Is Mercury Retrograde Really All That Scary?
While watching HGTV with my husband last night, there was a show featuring a young couple trying to purchase their first home. The home they picked out had a price tag of $259,000; they offered about $240,000 and asked for closing costs. The seller’s counter offer was a staggering $258,000 and no closing costs. She’d only budged a mere $1,000 on her asking price. The buyers countered at $245,000 plus closing costs, and again the seller came back with $258,000. She hadn’t moved an inch. When the couple then offered $249,000, the seller asked for some time to think about the offer. A few weeks later, the offer was accepted. When the purchasers asked why it had taken so long for the seller to accept their offer, I was stunned when their realtor’s response was that “the seller did not want to sign any contracts while Mercury was in retrograde.”
I must admit: my jaw just about hit the floor when I heard that answer. Yes, Mercury is currently in retrograde and will continue to be so until May 11, and this period of retrograde is supposed to wreak more havoc than usual, but I was still astonished. To me, losing a buyer on a house in these economic conditions is far worse than signing a contract with said buyer because of the current planetary alignment. Mercury is the planet of communication, and I will fully admit to, at times, falling prey to its apparent backward motion, but should we really hide under our covers every few months until Mercury goes direct again?
Marguerite Manning, author of Cosmic Karma, points out in her article “Mercury Retrograde: Above the Hype and Beyond the Spin,” that Mercury retrograde’s strong influence doesn’t have to be a negative one. Instead, Mercury retrograde is a time to focus on those things revealed to us, things we can work on and ways to improve our lives. You hear that? Perhaps we don’t have to fear Mercury retrograde after all!
Have you ever postponed something or taken different actions simply because Mercury was in retrograde?
Excellent insight, Anna! Your message emphasizes the beauty of self-directed movement.
Although it is always a benefit to incorporate all available information when making our decisions, an individual holds the power of deliberate intention toward a desired outcome.
Regardless of Mercury’s present motion, it remains our innate ability to choose the direction of our own expansion toward a specific goal. Thank you for the reminder:)
For some reason, I find when Mercury is retrograde, things are pretty good for me. Is it because I have a Mercury Retrograde in my birth chart?
Well, Mercury Retro isnt about being afraid, it is about being careful of your actions. life still goes on. You cant stop living due to the planets. But, I have documented when I have had car trouble or PC trouble, etc. And 9 times out of 10, it was under Mercury Retro. That doesnt mean that things dont happen when Mercury is direct.
Point is, do what though wilt. But you may need to work harder for what you strive for during retrograde. Doesnt mean it wont work out.
I have never postponed anything with Mercury in retrograde, but I have taken different actions, or perhaps I should say a different approach.
During the last Merc Retro, I was traveling cross country with my husband, primarily relying on our GPS to get us where we were going. There were glitches with that thing every day. I explained the Merc Retro and the potential communications snafus and suggested we might want to get our bearing with the old fashioned map – just in case the GPS was losing it’s mind. That approach saved us many an argument over taking the GPS so literally that he throws common sense out the window.
Haha, now that Mercury is direct, I am responding hehe! This was not the original idea, so I guess this was guided in its own way hehe!
While going to extremes and preventing you from living a life is not the idea here, the influences should give you a clue about what is going on. There are good reasons to delay real estate transactions, as this is indeed a big deal that is not an everyday occurrence.
Here is a different case: I was considering a HUGE undertaking that was introduced to me at a Mercury Retrograde, and the commitment was needed before Mercury went direct, or else it was entirely forfeited. So, I went ahead, knowing there could have been problems. Well, the only problem was that it turned out to be a huge waste of time and money! I learned my lesson (and luckily I had fun so it wasn’t a huge loss).
However, Mercury retrograde CAN be used to one’s advantage. For instance, in the days when I used to see a doctor and be on birth control (stupid, never do this!), I was about to run out of pills and thought I had more – and realized I needed an appointment to refill, but the appointments were two months in advance! I learned that walk-ins were also accepted but only in the event that people with appointments were served first. Knowing that Mercury retrograde would likely bring about circumstances where people would either (a) forget, (b) cancel and reschedule, or (c) be late – I decided to attempt being a walk-in. I didn’t even have to wait 20 minutes before I was helped! So sometimes it can work in your favor.
I also was moving from the East Coast back to California during a Mercury retrograde and had no trouble at all. The key word here is “back” since I came from California!
Is Mercury retrograde a big deal? To me, big enough to pay attention to, definitely!! Know how it can work in your favor when needed, and know that it can be disruptive – and maybe those disruptions end up being better than originally thought!
[…] stated many times before that Mercury retrograde is truly not to be feared; instead, it is a time of “re-s:” renewal, reflection, redoing, recovery, etc. This is […]
[…] stated many times before that Mercury retrograde is truly not to be feared. While periods of Mercury retrograde are not ideal times to begin new ventures (and you should be […]
[…] stated many times before that Mercury retrograde is truly not to be feared. While periods of Mercury retrograde are not ideal times to begin new ventures (and you should be […]
[…] stated many times before that Mercury retrograde is truly not to be feared. While periods of Mercury retrograde are not ideal times to begin new ventures (and you should be […]
[…] stated many times before that Mercury retrograde is truly not to be feared. While periods of Mercury retrograde are not ideal times to begin new ventures (and you should be […]
I would do exactly the same as the seller did as Mercury retro always gives me the worst ever time. There has been NO exceptions. I can come up with plans worked out months in advance taking into account the tiniest little detail even in depth risk management, every time I will get screwed. If I were to sign a deal during that time, I can be sure something would happen that I could not foresee like buyer would die in a car accident, would lose their job and bank would turn down the loan…. Mercury Retro literally kills me. You would not imagine the kind of situation I get into during those times. I have tried everything. Hiding at home, going away, ignoring it but Mercury will find me every time.
There is always someone / something out that will cause chaos for me during that time. Unless I was in real financial distress, I think I would prefer to take the risk of not selling my house than signing in Mercury retro. I cannot remember one Mercury retro that has left me unscathed. I still do take my chances as I cannot escape from life 3 months every year but I know that I will have to face the music for everything new I do in Mercury retro. This time I will most likely sign a new house rental contract as the house to rent I found seems to be a golden opportunity I cannot miss. Let’s see what happens when the dark knight shows up this time…!