure where I stand, but that won't stop people you know using Mercury as a scapegoat for all their problems right now and you better get used to it, because it will be back in December!