First of all, let’s bust some useless Astrology Myths! By far the most commonly recognized Retrograde is Mercury Retrograde. But Mercury is not the only planet to go Retrograde. In fact every planet except the Sun and Moon go retrograde at some time or the other. That means Retrograde can apply to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Sedna and even all the Asteroids: Chiron, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, and Ceres. Mercury Retrograde just happens more often - 3 times a year to be exact.

What is a Retrograde? Every so often the planets do a fancy dance step in the sky: they stop, appear to walk backwards (like the Michael Jackson Moonwalk), stop again and then recover that lost territory. They actually make a big Z motion in the sky - like a skybound Zorro.

How long does Retrograde last? It depends on the planet. Anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months the planet will actually be moving backwards. But this answer is deceptive because the Retrograde Cycle lasts a lot longer than the actual retrograde. Only paying attention to the actual retrograde is like trying to understand the letter Z based only on the slash / that comprises the middle of the letter while ignoring the front and back tails of the letter.

Retrograde actually has 3 parts: These three parts are called, Entering the Shadow, being Retrograde and Exiting the Shadow. Entering the Shadow is like the first stroke of Zorro’s blade when he starts to make the Z - this is the top of the letter. When any planet is traveling across the sky, minding his own business - there is a moment when it prepares to enter Retrograde - this is called Entering the Shadow. This happens when the planet crosses that point in space that he will Retrograde Back to. Like the / slash in Zorro’s Z, on the second leg of it’s journey it returns to this same level in space. For Example: Let’s say that Mercury is whizzing along, ejoying himself, then he finds himself entering the Shadow. The experience while he is IN the shadow (and before Turning Retrograde) is like forshadowing in a movie - or a Preview of Coming Attractions. This is when we are actually given Advance Notice of the things to come. Then when we are in Retrograde and the problems emerge. This is when we SEE what needs to be fixed. These are the same things that we were given Advance Notice about during the first Shadow. Then a few weeks (or months, depending on the planet) later it goes DIRECT again. But we’re still not done. Zorro isn’t finished until he makes that final stroke of the Z. The final tail of the Z is also called the Shadow. But this time it is called exiting the Shadow. And this is the time when we catch up with all the problems we experienced during the Retrograde and are able to feel the results of the solutions we created.

Using Zorro as our example, let’s say that the masked hero is running along and passes an alley, where he sees a crime taking place. He then turns around (this is called going Station Retrograde) in order to come back to the scene of the trouble and fight it out to fix it. From the time he has seen the trouble until the time it takes him to slow down and turn around he has entered the Shadow At that moment when he turns around he has Gone Retrograde. Once he gets back to the scene and handles the situation he then turns around again (this is called going Station Direct). As he continues on his way, he is still Exiting the Shadow, until he is able to pass that point where he first saw what needed to be taken care of - before he managed to slow down and change directions. We assume that his is feeling happy and proud on this last leg of the Z for a job well done. Then he continues on about his business as usual. And his whole journey resembles the letter Z.

Imagine the possibilities that open up for you just from understanding that there are 3 parts to a planet’s Retrograde. Imagine that now you can get Advance Notice of what you will be needing to fix, just by paying attention to the stars. Each time there is a Retrograde, the issues and domaine of the Retrograde planet come up to be fixed. Below is a partial list of what each Retrograde cycle means.

Mercury: Mind, thinking, words, short journeys, communication, software, driving, neighbors, pets, co-workers, employees and siblings.
Venus: Values, attractions, that which we desire or which desires us, money, art, movable wealth (like jewelry or jemstones), beauty, the law of attraction.
Mars: Action, war, agression, sports, athletics, dance, movement, muscles, competition, the desire to win, knives, guns, cutting instruments, new beginnings.
Jupiter: Learning, long journeys, the legal system, foreigners, myths, stories, symbolism, publishing, philosophies, group agendas, the search for truth, forgiveness.
Saturn: Hardship, burdens, karma, struggle, rules, order, time, structure, organization, growing up, bad lawsuits, control, domination, fear, pettiness, cruelty.
Pluto: Big business, compusions, power, transformation, use of mass resources, explosions, unseen roots, pyschology, hypnotherapy, money from success or mass systems.
Uranus: Politics, the needs and desires of the masses; public utilities, mass transit, railroads, shipping, the Internet, social groups, awards galas & events, peer recognition, mathematics, astrology, classical music, TV & broadcasting equipment.
Neptune: Organic compounds or resources from the earth or oceans (including animals), religion, spirituality, illusion, make-up, film, chemicals, biological sciences, mud and other maleable substances, fog and other cloudlike substances, the astral plane, lower level psychic information (often filled with illusion, or addiction), addictions, drugs and undirected or undisciplined altered states of consciousness, deception.

This is nowhere near a complete list, but it should stimulate some brain cells! Astrology is a complicated system, but by simply understanding the meanings of a Retrograde Cycle you can gain worlds of insight about what may be currently effecting you. The planets closest to the Sun - Mercury, Venus and Mars have a relatively short cycle which lasts just a few months. But the very far off planets like Pluto have very LONG cycles that can last for a decade or longer. Weather it is the Retrograde Mercury or a Retrograde Mars, or Pluto that you are wondering about, I am sure you can get a better understanding of what each one means from this simple guide.

To schedule a session looking at the impact of this Mercury Retrograde (or any other Retrograde planet) on you personally, and to plan for success during this cycle just click here.

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