Does Mercury retrograde effects depend on our natal aspects?

laurence

I am struggling to study my natal chart.

Mercury will be fully retrograde from the 17 June 2014 till the 2nd July.

But what if my natal mercury is in Scorpio in conjunction with uranus and Moon in house 4 which is apparently ruled by Libra???

How can I know if mercury was retrograde or direct when I was born (12th October 1980 in Paris so I am a libra, leo rising)??? Because It's not specified on chart calculators.

Or what aspects should I be aware of in my chart when we are going through a mercury retrograde??

If you have any idea of what I mean, I will be grateful for any answer.

Thanks guys!
 

Minderwiz

I am struggling to study my natal chart.

Mercury will be fully retrograde from the 17 June 2014 till the 2nd July.

But what if my natal mercury is in Scorpio in conjunction with uranus and Moon in house 4 which is apparently ruled by Libra???

How can I know if mercury was retrograde or direct when I was born (12th October 1980 in Paris so I am a libra, leo rising)??? Because It's not specified on chart calculators.

Mercury was direct on the day you were born. On a chart, Mercury (or any other planet) is shown only by its glyph and position, when it is Direct. If it is Retrograde the glyph is and position is accompanied by 'R or 'Rx' (sometimes shown in red). Mercury turned retrograde on the 23 October that year.

I can't confirm your rising sign as you don't give a time for your birth. During a day, all 12 signs will rise (an average of one every 2 hours, though being an average there is some dispersion around it). Leo was rising at midnight (the start of the day) and continued to rise until 02:40, so if you were born after that time, then you have a different rising sign, for example if you were born at midday, then Sagittarius was rising. If you know what time you were born, I can tell you what your rising sign is. As the Ascendant changes every 2 hours or so, then it follows that all the other houses will change too. So if you were born at midday, then Mercury will be in your eleventh house.

laurence said:
Or what aspects should I be aware of in my chart when we are going through a mercury retrograde??

If you have any idea of what I mean, I will be grateful for any answer.

Thanks guys!

Mercury retrograde may not affect you specifically, it depends on whether transiting Mercury (current position) aspects one of your natal planets. As far as I can see the main one affected is likely to be Jupiter, during Mercury's forthcoming Retrograde period. However with an uncertain birth time, I can't be sure of your natal Moon position. Also I can't be sure of the houses involved.

So if you want to go much further, you will need a birth time.
 

laurence

Mercury was direct on the day you were born. On a chart, Mercury (or any other planet) is shown only by its glyph and position, when it is Direct. If it is Retrograde the glyph is and position is accompanied by 'R or 'Rx' (sometimes shown in red). Mercury turned retrograde on the 23 October that year.

Thanks Minderwiz for those information.
Now I know that a retrograde is showed with a 'R or in red.
Indeed Mercury was direct at my birth.
I can't confirm your rising sign as you don't give a time for your birth. During a day, all 12 signs will rise (an average of one every 2 hours, though being an average there is some dispersion around it). Leo was rising at midnight (the start of the day) and continued to rise until 02:40, so if you were born after that time, then you have a different rising sign, for example if you were born at midday, then Sagittarius was rising. If you know what time you were born, I can tell you what your rising sign is. As the Ascendant changes every 2 hours or so, then it follows that all the other houses will change too. So if you were born at midday, then Mercury will be in your eleventh house.
My birth time is 00:15 AM so I know that my rising sign is Leo.(12 october 1980 Paris, France)
I also understand now that houses change (apparently like the ascendants and according to them)

Mercury retrograde may not affect you specifically, it depends on whether transiting Mercury (current position) aspects one of your natal planets. As far as I can see the main one affected is likely to be Jupiter, during Mercury's forthcoming Retrograde period. However with an uncertain birth time, I can't be sure of your natal Moon position. Also I can't be sure of the houses involved.

So if you want to go much further, you will need a birth time.
Ok, so Mercury retrograde will not necessarilly affect me.
My Jupiter is in Virgo, house 3, conjoncting Saturn, sextile Uranus, squaring Neptune.
My moon is in Scorpio, house 4, conjoncting Mars, Mercury and Uranus.

So, during the forthcoming mercury retrograde, I should have a look at the planetary positions, and the most "powerful" ones (like Jupiter as you said) will indicate where I need to focus on in my chart: by checking if there are similar aspects involving the same planets.
Is that right?
I learn by myself and I really appreciate your insight.
It makes me think that hososcope on yube for exemple, given for Libra , rising or moon sign cannot be correct.

Well thank you for your answer.
 

Barleywine

I have only one observation to add. Certainly, without a connection to your natal configuration, transiting Mercury retrograde is not likely to be prominent in your daily life during that period. No more so than the transiting Grand Water Trine of last year or the Cardinal Grand Cross of this year would have been without such natal contacts, despite, on the one hand, all the wishful thinking in the world or, on the other hand, all the accompanying fear and loathing. That said, there seems to be a widespread opinion that, when Mercury goes retrograde by transit, the universe is "predisposed" to cause delays, miscommunication and other minor havoc in the initiation of any activity. I had a good example recently. A friend of mine needs a kidney transplant, and was going to her doctor to arrange for an important test on the day Mercury went retrograde. There were no important interactions between Mercury and her natal chart. I told her to make sure to pin him down on a firm date for her trip to the regional hospital, since there might be miscommunication involved. Sure enough, she didn't hear from him for a while, and when she called back she found that he had forgotten to put the appointment request in to the hospital. Perhaps Mercury going retrograde was a significant factor in the doctor's chart that spilled over onto her.
 

laurence

I have only one observation to add. Certainly, without a connection to your natal planets, transiting Mercury retrograde is not likely to be prominent in your daily life during that period. No more so than the transiting Grand Water Trine of last year or the Cardinal Grand Cross of this year would have been without such natal contacts, despite, on the one hand, all the wishful thinking in the world or, on the other hand, all the accompanying fear and loathing. That said, there seems to be a widespread opinion that, when Mercury goes retrograde by transit, the universe is "predisposed" to cause delays, miscommunication and other minor havoc in the initiation of any activity. I had a good example recently. A friend of mine needs a kidney transplant, and was going to her doctor to arrange for an important test on the day Mercury went retrograde. There were no important interactions between Mercury and her natal chart. I told her to make sure to pin him down on a firm date for her trip to the regional hospital, since there might be miscommunication involved. Sure enough, she didn't hear from him for a while, and when she called back she found that he had forgotten to put the appointment request in to the hospital. Perhaps Mercury going retrograde was a significant factor in the doctor's chart that spilled over onto her.

I try to learn with the help of youtubers and that's why I was wondering how Mercury retrograde could be a warning. They ALL say that we sould not sign contracts or getting married during this transit because we can expect some delays, miscommunications or blockages.
Your exemple is perfect actually because without having a mercury retrograde in our chart, other people with mercury retrograde can have an impact on us.

Thank you very much for your take Barleywine!
 

Minderwiz

......on the other hand, all the accompanying fear and loathing. That said, there seems to be a widespread opinion that, when Mercury goes retrograde by transit, the universe is "predisposed" to cause delays, miscommunication and other minor havoc in the initiation of any activity.

Yes that's certainly true, it's a modern astrological urban myth LOL. It's also a difficult one to disprove, as there's very rarely any attempt to look for alternative significations, though to try and do that on a large scale is virtually impossible.

Some people will be affected by Mercury Retrograde because Mercury is an important planet in their chart or Transiting Mercury aspects one or more important planets. Others may experience problems because of other transits and put those problems down to Mercury.

The trouble is that when Mercury turns Retrograde it doesn't suspend the significations of other transiting planets or other progressed or directed planets, which would result in any miscommunication being clearly down to Mercury Retrograde alone. That would rule out the miscommunication being say, signified by transiting Mars squaring natal Mercury.

Barleywine said:
....Perhaps Mercury going retrograde was a significant factor in the doctor's chart that spilled over onto her.

In this case, her communications seem to have been unaffected but his were, so it would be very interesting to examine his chart and transits at the time.

There's other things to consider, which natal house or houses Mercury is transiting. That might also throw light on the situation generally. Mercury transiting an angular house is likely to be more noticeable. Then there's progressions and directions which might be supportive (or rather which Transiting Mercury reinforces). That's what makes Astrology fascinating.
 

Ronia

Mercury retrograde has never meant anything to me. Nor has any other planet going retrograde, for that matter. In my opinion, much happens in a person's mind because the planets don't go backwards for real.