Editor’s note. This Planet Waves article for the StarIQ.com is an Eric Francis classic from the summer of July 2000.
Lots has been written about Mercury retrograde, but as you probably guessed, most of it never made it to the printer. And this article will prove to be very difficult to create because my secretary’s called in sick, all of my astrology books except for two are packed in a storage locker in Seattle and the entire Internet is running at an average of eleven baud, fast enough to load a page in three days. Plus, I’m running late and I really don’t feel like doing this. But I can wing it. I’m a pro.
One thing I’ve never seen written about Mercury retrograde is that each one of these experiences is different, since the aspects to Mercury are different at any given time of year, and anyway, Mercury never stays the same for longer than it takes for two people to agree on any minor point. Also, the quality of a Mercury retrograde experience will be shaped by the way it slides, bangs, scratches or dances triumphantly around one’s natal configuration.
But whatever the causes or consequences, which astrologers only pretend to understand, some retrograde phases seem to turn computer hardware to toast, especially for people who don’t believe in astrology. Others eat only financial databases only while you’re backing them up. Others are mean just to Macintoshes (the PC was both invented and patented with Mercury retrograde, so you can’t tell the difference). One weird time, my telephone started acting like a microwave oven, and simultaneously the FedEx guy showed up with 100 pounds of organic yak butter. In fact, I had ordered 75 pounds.