It was one of those weekends when much of what could go wrong did. By Sunday night I felt exasperated and “out of sorts,” right alongside my friends that threatened to stab spouses with curtain rods and smother children with pillows. Finally, after countless weekend miscommunications, I found myself saying, “ZEUS! APHRODITE! APOLLO! Is Mercury in retrograde AGAIN? The answer was yes, Mercury is in retrograde from July 14 until August 8. All planets go retrograde, but Mercury’s journey impacts people much more than any other planet. This is because Mercury rules communication, clear thinking, truth, and travel. So when the planet goes retrograde — which means that it looks like it’s going backwards in the sky — all those things go backwards too. Of course, Mercury isn’t really going backwards, it’s just visiting the sun, but from Earth, it looks like it’s in reverse.

Mercury in retrograde can often be summed up by: “I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant!” If you have moments today where you wonder who stole your brain, you can thank Mercury. These next few weeks can be disorienting to those of who think we are well organized and communicate clearly.

While we often focus on the negative side effects of Mercury in retrograde, there is also the opportunity for real growth during this time by allowing ourselves to step back and revisit areas of our life that may need a little more work. Intuition is often sharper during this time, and our dreams may provide important insights into our lives. Ah-ha moments are available for the taking.

Here are a few suggestions on how to travel backwards with your best foot forward over the next few weeks.

♥~ Don’t take it personally. Really! It’s easy for people to say the wrong thing at the wrong time right now. Chances are they didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.

♥~ Do your homework and read the small print on contracts. Miscommunications are very common, so triple check your paperwork.

♥~ Delays — expect them. Give yourself lots of extra time to arrive at your destination.

♥~ Check three times when it comes to anything travel related. Are you sure you are at the right gate? Going to the correct airport? A flight attendant friend of mine caught her cab to the airport but did not realize she had left her luggage in front of her apartment until she reached the airport during the heart of mercury in retrograde.

♥~ If you must buy big-ticket items right now, make sure to hang on to your receipts and know your warrantees because the chances are better than average that the purchases will need to be returned or repaired.

♥~ Stay flexible. While Mercury is in retrograde, nothing is written in stone, and plans will go amuck, but with a little flexibility all will not be lost.

♥~ Surprise! Mercury is full of them. Be a good scout and try to plan for them.

♥~ Pay attention to your intuitive thoughts, ideas, and sensitivities. Be willing to give up the sensible plan for the intuitive one.

♥~ Be open to rethinking past decisions, opinions, ideas, plans, and interactions. More options, or better options, may present themselves.

♥~ Don’t be surprised if you hear from someone you haven’t been in contact with for a while. Take time to visit, reminisce, and laugh.

♥~ Focus on finishing rather than starting something new.

♥~ Easy does it. Mercury in retrograde encourages us to take a breath, slow down, regroup, and recharge instead of charging full speed ahead.

♥~ Mercury will be back in retrograde November 6- November 26.

Go with the flow, laugh lots, swear a little, eat well, toast Mercury with a goblet of nectar, and dance the retro cha-cha-cha (two steps back and one step forward) — and when life goes askew, just look up and give Mercury a wink and a grin.

What about you? Do you believe the planets can directly influence your life?

Odd Loves Company!

Note: I woke up Monday Morning without Internet. AT&T had a glitch with the automatic payment process system. El Morno Mercury!