What Is mercury’s Shadow Period?

If you’ve been following along with me or any other astrologers you may have heard of something called the Mercury’s “pre and post retrograde shadows”. This is corresponds to the roughly two week period before and after the planet Mercury goes retrograde.

As a review, Mercury retrogrades several times a year, this coupled with us being in a very technological time astrologically and Mercury governing communication in all forms including technologically, it is not surprising that people have latched onto the saying “Mercury was in retrograde”.

During Mercury’s pre-retrograde shadow it starts slowing down and preparing to reverse its orbit aka “Mercury retrograde”. Then, during it’s post-retrograde shadow it starts to speed up again in preparation for it going direct and no longer reverse.

During Mercury’s pre-retrograde you may feel like your thoughts and communication are clouded or slow and then on the retrograde itself, they may feel stunted entirely. After the retrograde you may start feeling a little more easy to understand and it may be easier to understand others as Mercury stations direct.

If you feel stuck before and during the retrograde don’t worry, you may get some good flashes of insight once the planet goes direct. Conversely, if you were born on a Mercury retrograde (such as I) you may feel like the pre-retrograde shadow and the retrograde station are the only times you are fully understood or can communicate more effectively.

Don’t fret! These are simply things to keep in mind and tailor your plans and aspirations accordingly.

Schedule a reading to see how you can best use Mercury’s stations in your life.