Mercury is currently stationing retrograde and will begin full retrograde motion on Wednesday, Dec. 13th at 2:09am, EST. (Please adjust for your time zone.) When Mercury is retrograde, there is confusion about the matters Mercury rules: communications, technology, learning/understanding new concepts, marketing, development of new technologies and services. Since Mercury already appears as though it is slowing down, it is wise to delay all of the above activities, including the scheduling of these activities if your circumstances allow. If you need to conduct any of the above activities before January 2, 10:08 pm, EST, allow for more time and lower your expectations about how easy it will be to complete your tasks. If you are working with others, plan ahead and provide more than one way of communicating: prepare written documents, verbal/aural instructions, provide more than one link to instructions/glossaries of necessary terms, etc. Be prepared for your preparations to take more time than expected and be patient with people who are new to the tasks your project requires.
If you look at the recommendations above, you may notice that I wrote January 2, instead of January 1st. Although Mercury will station direct on January 1st, I recommend waiting AT LEAST 24 hours after the retrograde cycle to schedule important communications, technical tasks, writing, instruction, etc. The most challenging parts of a retrograde cycle are when Mercury is stationing retrograde and direct, and the first 24 hours after Mercury has stationed. For this cycle, you can expect the following times to be most challenging:
December 12, 2:09am (EST) – December 14, 2:09am (EST)
December 31, 10:08pm (EST) – January 2, 10:08pm (EST)
Please note that many people will begin noticing challenges before and after the above times, but the times above are likely to be the most difficult.
PLEASE note that New Year’s Eve could be a very difficult time for driving this year. If you must drive, allow a lot of extra time and drive defensively. Remember, many people may experience challenges during a retrograde cycle, but may not be aware of the potential for unexpected difficulties.
Due to the potential for communications challenges, my annual presentation about the important transits for 2024 will be on January 6, at 1pm. More details coming soon.