Too many people have too many superstitions about Mercury's retrograde. They think its like Friday the 13th and everything's going to go wrong. My power dropped out for a minute the night before last, and my cell phone carrier had a server crash today, and I wasn't receiving my incoming calls. (I am writing this article during the interim between Christmas and New Year 2008.) If Mercury were in retrograde now, everybody would be running around saying, "Its Mercury! Its Mercury's fault!" This stuff happens all the time, and it has nothing to do with Mercury's transit.

Mercury is the ruler of transportation and communication. He is the messenger God in mythology. Mercury also rules our minds and logic, and he governs communication processes on the Internet. When a planet is actually in it's backward motion, it's affects are usually a bit more subdued, but not normally bad. It usually pulls up past issues for us to deal with. With Mercury being the messenger, we often get calls from old friends, and past over loved ones will also come a knocking. Situations often urge us to reevaluate our goals and our values when Mercury is in retrograde. Also, if we have been pushing our luck in the past, Mercury may make us pay up.

When a planet is in retrograde it appears to be moving backward across the sky. All the planets except the Sun and the Moon turn retrograde every now and then. In fact the outer planets are in retrograde almost as much as they are moving forward. Mercury gets special attention from astrologers, because he is so close to the earth, and because his retrograde happens so often, 3 - 4 times per year. And to let the inquisitive know, Mercury will only have 3 retrograde periods this year.

The difficult times of any retrograde is when the planet is in the process of changing directions, which is called the stations. During that time the planet is not moving much at all, and it is figuratively burning a hole in the universe. In Mercury's case the stations are usually just the days his retrograde begins and ends. With slower outer planets, we may feel the effects of the stations a few days before and after the day it changes directions.

This Mercury retrograde will begin (retrograde station) on January 11th in Aquarius. Mercury is going to have a lot of planets insulating him and no planets aspecting him, so it shouldn't be too tough. There will be a Full Moon on January 10th, so we may have more problems with Mercury's retrograde station on the 10th rather than the actual day of the station. To put it in English, we may find that we have a few travel problems or miscommunications during the evening of January 10th, but by the evening of the 11th, we should find that things are functioning again.

Jupiter, the Sun, and Mars will all cross Mercury as he moves along his backwards path, and those days could prove to be significant. Mercury will conjunct Jupiter on January 18th and that could really bring old friends back into our lives. Jupiter brings expansion and Mercury, communication, so there is also a strong possibility we may want to talk about situations from our past. It will also be a great day for recollections, so if you are writing that autobiography, January 18th will be the day to sit down and compose.

The Sun will come up quickly behind Jupiter and conjunct Mercury at the karmic 0 degree point in Aquarius on January 20th, Inauguration Day. The Sun represents our characters and Mercury, expression. Our new President should have some very important messages for us on how he is going to clean up the mess left for him from the past. With Aquarius involved, he may have some new and unique ideas. For the rest of us, we may find we are ready to dig into and sort out old papers, or perhaps try a new approach to an old problem. There could also be some unexpected messages from old friends around that time, especially male friends.

Mercury in retrograde will conjunct Mars in Capricorn on January 27th and Venus will be sending them some positive energy at the same time. The Sun and Moon will be creating a Solar eclipse on January 26th, so we will definitely be ready for some changes. Mars is the God of energy, so many of us will be initiating those changes. There could be some old romances rekindle at this time. Are you thinking of contacting an old lover? This will be the best time.

As Mercury turns direct (direct station), he will be making a positive angle to the Saturn-Uranus opposition going on this year. (You can read more about Saturn Oppose Uranus in my article, "The Odd Couple.") This should help to make his transition back to forward motion fairly stable. We may hit a few of the typical transportation and communication problems, but we will be able to deal with them. In fact, we may just surprise ourselves just how well we deal with them.

Okay, its now amateur astrologer time. Let's see how Mercury's retrograde is going to affect you. Mercury will transit this retrograde from 8 degrees Aquarius to 22 degrees Capricorn. So, check your natal charts.

First look at which house or houses in your chart that he will be traveling through. You will probably find that the areas in your life that (those) house(es) covers will be put on hold, and you will probably show little progress. An example, if you are out of work and Mercury's retrograde will be covering your 6th house of work, you may as well take a temporary job until Mercury turns direct, any permanent jobs probably won't pan out.

Next, are Mercury's Retrograde Station (8 degrees Aquarius) or Direct Station (22 degrees Capricorn) going to aspect any of your natal planets or power points? If you have any planets or points between 6 degrees and 10 degrees in Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, or Scorpio (fixed signs), then you may find that Mercury's Retrograde Station (January 11th) could bring some changes that are forced upon you, depending upon which planet or power point. Remember outer planets (Jupiter on out) affect us more as a generation, so they won't have as much impact, but inner planets and power points could make the changes much more dramatic in our lives. Planets and power points between 6 and 10 degrees in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, this Mercury Retrograde station may bring some opportunities disguised as problems.

Now let's look at Mercury's Direct Station on February 1st (January 31st for our friends in Europe). If you have any planets or power points between 20 and 24 degrees in Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, and Libra (cardinal signs), you may find that some people are not listening to you or even lying to you. There could also be some shocking unexpected messages. But, if you have any planets between 20 and 24 degrees in Capricorn, Taurus, or Virgo (earth signs), you may find that on February 1st parts of your life that have been a little stuck will start to move forward again.

To come to a deeper understanding of Mercury's retrograde, we really have to stop blaming it for all the little mishaps in our lives and start using the energy to reevaluate and refocus our goals and ideals