Mercury Retrograde in the age of Techno-Tarot

For those of you who are Astrologers as well as Tarot readers, forgive me stating the obvious.  The planet Mercury rules communication; what is meant by retrograde is the planet visually appears to move backward.  So the key words for this blog are “communication” and “backward”.  For most of the last century, Mercury retrograde was something that was only important to people who used Astrologers to time personal or business events.  However with the proliferation of computers and digital communication, this all changed.

The first time I really became aware of Mercury retrograde was when I got my job as a webmaster on an experimental website for Space Shuttle data.  Everything was going along smoothly, when wham – HR changed their mind about allowing employees access to the Internet, our server broke down, and a major software upgrade didn’t work.  Ah, Mercury retrograde, said a friend who was an Astrologer.  After some research, I began tracking the event.  Now, granted – I was watching for events, but it seemed like the craziest things happened to hardware, software and websites when Mercury goes retrograde.  So after 10 years in IT, I absolutely believed that Mercury retrograde had an affect on digital communication.

So now we move forward to the age of blogs, Tweeting, and social networking.  People read cards online or on the phone.  We really all do depend on digital communication; so how do we deal with Mercury retrograde?  First, take a little extra care of your equipment.  Make sure that laptops, iPads, and cell phones are secured and protected in the case of the unthinkable; you drop the device.  Keep equipment well charged.  If you are going to use a software program to communicate, sign on a few minutes early to make sure everything works. 

With written communication, don’t be afraid to save the file and read it after you take a break.  Its way too easy to overlook a typo, or worse have your device “autocorrect” you to Internet infamy.  The positive purpose of Mercury retrograde is to take a break from unnecessary communication and use that time to regroup.  Just like the equipment we use, we all need to recharge.  Now’s a time to plan to do just that – take a break.  Mercury retrograde started March 30^th, and ends April 23^rd.