And not a minute too soon. After 7 pm Mercury will be traveling direct again.

Some astrologers say that the shadow period of Mercury extends after Mercury makes that direct turn, but in my experience any lingering effect of Mercury is usually not very noticeable. Mercury is stationary now as it prepares to retrograde, and because it is such a quick-moving planet its turns occur more quickly than, say, Uranus or Pluto whose “stations” can have powerful effects for weeks at a time.