By Hannah Hall, Blogger and Extreme Amateur Astrologer

Astrology nerds everywhere blame their seasonal problems on Mercury in retrograde. Problems arise such as communication issues, being easily annoyed, or lack of focus. This blaming of Mercury Retrograde sometimes gets me rolling my eyes, but the general idea of this phenomena is interesting. Retrograde refers to a planet moving in reverse. A planet moving in reverse? What I found in my research is that this retrograde isn’t as wowing as it seems.

First, to put this into perspective, you know when you are in a car and the car next to you speeds up suddenly and it feels like you’re going in reverse? This situation is kind of like the Mercury Retrograde. Basically, both planets are obviously still moving forward, but the perspective that we have on Earth makes it seem like Mercury is going in reverse because the speed at which Mercury orbits is much faster than Earth’s. According to Emily Ridout, folklorist, astrologer, yogini, and writer of Mercury Retrograde: Why You Should Care, “In Astrology, when planets are in retrograde motion, it indicates that the energy of that planet is moving more inward. In our outward, achievement-oriented society, this can seem scary, but I assure you, it’s not.” So with all of that being said, why do we care about planets in retrograde? Most people get the misconception that with astrology, planetary movements dictate our actions and what we have to say and do. But this is wrong. Instead, we are supposed to take in account what is happening around us and take that energy and channnnneellllllllll it into your actions. Specifically during the Mercury Retrograde, our communication skills are affected adversely; this means anything between our speech to the thoughts in our head is affected. You see? This is why people are always buggin’ about the retrograde! It’s because communication is a basic aspect in each of our lives, and when an extraterrestrial body is supposedly dominating and hanging over our every move, a natural reaction would be to freak. But have no fear, even though you may or may not have a sudden loss of focus, or anything of that sort, astrology just suggests during this time you stick to familiar things and don’t start anything new; go easy on yourself; relax. Adventure after the retrograde is over. So continue doing yo’ thang and walk that walk and especially talk that talk.

One more thing: Mercury Retrograde happens multiple times a year! This year the retrogrades are March 5 through 28; July 7 through 31; and  October 31 through November 20.

Disclaimer: I am no professional zodiac master. Try these additional sources for further information.