Astrology for Monday, September 27 - Mercury Retrograde in Effect Until October 19

About three times a year, Mercury appears to go backward in the sky. It is an optical illusion caused by different speeds - similar to sitting in a train while a faster train approaches and passes. You feel as though you are going backward.

Mercury is the planet of communication - speaking, writing, listening. Symbolically, the retrograde motion is a time when it is good to listen to yourself by going within. Since the retrograde is in the sign of Libra, an air sign concerned with balance, fairness, relationship, beauty and finances, it offers us a chance to find a balance between our inner and outer selves regarding those things.

Sometimes people dread Mercury retrograde, expecting delays and frustrations. That can certainly be true, if we insist on business as normal and going forward with new projects. We get the best out of a Mercury retrograde by taking a breath from the press of immediate concerns, slowing down (Mercury is normally speedy) and re-thinking, revising, re-editing, and re-evaluating all those things associated with Libra. It might not be the best time to get married or travel to an exotic location for the first time, but it might be a great time to think things over a cup of morning coffee with a partner in the brisk fall air. We may want to edit our original thoughts or tweak them a bit.

If our ego insists on going forward with new projects, we may, indeed, encounter a travel snafu, pick up a nail in our tire, miss an appointment or lose our keys. Our communication devices may malfunction. It is not that Mercury retrograde is causing you bad luck, it is helping you to slow down an be more thoughtful.

This is the third Mercury Retrograde of the year. Previous retrogrades have also been in air element: Aquarius, January 31 to February 21; Gemini, May 30 to June 23 . Air is about ideas. Because all three retrogrades have been in air, they are linked and have some relevance to the current Mercury retrograde. So, look at what was happening then and realize it may provide a theme of what is to come for you.

All year long, the most notable aspect has been Uranus in Taurus squaring Saturn in Aquarius - clash of the old and new. A new way of doing is fated to occur. These Mercury retrograde periods force us to look at what is not working and find a way to balance the scales. From the ideas that occur, we can go within, find balance and create a more fitting reality. Ideas lead to a new reality.