I’m no astrologer.

I know just enough to understand my own being, and that of my family’s, within a very simplistic tracking system I have created, based on the Lunar activity within the astrological cycle.

And so what I’ll write about today isn’t based on science, or past writing of any great minds. Just the simple observations of my own life, and the lives of those I love.

I wrote a post on Instagram recently and it seemed to strike a chord with many other souls, as I explained how I have tried to embrace what has been a very challenging Mercury Retrograde.

My post looked like this:

Mirror. Mercury Retrograde.

Same - same.

I know that so much is said about Merc Rx and I'm even prone to chuckling at all the "it's here to fuck shit up and make our lives chaos and crap" memes because, on some level, I have associated with that line of thinking in the past.

What is dangerous about allowing ourselves the space to turn a planet spinning backwards into a demon, set on fucking with us, is that we may lose accountability for how we meet the energy it brings.

We begin to write off any and everything to the perceived fuckery that is touted as Rx activity. Sure, I sigh and go, "fuck Mercury, can I just sit at my computer for five minutes without some dumb techy shit happening please?"

But I also find myself, after a good few years of resisting, opening up, softening and bracing myself to lean into the surrender needed to use this giant, backward space ball as a tool.

Mercury Rx is a BEAST of a mirror. It raises up the past in ways we may not expect. It strains the shit out of communication, to further test our resolve. It is a firm check-in as to just how far along the road to healing we may feel we are.

Merc Rx asks us to look deeeeeeep within. Fully access who and what we are and if there is any question within us, it's likely to SLAP us upside the head until we face it and deal.

I've retyped this post three times now. Trying to word it less emotionally. But the big fat tears plopping onto my phone screen are my reality. And Merc Rx says that is okay.

It says, "I held up the mirror. I showed you everything you have most feared in your life, in this one week. I've shown you that you have changed.

You've worked and you've released so much. But there is so much more work to do.

I am showing you that you have more grace than you realized. I am showing you that there are always more layers and shards of your hurt to address, to sit with, accept and release. And I'm showing you that more than anything else you feel you need to be doing right now, you need to be keeping your head down, focused on your chest, watching your beating heart grow, learn and evolve through this discomfort."

The mirror. The looking within. No escape from what lies beneath. This is Mercury Rx.

And so, when we are tempted to just say "OMG Merc Rx is such an asshole, I can't get my shit together and everything is CHAOS!!", take a deep breath, and embrace the truth of what this Rx brings.

The opportunity to feel, hear, acknowledge process and see, into the mirror, like never before.

And so, I thought it would be helpful to map out five steps to upgrading your view on how Mercury Retrograde rolls out for you when it does roll on backwards

1. Try not to see Merc Rx as a personal attack.

Yes, it super likely that you will be challenged during a Mercury Rx, because it is a time of intense energy and heightened self-awareness based on past cycles and behaviors in our lives. If we are not braced for a relook of our past or an honest acceptance of where we need to make change, it will for sure be a very tough time. Remember, this is not a personal attack though. It’s merely a mirror.

2. Slow down.

I deeply believe that we move faster than is needed for our own good these days. We miss the little things, and often, the pace we hold, physically and mentally, throws off our ability to hold our spiritual connection steady. We get “too tired” or “burned out” by our day to day existence to be present in our Kraft. And yet, often, it's our Kraft that revitalizes and carries us. And so we short circuit our own efforts. Merc Rx needs us to move slower and LISTEN. It’s a time where deeply focused introspection should be first and foremost. In essence, our IG feeds should likely be empty of we were all honoring the opportunity Merc Rx brings, because we’d be deep within, and not giving energy to much else.

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3. Ask “What is the lesson?”

This outlook has changed the landscape of how I approach my whole life, but even more so in challenging energetic times, like a Merc Rx. When we perceive anything as a personal attack, we spike our fight or flight response and take rational thought out of the equation. We tend then to be running a victim cycle and instead of feeling empowered and using the experience as a tool, we end up fueling its power over us, and allow it to be used as a weapon against us. Remember, everything is a choice. Everything. We may not get to choose what happens to us in life, but we do get to choose how we respond to what’s/ Likewise, we may not get to decide what rises up from a Merc Rx, but we sure as nuts get to decide how we process it.

4. Be willing to let go and release

Often times we have held hurt and trauma so long, we are uncertain of who we are without it. An unpleasant phenomenon that is hard to overcome. However, it is more than possible with love, grace and kindness applied. Allowing ourselves to feel what is needed to be felt, to accept with grace, the lesson at hand, and to process the surrounding emotions with self-love, leaves us in a place of power, to release the experience/trauma/hurt to the best of our ability at the time. Again, it’s our choice entirely to free ourselves of that burden, or, to take the decision to carry it further into our lives.

5. Don’t be afraid to meet the same issues you’ve released, again.

Healing and release happen in layers. It’s nonlinear and super messy. So when a Mercury rolls on by in reverse, we may very well face a trauma/hurt that we felt we have released before, on a more intense and visceral level.

YOU HAVE NOT FAILED!

This is not a sign that you didn’t release before. It is a sign that you have progressed and are ready for a more profound and deeper level of healing. You are more equipped to deal with it now, and as such, another layer of that trauma/hurt is being brought to the surface by Merc Rx so as to be processed and released.

Mirrors, triggers. These are our flags. They show us where there is work to be done. And over the years, the media and about a million memes have trained us to see Mercury Rx as a general antagonist sent to mess with our lives, tech, and travel, versus a powerful tool for healing and release. We need to learn to have a chuckle at the meme’s and then get our heads down and use this energy as a gift.

It’s not for nothing that Merc Rx messes with our tech during its backwards jaunt. Disabling things that distract us from our core work is, in my opinion, a completely divine intervention.

From my heart to yours, Sweet Souls. With love and respect.

Trace