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Mercury Retrograde Survival Guide



When mercury is in retrograde, life doesn't always seem to go as planned. The planet mercury rules the mind, intellect, communication, mental clarity, balance and adaptability. During a mercury retrograde period, simple acts of communication, decision-making or common sense can become distorted and altered from your original intent. It's also common for technology to go haywire. It can be a challenging time, but it's also a great time for introspection, reflecting, revisiting and reevaluating.


Let's take a look at what it all means and how you can use this often misunderstood phenomenon to your own advantage! Mercury Retrograde occurs when the planet Mercury passes between the Sun and Earth. It's called a retrograde because Mercury appears to be moving backwards from our vantage point here on Earth. Interestingly, it isn't actually moving backwards, it just looks that way in our sky. When a planet retrogrades, it's basically in a resting state, so the things that this planet rules – in Mercury's case communication, travel, and technology – can be thrown into chaos. So you may find that you have miscommunication with people, plans may be delayed, your car may break down, your computer crashes or things may just not go the way you had planned. Noting when Mercury Retrograde happens throughout each year can be extremely beneficial to help you plan when and when not to do certain things.


During the 3 weeks of Mercury Retrograde be flexible and expect the unexpected. Pause and breathe before speaking, so not to be misunderstood. Delay making big purchases, such as a home, computer equipment and electronics, until after mercury goes direct. Triple read all your emails and documents before you send them. Practice forgiveness. Use this time to finish processing any unresolved things that are lingering so that you can move on and let go. If big decisions must be made, make sure to double and triple check all the details!


MERCURY RETROGRADE IS POINTING OUT WHERE YOU NEED TO HEAL.

Mercury Retrograde is a season of life slowing down your expectations enough that you can determine what is truly aligned and what is serving as a distraction. Though almost no one ever welcomes Mercury Retrograde, we need forced periods of contemplating the deeper meaning of the things we deem critical and to foster a more profound connection to our inner world. At these times we need to fully process our emotions and think deeply about what we desire and what it means for us. Or even redefining what it is we desire to go into a new direction thats better for us.


We’re not meant to be juggling tasks and projects as often as we do. Mercury retrograde is pointing out where you need to heal. The spots that hurt the most are the places you need to work on, and if you take the steps to heal yourself and acknowledge where you’re needing more attention, you can benefit greatly from a retrograde.


Be So Aligned That Not Even Mercury Retrograde Can Phase You!


Self Reflection

Mercury Retrograde is forcing self reflection. When we dont have resolution to things in our life like thoughts, ideas, people or events in the past, they will resurface so you can integrate them. This resurfacing and purging is all mercury retrograde is about. It's a time to see the things you've been avoiding or suppressing in order to heal it. Mercury Retrograde is the time to withdraw our energies and go into ourselves. Revisit all those unhealed things and purify them.


Be Open to Realignment

Life is a balance of ebbs and flows, learn how to allow and go with the flow. How we handle these times is vital to our wellbeing. The mantra for mercury retrograde is let it flow.

If Mercury Retrograde breaks something in your world, consider it a good thing. If energies are perfectly aligned, Mercury won’t be able to affect them. If it does wreck a few things, then they were never aligned in the first place. See this as an opportunity to build anew from the ground up. This next version will have a better foundation, hopefully so aligned it’s impervious to Mercury Retrograde, or anything else for that matter.


Practice Self Love

Have you been putting off some kind of self love? Do all of your self love practices during this time or find new ones you've never tried before. Be kind and nurturing to yourself during this difficult time. Focus of rejuvenation, Mercury Retrograde will enhance your self love and make it easier for you at this time, ONLY IF your practicing it.


Shadow Work

Mercury Retrograde is already bringing up and out your shadow aspects for you to see, which makes this the perfect and easiest time to do all shadow work practices. Search for harmful core beliefs, express your emotions, and purge what is supressed within you. This is the time to question everything about yourself. Why do you think the way you do and why are you believing what you believe? What are your desires and why? What are you manifesting, what do you want to manifest and why?


Dont Take Things Personally

Communication is on the fritz, we all have our shadow aspects surfacing right now and so projection is at an all time high during this time. People will say things they dont mean during this time, knowing this in advance and staying conscious of this can help you not be as hurt by peoples bizare behavior.


Think Before you Speak

Be very aware of your words and deliberate with them. People will spin your words and use them against you. Check your words with your own sense of integrity. Reread your messages before you send them.

The only kind of communication that goes well during a retrograde is the communication that fasilitates healing.


You May Feel Blocked Creatively

This can be frustrating if you have a lot of work to do, but it's a good time to take a break and relax. Don't try to force anything during this time; the best things happen when you let them flow naturally. If you're struggling with a creative project, this may be the perfect opportunity to put it aside and come back to it later. You may find that the answer comes to you in a different form than you were expecting.


Other Symptoms of Mercury Retrograde

  • Feeling like you're being unappreciated, not valued, forgotten, or rejected

  • Feeling misunderstood

  • Feeling like you don't have enough time

  • Not feeling successful

  • Experiencing "bad luck" in general

  • Exes returning - If an ex returns during a Mercury Retrograde, it's usually because we haven't learned the lesson of that relationship yet.

  • Not being able to finish sentences

  • Arguments arising out of no where

  • Not being able to form a coherent thought

  • Confusion

  • Losing things

  • Murphy's law - "Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

  • Feeling like your fighting upstream

  • Restlessness and Frustration

  • Especially hard on control freaks, forcing you to have no control.



Crystal List:


Black Tourmaline

Black tourmaline is such a powerful protection and grounding stone that can help with anxiety, stress, and negativity. During Mercury retrograde, it's common for people to feel overwhelmed and anxious, so black tourmaline can be very helpful. It's also a great stone for protection against negative energy both internally and externally.

Black tourmaline is one of the very best stones for protecting yourself from dark energies. It's said to be a purifying stone, deflecting and transmuting negative energy. It is also believed to be a great stone for transmuting the EMF energies of electronic devices such as cell phones and computers. It is believed to protect one from black magic and bad intentions!


Amazonite

Amazonite is a stone of truth, communication, and intuition. It can help you speak your truth and communicate effectively during Mercury retrograde, despite the challenges that may arise. This stone can also help with emotional balance and courage.

It's also a great stone for seeing both sides of a situation by balancing both masculine and feminine energies. Amazonite can be used to help with encouraging forgiveness and soothing difficult emotions.


Fluorite

Say hello to Fluorite, your new best friend during Mercury Retrograde! Known as the "Genius Stone," Fluorite is all about clarity, focus, and order. And let's face it, who doesn't need a bit more of that when Mercury is doing its backward dance in the sky? This crystal helps you stay composed, especially when you're feeling mentally scattered and chaotic. It’s like a vacuum cleaner for your mind, sucking up all the confusion, negativity and conflicting ideas, leaving your mind crystal-clear and ready to navigate through the retrograde. Take a deep breath, you've got this!


Rose Quartz

This is the ultimate love stone, promoting love in all forms - self-love, friendship love, and romantic love. Mercury retrograde often throws our emotions into overdrive causing tension in relationships. Enter Rose Quartz, with its calming and soothing vibrations, to help us navigate those tricky emotional waters.

It encourages forgiveness, compassion, and understanding, making it easier to mend fences or clear misunderstandings. So, whether you're finding it hard to love yourself during the retrograde or your relationships are feeling the strain, Rose Quartz has got your back!


Citrine

Citrine is a stone of manifestation and abundance. During Mercury retrograde, it's common for plans and projects to be delayed or disrupted. Citrine can be helpful in manifesting positive outcomes and helping you stay focused on your goals. It's also a great stone for boosting confidence and joy and is known to help with establishing strong emotional boundaries.


Smoky Quartz

Smoky Quartz is a great stone for grounding and calming anxiety. It can also help eliminate negative thoughts, as well as the fear of the unknown. This is especially helpful during Mercury retrograde when things tend to be unpredictable. By connecting with smoky quartz, you can cultivate an attitude of acceptance and understanding.


Labradorite

Labradorite helps me to see the light hidden within the gray areas of life. It reminds me to look beneath my dark shadows, to discover the underlying lessons that Im meant to learn. Whatever mercury retrograde digs up for you will carry with it a message. Labradorite can assist you in digesting that message. It guides your mind in recognizing the transformations you need to make, and the actions that can lead you toward emotional progress. Whenever you feel yourself speeding up and beginning to lean into that infamous retrograde tailspin, slow down and find your point of balance by connecting with labradorite. For some, that may mean meditating with labradorite to get in sync with both the breath and the labradorite meaning, and for others, that may simply mean holding the labradorite stone in your hand to think before making decisions.


Black Kyanite

I like to think of Mercury Retrograde as an opportunity to take a deeper look at the patterns and cycles we perpetuate such as thoughts, beliefs, self-talk, and inner narratives that take us in the opposite direction of where we want to go in life. Black Kyanite is the perfect tool to use during this time period to bring awareness to recurring thoughts so you can re-evaluate your state and recommit to your highest self.

During this time period, keep your Black Kyanite close. Whenever you notice a negative pattern resurfacing, use the Black Kyanite to cut it away. Focus the Black Kyanite energy toward your third eye, and move the crystal in a slicing motion in front of you, cutting the energy away. After you've released the toxic energy, reprogram yourself with a positive intention to replace the negative behavior with one that serves you better.


Lapis Lazuli

Are you struggling to communicate with those around you? Don’t worry, this is a completely normal side effect of Mercury retrograde! Thankfully, Lapis Lazuli can help you build a solid line of communication between the internal and external. This, in turn, gives you everything you need to not only communicate your true feelings with yourself but also share them with those around you.


Selenite

Mercury Retrograde has a funny way of making all your old problems resurface. Selenite helps you release anything you’ve been holding on to and let go of past pain.

Mercury retrograde is the ideal time to clear your auric field of any lingering negativity. Selenite is a wonderful crystal to cleanse your aura and unblock any blocked energy. It also prompts calmness and peace because of its high vibrational frequency. It can help to clear your other crystals, as well—we love a multi-purpose crystal!


Amethyst

If you don't know where to begin with crystals, start with Amethyst. Amethyst provides grounded connection to the planet while clearing other energetics that you may be under the influence of. It brings you back to yourself by stabilizing moods so you can more clearly see root causes behind behaviors and habits. For this reason, I wear Amethyst more than any other stone.

Fun fact: Amethyst can support objects too. Computer acting up? Try putting an Amethyst near it or right on top of the processor. You can even put an Amethyst on top of your WiFi router, especially after a restart to keep channels running smoothly.


Blue Calcite

Does your anxiety rise during Mercury Retrograde? Blue Calcite soothes the emotional body in a way that creates a more optimistic outlook. Blue Calcite gently empowers you to create your own reality, but you don't have to do it alone! Blue Calcite facilitates the willingness to connect with your Muse so creative ideas and thoughts can flow through you into reality. Let Blue Calcite open the dam of visioning to create a flow of authentic expression.


Prehnite

The premier anti-anxiety crystal, Prehnite is a great companion to have throughout Mercury retrograde. Its energy will help bring calm to your heart and mind—so say goodbye to any stress or worry you may have associated with the retrograde.


Aquamarine

Gossip and low-vibrational energy exchanges are prevalent during retrograde, but Aquamarine can help us deal with these challenges gracefully. This is one of the most healing crystals for mercury retrograde as it inspires tolerance, trust, and the will help us find a compromise in any situation. It prevents emotional shut-downs and inspires warm and open communication. It helps us deal with passive-aggressive behaviors, but also develop skills, memorize things, and learn new topics, which is yet another thing Mercury retrograde can make challenging.


Shungite

Shungite is the ultamite stone for EMF Protection. Since technology starts being on the fritz during these retrograde times have shungite with you and around your devices for protection.

Shungite is here to repel any negativity that threatens to disturb our peace of mind. This gemstone enhances our mental abilities and eliminates thoughts that don’t serve us. Because of its incredible ability to ground and balance us when we're in touch with its frequency, we are less likely to spiral into negativity and be affected by it. We feel calmer, and as a result, we can act and speak more rationally. Shungite also diminishes brain fog and helps strengthen us in trying times, which makes it one of the best crystals for Mercury retrograde.


Black Obsidian

Known as ‘The Teacher Stone’ black obsidian is very powerful for it does not cater to ego; rather it exposes dark truths to help one face their true self. It can also be used to clear negative energies within one’s environment.


Garnet

Garnet​ purifies and balances energy. It can alleviate emotional disharmony and expand awareness. Garnet is a good one for grounding because it amplifies the energies of self-love and loving life on this planet while releasing worry and anxiety. It's a stone for self-worth while also opening to trusting in The Universe and your path here, regardless of what's unfolding right now. Garnet truly desires to connect you to the energies of love and joy for yourself and everyone around you.


Mercury retrograde is a season of blockages, and the lines of communication are the first to get clogged. Blue lace agate keeps your creativity alive and can help you to find the words that you need to speak your truth without having to break out the thesaurus.


Emerald

This green gemstone, often associated with Mercury’s power, enhances communication and fosters clarity in thought. It’s particularly potent for those looking to improve their communication skills and harness Mercury’s qualities of adaptability and intelligence. This planet symbolizes wisdom, clear communication, and intuition. Emerald Gem aids in expressing emotions and enhancing communication within relationships.


Peridot

Peridot gem connects you with Mercury and fosters abundance, luck, and vitality. This bottle green gemstone brings positivity and wealth into your life. It boosts mental clarity, reduces negativity, and enhances communication skills.


Hematite

Hematite is a gemstone that helps us stay balanced in the midst of chaos. When stress and arguments arise, it helps us release tension so that it doesn’t affect our relationships or our mental health.

This is a great stone for those who have an overactive mind, tend to worry, nitpick, and overanalyze everything. All of these are very common effects of this transit, but with Hematite, we can stay calm and collected, even when the world seems to be falling apart. Thanks to its calming properties, this gemstone helps us release tension but also helps us tame the drama queen within.


Smokey Quartz

Don’t let dark Mercurial energy drag you down. Being one of the crystals for mercury retrograde, Smoky Quartz helps us stay aligned with our truth and release tension and toxic thoughts. Its healing frequency works to better our interactions with others, helping our relationships stand the trials and tribulations we may encounter. This gemstone can be used as a good luck charm, preventing accidents and negative energy from penetrating our aura during mercury retrograde. Most importantly, Smokey Quartz helps us see through the fog with crystal clarity, improving our perception and communication skills. 


Chrysocolla

Chryscolla is here to help us overcome the fear of speaking our truths. This is a powerful crystal for those who find it difficult to forgive others, as well as those who avoid talking about problems. Chrysocolla can help us communicate constructively and stand our ground, while still being understanding and open to what the other side has to say. This way, it improves the quality of our communications and helps us to be more compassionate with others. It will aid us in learning and teaching by elevating our mental focus and helping us express what we mean clearly.


Sodalite

A powerful crystal for communication, sodalite assists the Throat chakra and especially helps you find your voice. If you’re struggling with knowing what to say or the words just seem to come out wrong, sodalite can help you not only with verbal communication as well as assists in releasing fear of judgement. It’s also great for self-acceptance, bringing peace and inspiration to one’s life.


Moonstone

You need to stay calm during Mercury retrograde, and moonstone does a wonderful job of this. The crystal most associated with the Moon is also great at regulating mood swings. If you feel frustrated or annoyed at any point, take time to sit and meditate with a piece of moonstone.

It helps you tap into your Yin and feminine energy and enables you to view things from a higher perspective, which is very handy when you get caught up in everyday life stresses.


Moldavite

You can try using moldavite through the mercury retrograde period as well. Moldavite helps with transformation, removing things in your life that do not serve you and gets you on a greater path. Mercury retrograde is already bringing up the supressed aspects of you that needs to be changed and transformed so having moldavite speed that process up could be helpful. But fair warning that it could cause things to look even more chaotic (at first) so if you are not ready for the radical change and you want it to be more gradual then maybe this isn't for you.

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