Mercury is retrograde, you can find me screaming into the void.
While in part this is just a meme, there is a real truth to working with The Tower during any retrograde, especially mercury retrograde!
For mercury retrograde, I choose The Tower as our anchor card. The Tower in the Moon Void Tarot 4th edition depicts a woman screaming out lightning - while lightning also comes from her fingers. Maybe lighting also strikes her or comes from her head. Meanwhile, her body is shattering and breaking apart.
Retrograde periods require us to slow down and re-evaluate, re-think, and often retrace our steps. In a society that tells us to go go go and to leave the past in the past, this can feel like quite a Tower moment.
I have also often found that it also takes the reflection of a retrograde period to realize that we are, in fact, already in the midst of a Tower moment or that we need to initiate something that causes a Tower moment for ourselves or our relationships.
The lightning in this particular depiction of The Tower also makes me think of all of the technological or electrical snafus that so often accompany a Mercury retrograde period. Often, when I look back on such things, I notice that if I had just slowed down and taken my time, these issues would not have been issues at all!
And even more often, I notice that my reaction to issues that I’ve experienced during this time is met with a Tower reaction (e.g., screaming into the void) when, in fact, what I need to do is take a deep breath and slow down!
Communication issues are also common during Mercury retrograde period. Mercury rules our communication, and so when Mercury is retrograde, there can often be miscommunications or instances of people talking past one another - message not received.
This is another area where taking your time and noticing the reaction you are having or you are inducing from someone else can be a balm in and of itself. I also find myself waiting until a mercury retrograde period has ended to be able to clearly and calmly talk through a situation.
Instead of blaming mercury retrograde for our actions and reactions, where can we take responsibility (another “re” word)? Where can we take a step back? Where can we slow down in order to move forward?
Finally, do you have mercury retrograde in your natal chart? You may find that retrograde periods are when you feel more aligned and less likely to experience the issues or difficulties I’ve outlined above. Use this time to see things for what they really are, and be sure that you aren’t moving too fast - we all need time to slow down and reflect
- Reese Quinn
Connect with Reese for more tarot and astrology insights @western.moon.witch