Mercury Retrograde 7/7/19-7/31/19

What does it mean when Mercury is in Retrograde?

Three or four times a year, planet Mercury is said to go retrograde — that is to say it moves in an opposite direction to planet Earth. … The same thing happens when our planet passes Mercury in our orbit around the sun. Mercury is just moving slower than Earth, causing the illusion that it’s moving in retrograde.

General Do’s and Don’ts of Mercury Retrograde

DO:

1. Brainstorm. Think of every available solution to the problems you’re facing – one of them has to work eventually.
2. Be flexible, adaptable, and patient. You may have to step outside of your comfort zone to come up with the right fix.
3. Think in broad terms. The bigger and farther reaching the solution is, the more likely it is to work.
4. Stay updated on delays and cancellations while traveling.
5. Keep an eye on warning lights on your car’s dash and stay on top of all regularly scheduled maintenance appointments to ensure things are running as smoothly as possible. Monitor the gas in the tank (that little arrow pointing to F or E might not be as accurate as you think).
6. Back up your computer and phone so you don’t lose important data if they shut down without warning.
7. Revisit persistent issues from the past. You know that one thing that’s really been on your mind lately? The one that keeps you up at night? This is the perfect time to address it and try to resolve it once and for all.

DON’T:

1. Get into a negative thinking cycle. Things may be falling apart around you but staying positive and remembering this is just a speedbump will help you get through it. You’ve got this!
2. Be a lone wolf. When things break, make an appointment with a professional to get them fixed and then sit tight rather than trying to impatiently DIY it.
3. Exaggerate. Things are bad enough without stretching the truth, aren’t they?!
4. Plan a big presentation or draft up important papers (especially legal documents). If you can’t avoid tasks like this, pay close attention to the details.
5. Rely only on technology. If you have an important meeting coming up, write down or print out info you know you’ll need.
6. Rush. Slowing down the pace can help you eliminate costly mistakes.
7. Have unrealistic expectations. Because of misunderstandings and mix-ups, things may not turn out as you’d planned. Avoid disappointment by keeping expectations relatively low.
8. Set unrealistic timelines. Red tape can keep documents in a holding pattern for a long, long time.

How Mercury Retrograde Affects Your Health and Mood

When you’re stressed, you have a harder time getting to sleep – and during Mercury retrograde your stress and anxiety levels can be through the roof. Lying awake at night wondering how you could have prevented the day’s mistakes or worrying about what could happen tomorrow will take a toll on your health.

And to make matters worse, sleep deprivation can cause even more problems like being tired, anxious and distracted, only furthering the effects of Mercury retrograde! Your exercise routine can also be thrown off by gym equipment malfunctioning or the battery on your activity tracker dying. Meals can even become problematic if the fridge or freezer breaks down, stove malfunctions or microwave freaks out. The following are some tips to keep your body and mind in top shape during Mercury retrograde.

Tips for Taking Care of Your Body and Mind

DO:

1. Make sure your alarm is set properly before going to bed so that you don’t wake up late and feel rushed.
2. Listen to quiet music, put on noise-canceling headphones, or wear a sleep mask – anything that will shut out distractions, let you drift off to sleep and have peaceful dreams.
3. Plan a digital detox. If there’s ever a great time to take a break from your electronics and close out of your social media apps, it’s Mercury retrograde.
4. Practice some breathing exercises to utilize when you’re having a technology or travel snafu. There’s no use getting worked up about something you can’t control.

DON’T:

1. Plan elaborate meals using fancy kitchen gadgets.The simpler the better.
2. Watch the news or violent TV shows/movies right before bedtime.
3. Use your phone or other bright electronic devices in bed.
4. Drink caffeine or eat anything spicy that might keep you up past your bedtime.

Positive Affirmation How-To’s

1. Present Tense

• Say your affirmation as if you already have it, not as if you will have in the future.

Eg: “I am happy.” Not: “I will be happy” or “I want to be happy.” (Unless you’re developing your desire to be happy. Then “I want to be happy” is a perfect affirmation.)

2. Positive Phrasing

• Say what you do want, not what you don’t want. Eg: “I am happy.” Not: “I’m no longer depressed.”

3. Short And Simple

• Eg: “I am happy.” Not: “I am happy and all my dreams come true, and I live in grateful abundance and harmony in a world overflowing with grateful abundance and harmony for all beings forever.”

4. Relatively Believable

• Don’t go so far out from where you are now that it seems impossible. Eg: “I am happy.” Not: “I live in constant ecstacy, 24/7.”

5. Start Fresh

• It’s better to start over rather than trying to change something. Eg: “I am happy.” Not: “I am free of this burden.”

6. Stay Real

• Don’t tell yourself you’re happy when your puppy has just died. Eg: “I am grateful for the time we had together.” Not: “I am happy, I am happy, I am happy, goshdarnit!”

7. Keep It Vibrant

• If it becomes routine and difficult to feel a daily affirmation, update it so it’s alive to you. This is particularly beneficial when your subconscious belief has caught up to your positive affirmation. Then you can take it a little further. Eg: “I am happy.” Update: “I am loving my life.”

8. Don’t Sweat The Details

• Do an affirmation for the end result you want, not for how you think it will come about. Eg: “I am engaged in my ideal career.” Not: “I wow them at this job interview,” or “Joe Smith offers me the promotion.”

9. Tell It To Yourself

Do self affirmations while looking at yourself in a mirror, and saying them in the second person, using your own name. Eg: “Janice, you are worthy of love and happiness.”

A Spell to Attract Positivity

What You Need:

•  1 Candle in a positive colour. Good positive colours are yellow for happiness, blue for tranquillity or green for peace. (Also, remember that a white candle is good for any and all spell work.)
• A Magnet 
• A flameproof dish or cauldron 
• A piece of parchment paper and a pen 

The Positivity Spell 

Create a calm space and atmosphere to perform this spell. When ready cast a circle and light your candle. Sit with your eyes closed and concentrate on your breathing. Visualise positivity coming your way. 

Write a positive affirmation on the piece of paper such as “I want to attract a positive new friend into my life.” Take the piece of paper and wrap it around the magnet. Imagine the magnet drawing the positive energy towards you. 

Chant the following: 

“Negativity I ward you away Happiness come my way With this magnet I use today I will attract positivity that will stay.”

Take the piece of paper away from the magnet, light it with the candle then drop it into the flame proof dish. Close your circle. Keep the magnet close to you for the next couple of days to help your positive affirmation come true. 

Please be careful when practising spells that involve lighting paper on fire. Make sure you are doing so safely, and that when the spell is finished any flame is carefully extinguished.