Now is the Perfect Time to Finish Projects

A visit to Sue Moon's blog helped me see why I have felt bound and determined to complete my current writing assignment at any time of the day or night. Planet Mercury is in retrograde again. Enough said. Right?

Retrograde refers to when a planet (in this case, Mercury) appears to move backwards from the perspective of the Earth. Astrology is based on the appearance of things. Just like the sun doesn’t actually rise (the Earth spins around it), planets do not actually move in reverse. They just appear to move in this direction to those of us on Earth.

Mercury represents the power of the mind. When the mind is running rampant on old patterns and self-talk and when it is difficult to keep your mind focused on one thing, this is Mercury at work. Mercury likes to flip through the different channels of the mind. When this planet goes retrograde it's as if someone is pulling the plug on the mind at random moments (been forgetting things lately?) and stealing the remote control device of the mind. Despite the random flipping of our mind channels, we like to keep driving forward with our plans.

In general, when Mercury goes retrograde, it's easy to miss the details. It’s a time when we tend to misunderstand what was said, to misread what was written, to get the dates wrong or forget to show up. This is why the common advice given when Mercury is in retrograde is to refrain from signing contracts, making major commitments or undertaking major new endeavors.

The benefits of Mercury in retrograde are that it's the perfect time to get your files in order and wrap up loose ends, to contact people from the past, to find things, to complete projects, to reflect, wonder and learn. Communication may be difficult but connecting is not. If you're temporarily willing to unplug from the outside world and listen your inner guidance, many good things can come into your life.

One of my favorite teachers, Master Chen regularly says, it is better to be like water and go with the flow, than to be like glass and break. There are four times this year when Mercury is in retrograde, instead of the usual three times. Take advantage of the cosmic forces from August 20 through September 12, go with the flow and finish some of those pending writing projects.