As I sit down to write yet another blog draft I try to think of an interesting and (hopefully) witty spiritual take on something happening right now. I canned my previous draft which was all about 'post break up euphoria' and how amazing you feel when you start meeting people and have exciting dates, as those dates didn't quite end up being so exciting and the euphoria quickly dissipated from the particular interludes in question.
I usually write nonstop, whether it's articles, pitches for TV segments, my book, or my daily messages on my Todd Savvas - Spiritual Healing FaceBook page. It just generally flows, unfortunately for the past 2-3 weeks or so I encountered this pesky thing I have heard so much about but never really experienced - 'writers block'. I searched my mind for any clear reason, or whether it was just lack of stimulation from the everyday world, it was none of those. It was the occurrence we call 'Mercury Retrograde'.
So the planet Mercury, named after the God Mercury in Greek mythology rules the following: communication, electronics, moving parts, agreements, contracts, even general conversation. When a planet stops moving forwards (or appears to) in the heavens it is referred to as a retrograde (it appears to go backwards). This most recently begun Nov 24th and will go direct once more Dec 14th. It is a time when the planet in question takes time out to recharge, so all under its patronage goes a little haywire, chaotic is probably the best word to describe it.
You know, you are waiting for an email, you are waiting for a return phone call, your mobile phone decides to break for no reason, etc. All of these things are usual issues to occur during a retrograde. Here are a couple of my most recent Mercurian dances:
Bank Cashier:
All you need to do is go outside, insert the card and pin, and your new card will activate.
Me:
Ok, easy.
I walk outside and wait in the line for 4 minutes only to see the message "This is not an authorised action, please visit your local branch".
By this point the branch has now closed so I head home and grab the landline to call the free call number provided to activate, it is one of those fun retro circular spin phones, where you slide the number around and it slides back dialling the number. You know the sort; they aren't used anymore because they aren't supported by a majority of automated phone services.
You guessed right, the phone didn't work entering the card number to activate. So that meant I had to call from my mobile number which was not a free call.
Example # 2
I have recently discovered that the phone carrier I chose when I first arrived didn't give the best value, so I heard about a better deal and grabbed a start up sim and discussed how to change over my number to the new carrier.
In store customer service guy:
All you need to do is go online and sign up then fill out the form, it's totally easy.
Me:
Ok, easy.
I then went home to sign up online with the knowledge this would be ever so simple - no, not at all. I filled out the form in at least 5 different ways after the instructed way which sounded so simple did not work, all of my ingenious ideas failed. I then decided to head into a store because surely in person they could just do it for me, that will solve all of this hassle. So I made a special trek in the freezing cold to get someone to fix it for me on the spot, or at least to do it online for me.
In store customer service guy #2:
Just call up customer service, they will do it for you over the phone.
Me:
Ok, easy.
Thankfully this was the best advice I had been given and the person located somewhere in India was amazingly helpful and did it for me with no hassle.
When mercury goes retrograde you can expect that anything to do with communication/electronics/conversation will most likely not go smoothly, if things do not go as planned there is always a reason for it. It always works out to be better for you in some way, whether that be a better offer reveals itself or the timing works out much more perfectly than if it had gone ahead on your original timeline - it just always makes sense after the fact.
What has made this time so interesting is that it isn't just affecting the usual things, there appears to be a really deep core shaking reflection that is going on as well. On Dec 10th there will be a full lunar eclipse, which will affect people in different ways - primarily though it seems to be bringing up long held cycles and patterns which have carried hurts and painful emotions. All of these things are coming up to clear, if that isn't happening, then it is a time for powerful reflection as you see your life span out in front of you and you analyse what is right for you.
Clearly these are totally light topics which mean that everything runs smoothly with absolutely no influence on your everyday life (I hope you got my sarcasm there), most friends and clients I have seen are having some pretty monumental moments of reflection and challenge coming up. Which even though it seems crippling at the time is actually a fortuitous window to have present itself because something amazing will be around the corner (I'm sure of it) for those who take advantage.
So now as I sit back and peruse my successfully finished blog I re-read it a few times taking into account that Mercury could make words appear backwards or even replace words might go unnoticed. I breathe and accept that while we may want to be charging forth and accomplishing 24/7 Mercury and its less than desired retrograde forces us to take a moment to breathe and let the dust settle. We have some immense moments in cosmic history coming up, and if we are not prepared for them we might get swept away in the shifting that has already started taking place. Only a handful of days until Mercury goes direct once more, yes!!
* Just for your own information, there were at least 3 extra changes I had to make - not to mention accidentally deleting sentences. Well played, Mercury!