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StargazerM

http://www.margueritemanning.com


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Comments

EmmaPage

EmmaPage

These article are fabulous Marguerite and your insight is amazing. I followed your advice during this Mercury retrograde and have never felt so empowered in my life. I learned and discovered so many important things thanks to you. Blessings my friend and please, keep writing!!!

Awakenings

Awakenings

wishing you peace, light & blessings on your path :-)

Astro World Radio

Astro World Radio

Hey Marguerite. I just wanted to stop by your blog radio page and ad you as a friend in the hopes that people tuning into the show can find you. Thanks for stopping by the show. I appreciate your wisdom, your work and your honest opinion as well as integrity in your dealings. Keep up the amazing work. Any way that I am able to promote you and help send those books flying off the shelves count me in! I'm ready to SELL SELL SELL because you are GREAT GREAT GREAT!

Kimberanne

Kimberanne

Hi Marguerite! I just checked out your website. Its beautiful! Make mine a bombay and tonic!

SamE

SamE

Stargazer.Hope you have a very happy birthday. Your great book has helped change my life. Thanks and much continued success.

jemma

jemma

Happy Birthday Marguerite! After reading your wonderful book I just know the Universe will fill your special day with all the joy and good wishes you send out to everyone else on theirs. Thanks for coming into my life.

seagrl

seagrl

Thanks so much for being there for me, and I want to tell you that your book is Fantastic!

Rev_Sharon

Rev_Sharon

Thanks for friending me, Star! I think I need to have a "local Renata Folks" party here! *grins* Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

ArchMessenger

ArchMessenger

Hey Marguerite! Thanks for the favorite hit and the friendship offer. Hope you call in for a reading tonight! Curtis

empoweringspace

empoweringspace

Marguerite, thanks for stopping in, I do hope you enjoyed the show and will be one of my future guests.

Capri

Capri

Intuitive Psychic is right, your website is beautiful!

SamE

SamE

Gotta tell you star lady, that book of yours is great. Took your advice in Chapter 4 and all of a sudden my boss likes me! I'm not sure whether I'm down with that or not but I do know it's better than a career making snow angels. When's the sequel coming out? (or your next radio program?) It's been way too long since we've heard from you.

Intuitive Medium

Intuitive Medium

Love your site! Terri

Sabrina Luna

Sabrina Luna

Hi! Just wanted to say I enjoyed listening to you on Cosmic Karma on WWT's show the other day! Many Thx :)

ButterflyW

ButterflyW

Hi Marguerite, thanks for making me feel so welcome in Alix's chatroom last year and for pointing me towards all the good shows now. You wouldn't happen to have an extra pair of stilletos would you?

Andromeda

Andromeda

Wow Marguerite, your book, Cosmic Karma is amazing. I use to think listening to you talk about astrology on Blogtalk was fascinating until I went out and bought the book and started reading what you so eloquently wrote about it. Thanks for the enlightenment, I'm a fan. Mitch

Phenomena

Phenomena

Hi Marguerite, thanks for letting me review your new book on my 2/25/08 'Psychic Connection' program. It is available for listening or downloading for free on alltalkradio.net as long as it's in the archives. Much success to you!

Lsm11

Lsm11

Great show Marguerite - your conversation is remarkably fluent, intelligible and cohesive. I know you were smiling on Friday too - don't you dare deny it!

Walks With Thunder

Walks With Thunder

Hi Marguerite, I just love having you on my show. Seems the time just flies by and then its over too soon. You can have my share of the booze and I will drive. WWT

Dr Moe

Dr Moe

Nice chatting with you last night Marguerite. Dr Moe

MisterEus

MisterEus

Sam's right..You are a hottie!!

Peek

Peek

Come over, Let's have a drink together.

SamE

SamE

You're a hottie. Sam

Author, Astrologer & Karmic Counselor  

Marguerite Manning, author of Cosmic Karma, Understanding Your Contract with the Universe, is a freelance author, professional astrologer, and founder of Cosmic Connections, a personal enlightenment and astrological counseling service in the Washington, DC Metro area. Over the past 15 years, her articles have appeared in the Mountain Astrologer, Dell Horoscope, the Llewellyn Journal, Reverse Spins, and New Worlds. In addition to conducting group workshops throughout the US called "Therapy For The Soul," she has appeared on many radio programs to discuss her breakthrough astrological concept -- "the soul's contract with the universe."

  • Archived Blog Posts

    Date / Time:

    Mercury Retrograde: Above The Hype & Beyond The Spin

    By Marguerite Manning
    The Llewellyn Journal, January 2009

    Call me crazy, but Mercury retrograde doesn’t scare me. In fact, I may be one of the few astrologers I know who actually looks forward to those three weeks in every Mercury orbit when we here on this planet end up with a ringside seat to the most famous of cosmic optical illusions. Yes, illusion, because, as most of us already know, that’s what Mercury retrograde is. A three-week celestial “psych” in which Mercury, the astrological planet of the mind, cleverly messes with ours by appearing to travel backward in the sky. 

    How is that possible? Well, when it comes to Mercury, just about anything is. After all, this is the planet our ancient astronomers named after the winged messenger of the Gods. The planet so blindingly fast and incredibly agile that they professionally acknowledged it as the universal influence responsible for connecting us to each other, which is how it officially became the astrological poster planet for language, information, people, and ideas. Then again, even by today’s standards, what could personify speed and networking better than Mercury? As the closest planet to the     Sun, it has the shortest orbit in the solar system and takes only 88 days to make one complete trip around the Sun. If that isn’t impressive enough, it somehow manages to pass the earth twice every time that it does: first, when it whizzes by us on the same side of the solar system where we can see it, and then a few weeks later, when it loops around and zooms past us again on the opposite side of the Sun where we can’t. No wonder the ancients believed this planet was “quicker than the eye.” In fact, the retrograde fun and games only take place because once every 88 days, Mercury actually is.

    It all begins when almost immediately after passing us on that first Mercury “drive-by” this very small planet comes to the end of that very short orbit, and almost just as immediately (instead of continuing on the same angle in the sky), “swings” into that loop on its way to the other side of the solar system. Now here’s the reality-buster for us: we never see that happen. Why? Because even though we never lose sight of Mercury after it zips ahead of us in the solar system, we’re never at an angle where we can actually see Mercury “loop” to the other side of it. So when it does, we don’t realize it has. That is the stuff that cosmic illusions are made of, because once Mercury gets there and starts heading for the other side of the Sun, to all of us here on this planet, it “appears” to start drifting backwards against the stars.

    Now don’t be fooled, perspective is everything in astrology. So while it’s true that Mercury’s backward motion is not an actual celestial occurrence, that doesn’t mean Mercury retrograde is not a powerful astrological influence. We all know it is. What I think many of us don’t realize, however, is that it’s not a negative one. But then, I have always believed we practice astrology backwards (you know, by focusing more on the effects of certain astrological influences in our lives, rather than the universal purpose for them). Ironically (when it comes to Mercury retrograde), I’m convinced our perspective couldn’t be more backward, because when it comes to this particular heavenly happening, the hype couldn’t be more negative. I mean really. We’re told not to buy, not to sign, not to fly, not to call, but most of all during these three weeks, we’re told not to expect anything other than frustrating setbacks and irritating snafus. So we don’t. What’s more, we go out of our way to make sure we stay out of Mercury’s way while never once wondering why it spends 21 days “pretending” to go out of its way for us. We count the days until it goes direct, believing that when it does, having dodged the “retrograde bullet,” our lives (and Internet access) will return to normal, and we’ll be back at the top of our intellectual game once again. I couldn’t disagree more. In fact, as a practicing astrologer who is no stranger to the astrological whims and antics of Mercury (    Gemini Sun, rising Virgo), it’s both my professional opinion and my personal experience that Mercury retrograde gets an incredibly overblown and equally undeserved rap, mostly because after years of being on the receiving end of it (and anything else this planet has to offer), I now know better. This is one universal influence that is not only highly misunderstood, but thanks to the astrological “Chicken Little effect,” sadly underused. Then again, with half the population hiding under their beds every 88 days, how could it not be? 

    So how do we move past the “run for cover” rhetoric of Mercury retrograde and make it work for us? By fighting fire with astrological fire and changing our perspective on what this influence does to us. In fact, if there’s one way to turn the universal tables on Mercury retrograde, it would have to be by looking beyond the dropped calls and lost baggage we’re convinced it creates, and instead focusing on it’s primary purpose for being at the universal table to begin with. So what would that be? What universal purpose could this astrological planet of communications and networking possibly serve by “appearing” to travel backwards in the heavens for 21 days out of every 88-day orbit? Good question, but the way I see it, only one answer: Mercury retrograde is the astrological influence that “cosmically” revisits, retrieves, and reveals everything that managed to elude our conscious awareness in the preceding 88 days, because its one universal purpose is to provide us with an opportunity to discover anything that actually did. Think about that for a minute, because once you do Mercury retrograde becomes more than just an astrological excuse for all the less than perfect data, communications, and merchandise that we can’t help but encounter during that dreaded three-week period. A lot more. It becomes what I believe it has always been since the beginning of time: a universal instrument for bringing them to our attention. In short, that intellectual “second chance” we all yearn for to go back and find the facts, after the fact. 

    That being the case, is it any wonder then that unforeseen delays, unknown defects, and unlimited do-overs are part of the Mercury retrograde big picture? It shouldn’t be. Not when we look at the entire picture from the right perspective, because once we do, we can’t help but see these things for what they really are: annoying inconveniences. The kind that always comes with unexpected findings. So when the new toaster has to be returned or the flight home has to be cancelled, wouldn’t it make more sense to pay more attention to the actual data, words, thoughts, or individuals that suddenly emerged and caused those things to happen? Or better yet, to what could have happened if they hadn’t emerged when they did? Besides, when anything unknown finally makes its way to the 11th hour surface of our 10th hour conscious awareness, how could that not be a good thing? It can’t. Even if we’re not prepared for it.

    Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should be signing major contracts or getting married when Mercury goes retrograde. Come on, if you've been paying attention you know by now that this particular influence is our universal “recall,” the one that provokes anything hidden to rear its ugly head. So until it passes and Mercury goes direct, there’s bound to be fallout. But here’s the thing: whatever that ugly “head” is, you really do want to know about it. You just don’t want to be committed to it before you do, which is exactly why the “hiding under the bed” solution to Mercury retrograde is really no solution at all. It’s also why I believe this is not just a great time to go looking for the perfect partner, but the perfect time to actually find the right one. In fact, I personally encourage everyone in general, and women in particular, to use the powers of Mercury retrograde for just such a purpose. Why? Because if you’re out there actively looking for “Mr. Right” during these 21 days, one thing’s for sure: he can run, but he can’t hide. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, neither can “Mr. Nobody,” “Mr. Wrong,” and “Mr. Loser.” This is really a whole lot better than it sounds, because while it does mean you might have to deal with every Tom, Dick, and Harry stumbling across your radar screen during a retrograde happy hour, it also means you’ll never have to worry about any Moe, Larry, or Curly sneaking under it. It just can’t happen when this little planet is out there leaving no stone unturned and no punch un-pulled. Mostly because when it is, we can’t help but find, learn, and see something that we might have missed before. Or, for that matter, already did. Which makes the truth of the Mercury retrograde matter really quite simple: the trivial frustrations we’re forced to deal with when concealed information comes to our attention always pale in comparison to the intellectual power that becomes available to us whenever it does. Always. 

    I don’t know about you, but I can live with that. In fact, because I do, I’ve learned to work with it as well, and quite effectively. What's more, based on that personal experience, in my humble opinion, there is really no better time to uncover elusive information, find lost articles, or learn what you absolutely need to know than when this little planet is doing it’s dreaded "backstroke" through the universe. Really. In fact, for that very reason I now use those three weeks for that very purpose: uncovering information that’s been eluding me, understanding concepts that have been escaping me, or discovering hidden sources that were unknown to me. Not to mention the even more critical ones, like finding that perfect kitchen wallpaper, locating that lost set of keys, or “accidentally” running into those otherwise normally tight-lipped individuals who at this particular time (through no fault of their own) just can’t, don’t, or won’t keep a secret (pay dirt). After all, it goes without saying that during this particular three-week period, nothing goes without saying. Nothing. However, by just being aware of that, I have found that you’re a lot more likely to get the scoop you’re looking for and a lot less likely to spill your own guilty guts while you’re looking for it. Still, you’d be wise to always keep a few well-polished apologies handy during this period and even wiser to never hit the “send” button without verifying exactly whom you’re sending what to (it happens). As far as I’m concerned, a small price to pay for all the power that’s up for grabs. The power that comes with being “in the know.” 

    So how can we harness it? For starters, we can put this untapped celestial search engine to good use. If Mercury’s primary universal purpose is to teach us that knowledge is power, doesn’t it make sense that it only goes retrograde to remind us that ignorance is not bliss? It does to me, which is why I make a checklist of "Things-I-Absolutely-Need-To-Know” for each Mercury “rewind.” Trust me, you should too. It’s as effective as it is empowering. In fact, the next time Mercury goes retrograde, why not throw a little cosmic caution to the wind and get out from under that bed and start looking for something. Anything. In fact, start looking for everything you’ve never been able to find on those seemingly perfect “direct days.” You’ve got nothing to lose. Literally. Not only will you find what you’re looking for, I’m willing to bet you’ll find what you didn’t know you lost. Or better yet, what you didn’t know you even wanted (real pay dirt!). Sound crazy? Possibly. I may be the only Gemini Sun with a rising Virgo who actually sees Mercury retrograde as a period of empowering enlightenment, not debilitating disaster. Then again, I may be the only one out there looking for wallpaper.

    (Mercury's next retrograde cycle is May 7 - May 30, 2009)

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