Mercury Retrograde in Virgo
“Raise your hand if you’ve personally been victimized by Mercury Retrograde” (Me)
August 5th, right after the New Moon in Leo, Mercury went retrograde in Virgo. Yes, the infamous mercury retrograde we all have heard about. The dreaded phenomenon that can bring back supposedly “unwanted” exes, electronic and travel mishaps, and miscommunication. Mercury retrogrades are disruptive, but this disruption is a good thing. We live in a world that is non stop; someone, somewhere all the time is working, waking up or going about their lives.
Where is the space or time to really think?
Retrogrades bring something back from the past or create a hiccup so that we can process and take a new course of action. That’s why that ex may pop up or that situation with your boss reoccurs. It is the medicine you need in order to release past drama, look at the situation from a different light and work through the necessary drama to resolve it. This is what a “paradigm shift” truly is. When we are no longer held back by the ties of old situations.
When Mercury is in the picture, communication is king. For this Mercury Retrograde in Virgo, one theme I’ve seen popping up is the way we communicate with ourselves being a focus. Since Mercury has been retrograde, I know this has been my sole focus. As a natal Mars in Virgo (and serial perfectionist), I can be extremely harsh on myself and critical. I often find myself separating everything into moralistic categories: good and bad, right and wrong and do my best to make sure that everything I do aligns with the “correct” box. And by the chance that I am slightly out of the box or on veering towards the other? All hell breaks loose in my mind. I judge myself as “bad” and instantly want nothing to do with myself. Virgo, in its shadow, is hypercritical. Virgo purifies and establishes systems so that whole of the zodiac can function. It is of service, dutiful and also extremely rigid about how things “should be” - even towards itself.
The balance is in finding the “yes/and”.
I have found that this mindset really does work for me. For example, instead of me having to be on a diet or not, I can find ways to compromise. I can add a little here and cut myself some slack for where I’m not ready to be just yet. Instead of being paralyzed by two options, or overdoing, I can create space for the long term. What Virgo is here to learn is grace. The Virgin is the symbol for Virgo and when I think of Virgo I instantly think of Mother Mary, the epitome of grace. Sometimes we have to sacrifice the ego self so that we can have greater forgiveness and acceptance. This alone creates more room to actually move forward and set realistic goals, boundaries, and anything else that pops up for you this retrograde season.
I wish you all a wonderful Mercury Retrograde and may the odds be ever in your favor (which they always are, by the way).
