Friday 20 August 2010

Mercury Retrograde in Virgo ~ multimedia, multitasking madness!

Mercury the trickster planet is Retrograde again from August 20, this time in its home sign of Virgo. Mercury Retrogrades are famously feared times when we worry that everything from communication to travel to social arrangements to important meetings will go awry.

In this age of communication, multitasking and multimedia, we may worry that the Mercury Rx phenomena is even more likely to cause us trouble. A perfectly timed headline in yesterday’s Metro newspaper reads: Half Our Life Spent on Media and goes on to say that we spend 45% of our time absorbing media, using gadgets, staring at screens and watching TV. It states that we have become experts at multitasking when it comes to media…and the old are catching up with the young at a fast pace!

Be honest, which of you have been on the internet while watching the box? I was doing it last evening. Which of you have taken a call on your mobile phone while in the middle of a conversation at a social gathering? Admit it, you have haven’t you, at least once, even if it’s to tell the person on the other end of the phone you can’t talk right now?

So, are the gremlins set and ready to make trouble with all out multimedia multitasking while Mercury’s Retrograde? We could be forgiven for thinking so… So should we avoid all mercurial stuff like the plague? No, of course not, the world won’t stop for us. I mean, shall I tell my boss that I won’t take any calls or send any emails for the next three weeks because of something imaginary* happening in the sky? Way to lose my job!

So what can we do?

This period is a great time to:
  • Do all the RE things - re-view, re-do, re-think, re-vise, re-cover etc.
  • Work on your communication skills. See Fabienne Lopez’ excellent blog post for 5 Tips for a Better Communication Using Mercury Retrograde
  • Avoid excessive worrying. Most worrying is about future things. If you’re fully in the moment, you have nothing to worry about! 
  • Do the best of Virgo: Pay attention to detail and be discriminating when deciding what to take on, what to put to one side, what to shelve permanently.  
  • Focus on one thing at a time. If you are having a conversation, be in that conversation. If you are watching a film or a documentary on TV, put aside the laptop and switch off the cellphone. 
  • Not spread yourself too thin or take on too much. Do few things, but do them well, rather than doing lots of things sketchily.
Relax! It’s only Mercury Retrograde.

Data:
Mercury stations Retrograde on 20 August 2010 at 19 degrees Virgo
Mercury stations Direct on 12 September 2010 at 5 degrees Virgo
Retrograde period including stations = 24 days

With love,
Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/

*Retrograde is a phenomenon that makes it seem as if the planets are moving backwards at certain times from our perspective here on Earth. In reality, the planets never move backwards. To learn more, click here
http://mandilockley.blogspot.com/2009/11/retrograde-planets-in-astrology.html

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mandi:

    Thanks for the shout out!
    Great reminder that we need to be more in the present moment and not be run by the multitasking gremlin. Something I am certainly guilty of at times.
    I appreciate your article as it is a good reminder that we can use challenging transits periods to work in them in our favor instead of trying to work against them. Go with the flow!
    It's the kind practical advice we need during a Mercury Rx in Virgo we need. :)

    ReplyDelete

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