Are you breathing a sigh of relief yet? I sure am. As a Virgo-rising, two of my angular houses are Mercury-ruled -- 1st house (who I am) and 10th house (where I am going). It never fails that a Mercury retrograde period will frustrate me with delays, miscommunication, misunderstandings, Facebook and Twitter having technical difficulties, my internet connection going down, my cable box on the fritz, the ATM machine running out of cash just as I am about to use it ... oh, wait a minute, I'm sure I'm not the only one inconvenienced by the retrograde. It must be my Aries-Moon feeling like my Mercury-retrograde woes are greater than others :-)

During the last Mercury retrograde period in May, I was incredibly productive, surprising myself more than anyone. My productivity level remain average this time around, considering how busy sky has been in September in addition to Mercury being retrograde -- the Sun and Venus' alignments to the triple conjunction and Uranus, Saturn-Uranus opposition, Pluto back at Aries Point in Capricorn, Venus-Pluto trine, Mercury-rx and Saturn conjunction, plus Venus -- yet another planet -- transiting in Virgo! I found, however, that I had to re-do a lot more things this time. That Virgo-energy was just not happy enough with results ... I had to keep fine-tuning, perfecting, analyzing ... maddening!

Well, on September 29 at 9:13 a.m. Eastern, Mercury stations and prepares for direct movement. *sigh of relief* He has been retrograde since September 7. The complete retrograde cycle, including the shadow period, is August 17 to October 14. Mercury will have retraced his steps beginning from 6 degrees and 13 minutes of Libra all the way back to 21 degrees and 38 minutes of Virgo. Expect to revisit unresolved issues or major events between now and back to August 17, especially with four other planets currently in retrograde. As Mercury moves forward through the degrees he's previously visited, twice before, this third pass may give resolutions, final answers/decisions, raise awareness to something/s previously missed, or perhaps a look back to reflect upon the current status of these situations.

Although we are all somewhat influenced by this retrograde, those with natal planets and/or house angles near Virgo at 22 degrees through Libra 6 degrees might have felt this energy stronger. How was this Mercury-retrograde cycle for you?

Unsure if you have any natal planets and/or house angles between 22 degrees of Virgo and 6 degrees of Libra? Cast your own birth chart for use as reference -- birth date, time, and place required. Or request a quote for a paid personalized reading. (both links open a new window)


Related articles:

• Transiting Mercury in Natal Houses
• Mercury Sextile Mars ~ September 30 to October 4, 2009
  
• Mercury Retrograde ~ September 7 to 29, 2009
• Mercury Re-enters Virgo ~ September 17 to October 9, 2009
• Mercury Re-enters Libra ~ October 9 to 28, 2009