Listen to this articleMercury apparently moves backwards in the sky three times a year, for about 22 days at a time. During these retrograde phases, miscommunication and delays are par for the course, as this planet rules the transmission of messages, as well as local travel. (I’ve written about Mercury retrograde — Valentine’s Day style — at AOL Horoscopes.) This particular retrograde is more relationship-oriented than others, because Mercury is traveling through the two signs of the zodiac that have the most to do with intimate partnership: Libra and Scorpio.
The retrograde started on October 11/12 (depending on your time zone) at 9 Scorpio. It enters Libra on October 23, stations direct (meaning that it apparently stops in the sky to move forward again) on November 1 at 23 Libra, and re-enters Scorpio on November 11.
The styles of Mercury’s expression in these two signs could not be more different: gracious and charming versus secretive and probing. However, both Libra and Scorpio are relationship signs: Libra concerns equality in a partnership, and Scorpio governs sexual/emotional intimacy and shared financial resources.
How will this Mercury retrograde affect you?
There is much more to predictive astrology than Sun signs, but that’s all I know about you. If you know your rising sign, look to that sign instead of your Sun sign, as these “horoscopes” are based on the solar chart, in which your Sun sign IS the First House. (By 8th, I mean “8th House” and so on.)
(My apologies to the early signs. I got more outrageous as the zodiac progressed, and I’m afraid you got shafted!)
Aries – You have Scorpio on your 8th and Libra on your 7th. In the 8th, expect communication difficulties regarding joint finances and sex. In the 7th, you may misread your partner’s expression of their needs in the relationship.
Taurus – You have Scorpio on your 7th and Libra on your 6th. In the 7th, intense discussions about the relationship may dredge up the past. In the 6th, you may try to be gracious with a co-worker but end up inadvertently offending them anyway.
Gemini – You have Scorpio on your 6th and Libra on your 5th. In the 6th, a coworker may bring up past wrongs which lead to a power struggle. In the 5th, your attempts to meet your kids halfway backfires.
Cancer – You have Scorpio on your 5th and Libra on your 4th. In the 5th, all of your kids’ resentments come up to the surface and past grievances are expressed. In the 4th, your attempts at peacekeeping on the home front fail miserably.
Leo – You have Scorpio on your 4th and Libra on your 3rd. In the 4th, you dig up child abuse memories and let your mom have it. In the 3rd, you try to make peace with your little sister, and end up only making matters worse.
Virgo – You have Scorpio on your 3rd and Libra on your 2nd. In the 3rd, you and your brother fight over the money your aunt left in her will. In the 2nd, you try to balance your checkbook, but lose all of your Quicken data.
Libra – You have Scorpio on your 2nd and Libra on your 1st. In the 2nd, your talent for intuiting people’s secrets mysteriously disappears, and you lose your job as a psychic. In the 1st, your usual charming persona is shattered, as every word that comes out your mouth ends up offending someone.
Scorpio – You have Scorpio on your 1st and Libra on your 12th. In the 1st, your attempt to appear deep and mysterious fails, as you can’t even coherently express a negative sentiment. In the 12th, you wake up after a dream of having written the perfect symphony — and you know it was brilliant! — but after much scrambling you cannot find a pen, and by the time you do, all is forgotten.
Sagittarius – You have Scorpio on the 12th and Libra on the 11th. 12th: We all know about that secret love affair, but I’m afraid the word is out. You better start packing your bags before you spouse packs them for you. In the 11th, your every attempt to moderate a discussion at the PTA meeting backfires, and all the parents now think you’re the bad guy.
Capricorn – You have Scorpio on your 11th and Libra on your 10th. In the 11th, your attempts to become the #1 Mean Girl in your high school clique backfires, thus leaving you eating lunch with the dorks. In the 10th, your kiss-ass behavior at work does not endear you to the boss. In fact, she only loses respect for you.
Aquarius – You have Scorpio on your 10th and Libra on your 9th. In the 10th, your killing spree to become CEO of your company has hit a few snags — back to the drawing board! In the 9th, you graciously host a foreign exchange student, but end up offending him when you inadvertently insult his mother.
Pisces – You have Scorpio on your 9th and Libra on your 8th. In the 9th, your affair with your dissertation advisor is exposed, and you realize that you can’t screw your way to a PhD, after all. 8th: You state you want to share money equally with your spouse, but then he finds an old credit card statement showing you bought $500 shoes. Ouch!
Nice information Jeffrey, I like the Scorpio one but think I do that even when Mercury is not retrograde. 🙂
So when are we going to see your astrology book or do you have one out already.
Sharon
This does not seem to apply to me at all. As a matter of fact my kid is having issues at school so I wrote a note (cuz sometimes my spoken words hurt to inform the teacher what is going on.. VIOLA!, my kids stuff is being handled properly for a change. And as for the PTA, they all think Im a freak anyway, and LARDY am I proud of that.
Do you have any reason why I react/or dont react that way to this retrograde? Or is it just the way it is..
oh .. and no secrets that are coming out. I out myself often.
@Scorp, What’s your rising sign?
@Sharon, I co-edited an anthology on the astrology of film some years ago, although I think I’m a much better writer than I was then.
Do you have a good idea for a book?
Hmm..I don’t think this Mercury Retrograde is affecting me at all; I’m not having any secret affairs so there’s nothing for anyone to discover. According to Jeff, I shouldn’t be making any speeches in my defense, so I’ll watch out for that.
Something strange in the way of communications did happen yesterday though. I got a “call” from a Scorp I dated several months back. When I checked the voicemail, it was 3 minutes in the day of his life because he apparently didn’t know he hadn’t hung up the phone. Being the curious person I am, of course I listened and now I know about his plans for his upcoming bday. Was this on purpose or pure retrograde coincidence?
My rising is Sag. So I looked at that and it just didnt apply.
@Scorp, horoscopes are only accurate 8% of the time, didn’t you know? 😉
ROFL! Its a crap shoot eh?
Jara, I think maybe if anything, the Scorpio left the phone on unconsciously.I don’t know him so I don’t know what your relationship had been like,or what he might have been thinking, but he either wanted you to think of his birthday, or, he was wanting you to know he is “busy man”.LOL
Scorp, All I’m saying is that, by their very nature, horoscopes are imprecise, even when based on the Rising Sign. Mercury retrograde is much more likely to impact a native if it is making a significant angle to one of her angles or personal planets.
Hi, Jeffrey. You have a nice blog going with a group of people willing to share their astrology stuff, and the books that get all the hipe are the ones that can really show some type of statistical significance with the relationship to astrology. I’m just rambeling…let me ramble more and will get back sharon
Proserpine, thanks for answering my question. I just thought the whole thing was weird because:
1. He still has my number (we haven’t spoken in months after I told him it wasn’t the right time for me to date anyone)
2. He used it
3. He didn’t leave a real message (unlike me, he used to always leave a voicemail)
I’m still learning about how retrogrades work, including Mercury retrograde, so I can’t tell if that’s responsible for the strange coincidence. His Mercury is direct in Sagittarius. He has a Blackberry. Maybe those things don’t have an auto-lock feature and it just randomly called a number? Maybe I’ll wish him a happy birthday.
Btw, I have the same rising as Scorp and the horoscope in the main post isn’t accurate for me, neither. I just looked up today’s transits and there are none between Mercury and my planets, so that could be why.
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