mercury retrograde trouble

I can imagine this may have come up before, but I'm a little bit concerned about reading cards for others while mercury is in retrograde? Does anybody else feel the same way? Also, does anybody have any stories about things going wrong in a reading that they attribute to mercury in retrograde? And last, does anybody have any hints,tips, suggestions, advice, or even a special ritual they believe can be helpful for reading cards during this time? Thanks a million. Maybe I'm just being superstitious, but I'm curious to know how others feel about this!

In this case, I feel that the problem is more with me than with the cards. The cards, in my opinion, will always get the necessary message across, and no astrological configuration can affect that. If they were really that changeable, then I don't feel that it would be a decent oracle at all. However, I have noticed that I have a little more trouble explaining what I see in the cards. It takes a little more effort to think of the appropriate words. Of course, this can also happen when Mercury is direct. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

However, if ritual makes you feel better about it, then by all means, do it. Perhaps burn some sage beforehand to clear the air. Or even simply ask the "powers that be" whichever you believe in to help you express yourself clearly.

I think Kes has it about right. Mercury retrograde is a time for consolidation, a sort of putting stuff we have learned during the direct phase into some sort of order. The focus shifts inwards and we are a little more introverted in terms of communications. As with all sorting exercises, we need to get rid of the 'junk' and this might cause problems, also attempting to combine the sorting process with taking in new material can lead to mistakes and misunderstandings. So its better to be careful during the Retrograde phase.

Also, it makes a difference if Retrograde Mercury aspects your chart in some way - this is likely to intensify the effect in some area of life. If there's no aspect you may well not notice the Retrograde phase.

Thanks both for your good advice. I've never seemed to have trouble with the cards "playing tricks" on me, more just nervousness on my side. Minderwiz, when you say getting rid of the junk, would you agree that a good chakra cleansing exercise could be beneficial at this time?

A second question, how do I tell if mercury is aspecting an area of my chart? I consider myself an amateur when it comes to astrology. I have had a natal chart done, but I'm a little helpless when it comes to aspects. I'd appreciate any help with this! Thanks.

This is indeed an important and potentially problematic time for mis-communicating, especially with unintended hurts... hence why I posted the same in the thread on 'which cards we all are'. This will especially be poignantly problematic (if done without awareness) during the short period during which Mercury moves across the face of the Sun (if one had the proper instruments, it could be observed as a dot moving across the face of the Sun).

This will occur for approx. five minutes Tuesday around 19:15 Greenwich time - I would have to consult my records to be sure of the exact time and duration.

I realise this moves a little away from questions central to this thread... but thought it a useful adjunct.

Belladonna,

Unless you have a copy of your chart it is difficult to pin Mercury down at a personal level, but as you said you have had your chart done, I'll assume you still have a copy (if not give me your details and I'll send you a copy of the chart).

The other thing you need is an ephemeris - a table of where planets are at any particular time. You can access these on line - a good source is

http://www.achernar.btinternet.co.uk/transeph2003.html

In the ephemeris you look up the Mercury column and it tells you its position at midnight GMT on each day of the year. You can then see which house of your chart it is in - it spends around a month in each - and therefore which area of your life is most likely to be affected.

Aspects involve calculating angles and whilst its relatively easy to look for angles of 0, 60, 90, 120, 180 between Mercury's position and one of the planets in your chart, some of the online sites will also give you what ar called transits - they'll work out the angles for you.

At a very simple level (and therefore with much loss of precision) Mercury retrograde will be 'worst' at the 90 degrees and 180 degrees angles, followed by the conjunction (0 degrees).

If you need some help - just give me a shout