Hello everyone. As a Virgo, the dreaded Mercury retrograde is right around the corner & although it affects everyone, it appears Virgos & Gemini seems to feel it the most. The last retrograde for me was miserable for me & it lasted 6 weeks as I appear to feel the effects before it goes into retrograde. During the last retrograde my boyfriend at the time ignored me for 6 weeks the day the retrograde started (oddly enough he's a Gemini), I caught pneumonia, I broke out in hives after taking my prescription for pneumonia & had to take a steroid that affected me very badly, I found out at the end of the retrograde that my boyfriend was cheating on me & I got into a lot of arguments with close friends of mine. I also had a bad time in school where everyone was willing to sabotage my chances of getting a job. & since I plan on working in transportation, that's something also affected by Mercury retrograde. The only good thing that happened during the retrograde was that I met my current boyfriend when he flew to New York on 12/18 & I met him for the first time on 12/21. So now that I got that story out of the way, I'm terrified of what this retrograde holds for me & I was wondering if anyone is also badly affected by it & may have an effective spell to protect against the negativity of Mercury Retrograde. I'm already starting to feel the retrograde effects as people close & dear to me have been very distant & I want to be able to stop that from happening or at least come out with minimal damage
First, a little story. I can't remember the exact telling as I read it only once from a book called 'Tales from the tao', but it may provide a little food for thought.
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It is a tale of a farmer and his son who manage a small bit of land where they breed and raise horses. One day they are out tending their prize horse when a sudden loud noise spooks it, and the steed bolts over the fence and disappears into the forest.
Hearing of their ill fortune, their neighbors offered sympathy and condolences for the lost animal, and lamented on their poor luck. The father merely shrugged his shoulders and said "Good, bad, Who knows?"
A few days later they were again in the fields working when they found the same horse had returned. It was tired, dirty, but unharmed. To their surprise the horse had been followed by a second mare who looked fit and strong. The neighbors of course heard of the good fortune, and praised their luck. Again the father shrugged and said, "Good, bad, Who knows?"
The next day while working to break the new horse, the farmer's son was thrown and injured his leg. It was broken and he took a fever requiring expensive medicines to save his life. Yet again, when the neighbors heard of their woes they consoled the family in their bad luck, and just as every time before the father shrugged and made his proclamation.
A few days later the magistrate of the village appeared. He stopped in at every residence and proclaimed that their lord was going to war, and every able-bodied son was called to fight. Upon seeing the son with his injury, he was deemed to be too weak to fight. The magistrate told them how lucky they were for he would not have to fight. Again, the father shrugged.
"Good, Bad, Who knows?"
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That said, I would recommend working magic or meditations to promote inner stability and insight. The more you can center yourself and work to ride the chaotic wave of life the more easily you will be able to spot the opportunities for beneficial change.
I don't know what ways you usually like to work magic, nor what gods/goddesses you usually work with, but if you work with crystals it might help to keep one or several of the following close by; fire agate, kyanite, amethyst, azurite. They all promote a balance of energy, insight, inspiration, and creative thought.
I like that story :3 shows the good & bad in every situation. My beliefs are actually bits & pieces of each religion & I worship the universe as a whole. My deity I guess is just the energy that makes us however I also believe there's more than one deity. I usually work with candles. I've always been able to communicate with spirits via fire & I find it's easiest to work with. Fire has much to tell us as does the wax. I wear a giant amethyst on my neck by my threat & I wear a rose quartz on a long chain so it touches the center of my chest where my heart would be. I run them through the smoke of a sage or nag champa incense on an almost daily basis. I light many of those incense particularly in my room throughout the day & night to keep positive energy nearby. I own small ritual candles, mostly red, pink & white
I know how you feel--I'm a Sagittarius with Saturn in retrograde through my sign right now....right when I'm trying to work on starting over, get a new job and place. I'm of the mind of the Tao story, though, Things will fall in place when it's time to, and in the mean time I may as well enjoy the extra time with my kids. :)
