From May 29 until June 22, we’re in for another hit as Mercury retrogrades in Gemini.
As Mercury retrogrades in its home sign, Gemini, the transit can bring a clarity of purpose — if you let it.Rocketing through space in dangerous proximity to the sun, the planet Mercury must surge forward, faster than any of its siblings in our solar system — at approximately 108,000 miles per hour — or else be devoured in the womb of fire. It cannot stop, slow down, or look backwards.
During retrograde periods — when one planet catches up to, and outpaces, another — ancient astrologers would perceive the other planets to move backwards. But it’s an illusion, based on the delightful proviso that the Earth is at the center of the universe. Planets don’t turn back — ever. And for those of us left behind, kicking up another planet’s smoke, this period reminds us of how little centrality and dominance we have over our own grand progression.
For this round — the second of three in 2021 — Mercury retrogrades in its home sign. Here, the planet would normally thrive as it makes introductions, hits multiple events in a day, posts online, and embraces sheer nuclear dynamism to thaw out of the long winter we’ve endured. Mercury, the fleet-footed messenger of the gods, served as a clear antecedent for DC’s quick-witted, ever-dynamic superhero, the Flash.
And so comes Mercury retrograde, when the manic spree comes skidding to a halt. Travel plans and projects encounter snags; posts and personal declarations take on unintended meanings; and the “new you” of late-pandemic life meets some roadblocks along the way to its ideal manifestation. This is a period of acute humiliation, as you realize that your carefully constructed life is built on a house of cards.
Perhaps it’s a good thing. A sun in Gemini, especially in a year like this, often leads to chaos. Too much possibility, with no mooring or ethos, crashes in overdrive, or sags into ambivalence. Masks are coming off,and venues are opening. Anything can happen. A dual reality, so definitive of the twins, emerges — one in which the world finally returns to us, and, in a fit of Gemini disappointment, we realize that it was shit to begin with.