Mercury Retrograde gets a bad rap, but it has its benefits too.
I’m tired of the old Mercury retrograde narrative.
I say, embrace the cosmos with all its many fluctuations. Learn to ride the tide gracefully, gloriously, and with glee.
The trick is to flow with Mercury Retrograde rather than fight against it. Here are some benefits to consider that will help you get started.
1. Mercury Retrograde helps you shake things up, get out of a rut, and have more fun.
You could call it chaos, or you could call it the universe pushing you to try something new and look at something from another perspective. Truly, life would be so boring if everything always went exactly the way we thought it would.
That’s why fresh creative ideas, new perspectives, and unexpected blessings are some of the many benefits of Mercury Retrograde.
2. Mercury Retrograde supports you in finally understanding and fixing longstanding physical challenges (such as health issues or mechanical problems).
You could say, “God damn you, Mercury Retrograde. Now I have to take my car into the shop to get my brakes fixed.” OR you could say, “Wow, thank the gods we discovered this issue with my brakes now and not when I was careening down a mountain.”
Mercury didn’t mess with your brakes – driving did that. It just brought light to the fact that they needed to be fixed. Which is pretty helpful when you think about it.
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3. Mercury Retrograde facilitates a deeper look into your relationships so you can speak your truth and heal deeply.
During Mercury Retrograde, it can become suddenly clear to you exactly what you need to say to that loved one in order to set things right. If you step up and do it, sure, it might feel awkward or uncomfortable, but it will also restore harmony to your life.
4. Mercury Retrograde makes it easier to break unhealthy habits.
Mercury Retrograde’s penchant for breaking old, expected patterns doesn’t need to be a bad thing.
Tired of reaching for that afternoon cigarette or binge watching more TV than you’d like? There couldn’t be a more perfect time to banish a habit that’s ready to go.
5. Mercury Retrograde facilitates a greater and more helpful perspective on pretty much everything.
You might think of Mercury Retrograde periods as moments when you can step far enough away from the mural of your life so that you can actually see the whole picture and how each part interacts with each other part. While this allows us to see and experience discord so that we can heal it, it isn’t what creates the discord in the first place. It simply offers us the broader view we need in order to heal it in a longstanding way.
6. Mercury Retrograde helps us examine and revise old decisions.
Sometimes you wish you could have a do-over. To look at old decisions and shift them according to what you’ve learned in the time since you made them.
Well, now, in many cases, you can. Just another benefit brought to you by Mercury Retrograde.
7. Mercury Retrograde dials you into your intuition.
According to Hay House astrologer Mark Husson, “More than 50% of the top 100 Fortune 500 businesses were started under the Mercury retrograde.” Considering Mercury is retrograde for far less than 50% of the year, that’s a far cry from the old, “Don’t start or sign anything” story. A really far cry. And there’s a good chance it’s because one of Mercury Retrograde’s benefits is increased intuition.
8. Mercury Retrograde clears up old misunderstandings.
Again, you can look at the discussions and interpersonal issues that come up during Mercury Retrograde like, “Oh, so much chaos!” Or, you can look at them like, “Oh good, these old issues are coming to light so they can be resolved.”
Like a flashlight in the dark, Mercury helps you see those old issues so you can fix them.
9. Mercury Retrograde releases obsessive or repetitive thought patterns and promotes a sense of mindful calm.
The planet Mercury is about rapid thought. That’s why when it goes retrograde, we have the opportunity to part the curtain of obsessive thought and step into a sense of mindful, expansive calm.
See? Like I said: Mercury Retrograde has its benefits too.
Did you resonate with any of these Mercury Retrograde benefits? Or disagree with any of them? Please share your thoughts the comment section below.
I’m a few years past… retro- as it be… the 2020 post and comments, but I have to say this blog post, its perspective, has provided fresh clarity. It’s Mercury retrograde as I write this, and it makes me ponder what was happening in 2020 that’s revisiting in the now of 2023. Now is a wow, my voice has recently spoken what needed to be said yet in a soft way. The old me would’ve been more abrupt, less receptive, but it’s also been a hard road to reach this unexpected way of speaking hard truths in a gentle manner. I had the opportunity during Mercury retrograde last week to speak to my mother in law about a hurtful comment she made to me directly that my (now disabled) 27 year old son is holding my husband (her son) and me hostage because of his disabled condition from a car accident last February. He was in a severe car accident, ejected at high speed, sustained a traumatic brain injury of the worst sort (grade 3 DAI with brain stem involvement) alongside a C1 neck fracture and artery dissection, and he had been in a coma for six days. 95% of victims with his injuries do not survive, the remaining 5% have a greater likelihood of remaining in a vegetative state, but our son has made a near miraculous recovery although with some lasting neurological conditions. Perspective might not have been clear to her about the enormous gift he/we have of his ability to walk, talk, eat on his own, alongside other normal ADL’s rather than being held hostage himself to a body that could not tend to itself…or dead. Rather than ‘reacting’ at the time she spoke such insensitive words to me, I had the opportunity to softly speak an alternate view about how lucky we are considering the circumstances. She just stared at me. No words, which was oddly out of character for her. Here in the southern USA, we’d genuinely say ‘bless her heart.’ To sum this up, your blog post helped me recognize how the retrograde part of the current Mercury transit has/is proving itself to be an ally. Such encouragement, too. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, turning old paradigms about Mercury retrograde status on its head for a new understanding.
❤️
This year was all about clear vision and working on major life changes and while things got blurry; my path lead me here. To you Tess, your books, and your magic. This was the first retrograde I decided to work with it and it has proven to be the best choice I’ve made in a long time. Your article just makes me feel that much better for my new choices. Be happy, be healthy, and be light.
Jess, I love it! Thank you for sharing this and for your kind words.
I have heard it is best to avoid certain things during mercury retrograde?
Like haircuts, dentist visits?
Is this true?!
Blessings,
Lisa
Hi Lisa! It’s not true in my opinion, but if your intuition tells you to avoid these things, then I’d listen. Here’s a video I made on this topic that may shed a little more light: https://tesswhitehurst.com/why-i-love-mercury-retrograde-and-you-could-too/
Thank you Tess!!
I loved your Mercury Retrograde video and found it most helpful!!