Mercury Retrograde Mitigation: Making Life Easier

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Mercury Retrograde Mitigation: Making Life Easier

I am not an astrologer. It was just too much math for me to want to master, but some of my closest spiritual friends are way deep into astrology. That helped me to have a somewhat better than absolute beginner grasp on it, but only by association. :)

I pay attention to just 4 astrological influences/events, which are: solar return (aka: birthday), the moon (full/new), Saturn Return (because it kicks your ass- if you would like to look up yours, go here) and Mercury Retrograde. I'm sure there are other things that smack me upside my head and I just haven't figured out the pattern yet. 

The uber simple explanation is that when something astrological is in “retrograde”, it basically means that it seems to be going backwards in the heavens. Bass Akward, in this instance.

Mercury rules technology, communication, travel, mental/thought processes, and a bunch of things that we take for granted in the course of a normal day. These are things that we immediately miss when it gets yanked out from under us, such as during a retro.

If for some reason, I have forgotten to mark the approximately 3 week period of Mercury Retrograde on my calendar, I almost always know when it is happening after about a week... by simply measuring how close I am to throwing my computer out of a window. I recommend giving yourself some heads up so that you know ahead of time to be in a more chill frame of mind when things start going kabloowie around you.

This year, 2013, the periods of Mercury Retrograde are as follows:
February 23–March 17
June 26–July 20
October 21–November 10

Christopher reminded me that the effects of Mercury Retro are felt strongest at the start and end date of the cycle, when the planet is motionless.  It can also be felt a couple of weeks before and after as the planet is slower.  So, we have to be aware even before the dates.  *sigh* 

Oh, Mercury Retro, how do you bug me? Let me count the ways...
1. It makes me stupid.
2. It messes with my computer and any programs I care to use on it.
3. I cannot find my way out of a box, or something happens with my car, or my GPS decides that it is also stupid.
4. It takes 5 times longer to get something done.
5. I can't get words to do anything useful or to come out right.
6. It makes me stupid. Right, I said that already, but I can count it twice.

Some things that you can do to ride out the Merc Retro with as much grace as possible:
*Plan all travel well. Don't just rely on your GPS, but get written directions too and leave plenty of time to get where you want to be going.
*Service your car before going anywhere and make sure it's functioning well! Gas up!
*Don't sign any contracts or make final decisions on anything important.
*Don't throw your computer out of a window. It can't help being a butt head during this time frame.
*Try not to do any big projects or proposals, but if you do, do 3 times more prep work than usual and practice your butt off so that communicating what you mean to say is automatic.
*Spend time dreaming, thinking, introspecting, journaling, considering, sorting, meditating, and going within... but do NOT chart any active course, action, or decision. Just kinda let it all hang out and get jiggy in your head. Let it wash over you without attaching to an outcome yet.
*Tend to creative and artsy projects that you have begun, but that have ended up collecting dust in some corner of your hobby area.
*Doodle mindlessly and then get a symbol book to decipher what the heck you captured on the page.
*If you want to write, Dear God, let it be poetry instead of an instruction manual. Then, do not show your poetry to anyone until you have re-read it after Mercury goes direct. :)
*Do not drunk dial, text, or Facebook old lovers. (Word!)
*Do things that mitigate the areas of your world that are most affected by Mercury being Bass Ackward, such as things that assist clear thinking and communicating with gemstone support, flower essences, nutrition, and asking for plenty of assistance.

Since we like our rocks up in here, that is usually my go to “mitigation” support, though I do love me some flower/gem essences too. It probably wouldn't hurt to take some gingko biloba and eat some fresh salmon either. I mean really, throw your back into it.

Christopher, my ETE workmate, and I spent time batting rock selections back and forth to come up with a grouping of stones for grids or pouches that we would recommend for Mercury Retro Mitigation.We included historical and traditional stones that are directly linked to Mercury as well as stones that are good for mental clarity, communication, introspection, and safe travel.

Chris has a great article his blog about the gemstones of Mercury, which you can find here: http://houseofdaedalus.blogspot.com/2012/06/planetary-gemstones-of-mercury.html

Chris also has a blog article that describes retrograde planetary effects, in general. You can read that here:  http://www.houseofdaedalus.blogspot.com/2012/07/meaning-of-retrograde-motion.html

This stones selected have the intention to counter balance the astral influence of Mercury, like:
-Mercury retrograde and other transits of Mercury, when the planet interacts with an element in a person's birth chart
-Transits of other planets through Gemini and Virgo, ruled by Mercury, or the Third and Sixth House, associated with Mercury
-A challenging placement of Mercury in a person's birth chart


The Mercury Retrograde Mitigation Crystalline Grid by Enter the Earth

We chose the following stones for the Mercury Retrograde Mitigation:

Magnetitzed Hematite
Magnetic hematite is a ferromagnetic ceramic, meaning a man made magnet produced by combining iron oxide minerals like hematite with a ceramic. Hematite is associated with Mercury because it resembles the liquid metal mercury and man made materials were traditionally ruled by Mercury, because of its associations with innovation. Hematite is one of the most grounding stones you can work with. It stabilizes chaotic energies and brings upper level congestion down through the system to be moved out. It helps restore proper flow and brings greater clarity to the system. It is associated with the planet/energies of Mercury because it has the physical appearance of mercury, as well as being a stone that is good for mental clarity.

Emerald
Emerald's deep green color has been associated with abundance, royalty, and Divine Love. It is also a stone that is sacred to Venus, for its connection with fertility, beauty, and love. They tend to grow as small stones, but for their small size, they have a extraordinary energy. It is regal and dignified and personifies the luxury and opulence of the Earth. It embodies the energies that connect us to Heart Wisdom and to all else in the Web of Life. The legendary figure Hermes Trismegistus, who combines traits of the Greek God Mercury and the Egyptian god Thoth, is also associated with emeralds through the “Emerald Tablet” associated with him. It was often used to “cure” Mercury type afflictions.

Fluorite
Fluorite is a mentally centering and balancing stone. It brings one to a meditative and even state of mind, or brings one from a place of mental chaos and activity to greater order and concentration. It is one of the few 'dreamy' stones that isn't ungrounding. In fact, in many ways Fluorite is one of the best stabilizers of all the stones that could be used. It's balancing and stabilizing properties enhances the capacity for one to be grounded within the activity of choice; whether that is getting work done at the office, attending to soccer game schedules, recovering after a hectic day, or doing spiritual or meditative work. It also is particularly well suited to provide additional protection and integrity to dreams or other altered states of consciousness.

Moonstone
Moonstone is all about mother love and is often used to assist new mothers through pregnancy and childbirth. It has its pulse on the very energies that wrap us up in a comforter and attend to us when we scrape our knees or hearts. It is also the embodiment of the mystery of the night and the magic of womanhood. It helps us to connect with the Divine Feminine, our own inner Goddess Power, as well as connecting us to meditative, introspective, and periods of “going within”. Moonstone has also traditionally been used to provide safety during travel, particularly over water.

Kyanite
Kyanite is one of my favorite stones as it is protective, aligning to the chakra system, meditative, and it does all of those things well. It has been connected to Archangel Michael and the Blue Flaming Sword of Truth. It stimulates both the 3rd Eye and Throat Chakras, so it assists in both mental clarity as well as supporting clear communication.

Labradorite
Labradorite is said to act upon the entire auric field as it has a near full spectrum of colors represented within it. It fills in places within your auric field that are weaker, thereby making you more resilient to inappropriate energetic influences. It is full of magic and mystery, revealing truth and beauty to those who have the wisdom to look beyond the surface to the divinity within. It represents flashes of insight, clarity, and wisdom.

Blue Lace Agate
Blue Lace Agate is a spiritual stone that assists in connecting one with Higher Aspects of ones expanded self. It does this by clearing blockages or interference from the communication channels at the Throat Chakra. It is one of the best cleansers to clear up energetic congestion clogging up direct links to higher guidance.  Agates are traditionally linked to Mercury and are used as a cure for astrological influences involving that planet.

Sodalite
Sodalite has a rich deep blue color with streaks of white. It is the color of the night sky and full of hidden charms. It is a stone of respite and care. It helps us to restore ourselves when we have pushed too far and traveled too hard. It brings a sense of quiet anchor to a beleaguered soul and moves this spirit into a balanced openness with its Higher Self. It is enriching and empowering to the psychic senses and calming and cooling to the system that has been stretched thin in obvious or non-obvious ways. It assists to calm intense reactions and emotions to situations and allows us to function in a more structured and intentional way. It helps us to do this without being sidetracked by the intensity and impact of an overly emotional perspective. I consider sodalite to be an “anti-drama” stone because of the support it provides to have an objective mental view point, instead of being emotional reactive to something.

The Mercury Mitigation Stone Synergy Pouch on Ebay
If you are making your own grid, or wish to assemble a medicine pouch of single stones, you will want to consider stones that are multi-colored, dark blue, light blue, or that cover the areas of clear thinking, safety in travel, good luck, and clear communication, or any of the stones that Christopher wrote about in his Planetary Gemstones of Mercury blog article.

Good luck to all during Mercury Retrograde....and my your computers not be butt heads!!

Christopher and I have a brand new website and blog. :)  I'm going to leave archived blog articles up in here, but all new articles will be published under the new site.

Our new website is here:
http://www.etemetaphysical.com

Our new blog, which we have integrated together, is here:
http://blog.etemetaphysical.com/







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