Retrogrades - What are they and why do they make me feel weird?
By: Jessica Antonietta
You’ve probably heard the term “it’s because Mercury’s in retrograde” before – poor Mercury, always getting blamed for everyone’s shitty decisions – and even though you may be familiar with the term, you may not actually know wtf it means.
So let me help you.
When a planet goes retrograde, it means that the planet appears to be moving backwards. It’s slowing down and almost seems like it’s rerouting.
For us, these are great opportunities to do the same.
To slow down, redirect, change perspective, take stock, reflect.
Right now, we have a lot of this energy in the sky, along with Mercury entering it’s pre shadow period just a couple days ago.
(Pre shadow periods are the 2ish weeks building up to a retrograde phase – Post shadow is the two weeks following as the energy rebuilds up before going direct again)
You may feel right now that you’re contemplating everything.
From the cream in your coffee to the people in your life.
You’re not going crazy, but also, don’t blame the planets.
This energy is doing and asking what it needs to – it’s challenging your patterns and behaviors and giving you a mirror to view them with.
Do you need to pivot? Are you on track? Do you feel out of place/out of sorts? Have you gotten lost?
If you push, when the energy is trying to pull, you stay stuck. Which makes these feelings of confusion and stagnation felt even more.
When you work with the energy, you see things from a different view point, allowing you to see something else. Something that may not be fully revealed until the planet/energy goes direct again, but it’s opening the pages for you to start reading the words before you can see the story.
On the other hand, if you have natal planets in your chart that are retrograde, and currently those same planets are retrograde, this may feel right at home to you. You may be able to see more clearly already and feel this energy to follow through on what you’ve come to know. You may have rushing in of new ideas and want to put them in place.
For natal retrograde souls, this energy can feel like home.
Everything is super dependent, for you personally, on your chart and what is going on. Everyone has their own seasons and dances to do with life here on earth.
Below I will add a BRIEF and general description of what these planets may feel like when they’re doing their retrograde journey.
*the sun and moon do not go retrograde, and the nodes travel in that direction naturally*
Mercury – communication can be wonky, as can transportation. You may feel your ideas being challenged or questioned. May be trickier to find the words to get your point across.
Mars – you may feel a lack of willingness to get things done. You may have to deal with repressed feelings of anger that are now asking to be heard and felt.
Venus – relationships can come into focus, and may need some reflecting upon. What you value, what your interested in – are they still aligned with your current place?
Jupiter – are your belief systems your own? This will give you an opportunity to fall back into a place of faith. Have you been stopping your own abundance?
Saturn – you may feel extra limitations and restriction now. Whatever you are trying to avoid paying the consequence for, will get your attention now. This can also be an energy that makes you think about whether you are on track with your purpose or not.
Uranus – this energy will ask you to look at where you may have been falling into traps of other peoples expectations and how can you liberate yourself from that and step into your own uniqueness.
Neptune – an opportunity to see when you seem fall into escapist behaviors or don’t feel secure enough to make a decision on your own.
Pluto – this is a great time to look at your sense of power. Do you wield it or do you easily give it away? Are you able to release control and surrender or do you hold on as tight as you can until your sucked under the current?
Now as mentioned, these are very brief examples, and they can play out in so many other different ways and can vary depending on your personal chart and energies. Generally speaking, these seem to be the most common for them.
And if you have any of these planets in your chart naturally in retrograde, these retrograde transits may feel like a breath of fresh air to you and instead of contemplating, you may find answers and solutions.
If you’ve read my previous post, you might gather that I am heavy into a reflective and contemplative phase right now.
Me being an astrologer, I of course go to view what might be going on in the cosmos and how I can work with that energy in dealing with what is going on in my life.
I noticed all these happenings, and thought it best to share.
As I always do.
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