What does it mean to be in Mercury retrograde?

From 13 to 31 December Mercury retrogrades for the last time in 2023, and before you get your hands up in your head, we explain the reasons to reconcile with the unjustly reviled Mercury.

The first thing to clarify is that the planet Mercury itself does not retrograde, that is, it does not go backwards. It is an optical illusion created by the rest of the planets where they move at different speeds and that is why they appear to go backwards. It is important to recognise this illusion, since in many cases our collective unconscious feeds back catastrophic prophecies associated with this astrological phenomenon.

“Mercury is the planet of communication, of the mind, strategy and intelligence. And that is why we can say that it represents the rationality within all of us”, explains Ana Lorente, work coach and astrologer, founder of Muy Ciela. The negative effects it has are well known: bad communication, charged atmosphere, misunderstandings or clumsiness when it comes to rationalising, among others. Even device and connection failures are well known.

However, these effects have a function, and that is that when Mercury retrogrades, it does not do so in order to screw up your plans, but with an important purpose: to invite you to introspect. This is why during these times we have an opportunity to slow down the flow of external communications, so that we can stop and invest our time in communicating with ourselves. When a planet goes retrograde it invites us to review and look inward, in the form of introspection.

On days when Mercury retrogrades you need to rethink how you communicate, as when this phenomenon occurs we have the illusion that everything stops or works in a clumsier way. This is the energy available inviting you to put on the brakes and answer uncomfortable questions: Am I communicating in the right way, from where do I relate to the outside world, what is the real purpose of my objectives, or even what do I use my connections -personal and digital- for?

That Mercury retrograde hinders us in the rational, and this is tremendously necessary. “Our more rational and strategic side pauses, not to make us feel useless, but to give way to our introspection, leaving space for our emotions. The mind needs to stop and leave the microphone open to our heart”, defends Ana Lorente, work coach and astrologer, founder of Muy Ciela.

Horoscope October 2023: this is what awaits you.