About three or four times a year, the planet Mercury will go into retrograde. That is to say it moves in an opposite direction of planet Earth. Planets move from east to west around the sun, but when Mercury turns to move west to east, that is the retrograde. In astrology, Mercury is the planet that rules communication so basically, all communication is about to go haywire.

Since the key to a healthy relationship with friends, partners, etc. is good communication, during a retrograde is the time to be a little more careful about how you communicate with one another. Mercury retrograde can also be to blame for technological bugs - you know, like when Instagram won’t let you post your selfie for the 100th time.

Astrologers believe you should take extra care of yourself during the time of retrograde - they recommend you don’t buy any new electronics (phone, car, computer), to double check your flight times, be weary of signing any major business deals, and do not I REPEAT DO NOT have relationship-defining conversations.

Mercury goes into retrograde three or four times a year for about three weeks at a time. The upcoming dates for Mercury retrograde are:

2019: October 31 - November 20

2020: February 18 - March 9, June 19 - July 11, October 16 - November 2

Of course, you can’t always put your life on pause when the retrograde occurs so just remember that this time requires a little more patience, a double or even triple check on all of your emails before sending, and signing a deed on a house might want to wait a week or two. Even if you don’t believe in astrology or the Mercury retrograde, this is a good time and great excuse to pause, become present, and reorganize yourself and your goals for the coming months.

What is Mercury Retrograde?