Mercury turns retrograde today, taking us into three weeks of reconsideration and re-evaluation with potential communication and equipment glitches.  Mercury is in Aries during this retrograde, and since Aries is the sign of action and initiation it’s not too happy when it has to look backwards and review rather than take direct action.

Retrograde periods serve a function that goes beyond creating problems in our lives: they are opportunities for do-overs.  If you didn’t get something right the first time, this is a chance to go back and do it over again.  It’s a time for reassessing our priorities, for reviewing the things we have done and the plans we have set in motion.

While it’s generally true that contracts signed and decisions made when Mercury is retrograde often require renegotiation and revision, we can’t always put our lives on hold for three weeks.  Sometimes we have to begin a job or sign an important contract when Mercury is retrograde, in which case it’s helpful to know that communication problems are likely and be prepared for that.  If you CAN avoid starting something new when Mercury is retrograde it makes life easier, but life isn’t always about things being easy.  Life urges us to grow and evolve, and along the way we will encounter bumps on the road.

Mercury retrograde periods are excellent for reassessing the past, for redoing your plans, for looking back at your goals to see where they can be realigned with your present reality and hopes for the future.  It’s a time to gather your resources so that you can emerge at the end of the retrograde with a new confidence and with improved resources.