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    • Mercury Retrograde: What Is It Good For?

      by Maria Shaw

      (Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

      The dreaded Mercury Retrograde period will soon be upon us. Rather than dwelling on the problems associated with this three week period we all experience about several times a year, let's look at how a Mercury Retrograde can benefit us. But first, for those of you who have no idea what this astrological term means, here's my basic definition.

      The planet Mercury rules communication, travel, contracts, automobiles, and the written word. It goes in a retrograde motion, where it appears to move backwards, three times a year for approximately three weeks at a time. When Mercury is retrograde, there's a lot of confusion. People forget things. There are delays and frustrations.You should never start anything new when Mercury goes retrograde. But you can still put this astrological aspect to good use. Later, I will discuss how you can use this time period and work with the energy of Mercury rather than against it. There is usually a "wind up" period two weeks before Mercury goes retrograde. This is a time to finalize and finish things. When the retrograde day arrives, you should have all of your important projects put to bed. Now, you can't stop your life just because a Mercury Retrograde rolls around. There are things you can't possibly avoid or put off. But if you do have time to plan ahead, you can save yourself a lot of frustration and time by doing so.

      Since Mercury also rules travel and trips, it is not a good time to travel unless you have backup plans. Expect delays, and double-check accommodations beforehand.

      I booked a cruise for my husband's birthday. It wasn't a Mercury Retrograde when I booked the trip, but the ship was set to sail during one of these times. When we arrived at the airport to fly out, the gate agent told us our cruise was canceled. The ship had caught on fire! We drove to Quebec instead to make use of our time off. Our trip was cut short when relatives called and told us to come back home; there had been a death in the family!

      Sometimes, even when you plan ahead, Mercury Retrogrades can get the best of you. My friends and I planned to drive together to the airport to catch a flight. I told Sherry to be at my house a half hour earlier than usual so that we wouldn't be late. She left her house early but missed the turn to my road and went thirty minutes out of her way! Once she picked me up we made it to the freeway, there was a six mile traffic back-up due to road construction. We made it through that. However, because we started late, we ended up in the morning rush hour and delayed again. I was speeding to get to the airport and it looked like we'd actually make the flight. Then the tire on my car blew! Luckily someone stopped to help but we were about seven minutes late getting to the gate and had to take a later flight. Three hours later, we boarded a plane scheduled to leave on time. However, a worker had left some machinery in front of our plane and went to lunch. No one could locate him and our flight was stuck until he came back....a half hour later!

      So, what can you do on a Mercury Retrograde? This is one of the best times of the year to re-do things. You get a second chance to make things right, to restart a project or complete something you've been working on for a while. Think of any word that has an "re" in front of it. That's what Mercury Retrograde is good for....re-doing just about anything.

      If you didn't get a job offer a few months back, now the perfect time to re-apply for that job. It's a perfect time to redo your resume too and reconnect old clients or people who could help you on a job search. Because Mercury also rules cars; now would be the time to take you car in for a repair or renegotiate your car loan for a better interest rate.

      This is also a perfect time to catch up on all of the mundane work and tasks you set aside that you didn't have time for in the previous weeks. It's also a great period to review or revise a game plan so that when Mercury goes direct; you can move forward with an idea.

      A Mercury Retrograde is also used to reflect on what you've accomplished thus far and where you what to redirect your energies. There are those "re" words again! We all need time to review and decide if we're on the right path. These weeks give us the opportunity to do just that.

      Most of us can't take three weeks off or stop or even postpone commitments and projects. Here is a list of some things you can do if you absolutely cannot work around the Mercury Retrograde.

      • Check your travel plans several times and bring a book to read at the airport.
      • Mail packages and letters early. Check the zip codes.
      • Double check everything twice for mistakes.
      • Don't check luggage when you're flying. Carry on everything if you can.
      • If you are making big purchases, keep your sales receipt and know the store's return policy.
      • Keep your cell phone battery charged.
      • And most importantly, let everyone know that there is a mercury retrograde so that if anything goes wrong, you're not to blame...it's that darn planet Mercury!

      Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2006. All rights reserved.

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    • Double Vision: Beautiful Glowing Face Appears During Pregnancy
      wishfulthinking

      I’d like to ask a question for my mother. Recently, we were talking about paranormal phenomena and spiritual matters. My mother is very practical in her thinking, and she said that she doesn’t believe in ghosts and entities and such. Despite this, she mentioned that when she was pregnant with my older sister, she used to see a beautiful glowing face. It was the face of a man, and she would see this both when her eyes were closed and when they were open. After she had my sister, the face went away and she hasn’t seen it since. She says it was not disturbing, and despite her beliefs, while she was seeing it she never thought the experience to be odd. What do you think this was?

       – N.

      Astrea:

      During pregnancy, many women are more tuned in to other worlds and incarnations. This apparition was someone your mother had known before. It could even have been her daughter appearing to her as she had looked when they were together in another lifetime.

      I’ve had long and interesting conversations with the spirits of babies while they were growing in the womb before being born in this life. My goddaughter even picked out her own name, and though she wasn’t named that by her foolish parents, she insists to this day on being called by that name. She knew who she was long before she came into this incarnation, and she also knew who she wanted to become.

      Of course, a lot of that leaves us at birth, and we lose even more when we cease being babies and learn to communicate with the people who surround us in the here and now. Language blocks a lot of our other world memories, and that can’t be avoided.

      Every old soul changes from one sex to another and chooses different life circumstances for different lifetimes. It’s highly likely that the old soul that became this daughter chose to be a girl before she was born into this lifetime.

      We are all mother/father/sister/ brother/lover/friend to the many people we incarnate with lifetime after lifetime. Our gender changes for some lives and stays the same for others.

      While our relationships to one another can and often do change from one life to the next, our karmic family or Ka-Tet remains intact.

      As long as your mother and sister keep feeling each other with their hearts and minds, they’ll be together forever in some way, and keep reincarnating into each others’ experience. The apparition she saw during that pregnancy was a sign of this unbreakable bond.

      I’m sure your mom senses a different sort of connection with this first child. I wouldn’t be surprised if they often experienced telepathy, such as knowing when one of them is down or in trouble, or when one is calling on the phone.

      *****

      Susyn:

      The incident your mother experienced when she was pregnant is more common than many people think. When a woman is with child, all of her senses blossom. This is especially true with a first pregnancy.

      This hones the mother’s intuition, which will be vital when the new baby comes into the world. This keen intuition enables her to tune in to the well-being of her first child as well as any future babies she may have. This might explain why your mother only recalls having an experience of this type once, when she was pregnant with your sister.

      Everyone has spirit guides and guardian angels that are assigned to watch over and protect them. This is true both prior to our births and after. I have no doubt that spirit your mother saw is connected to your older sister, though I feel this spirit watches over your mother too.

      It’s possible that the entity was someone she knew in this lifetime, though it’s more likely this was someone from another life.

      It’s important to note that this experience wasn’t distressing. The fact that this seemed totally natural to her suggests it was designed to be heartwarming confirmation that everything would be okay. Once your mother gave birth to your sister, there was no need for the spirit to show himself again.

      Neither you nor your mother need to worry that it might have been an entity of a negative nature. If that were the case, your mother wouldn’t have been so matter of fact about it, and wouldn’t have felt so good at the time. When a negative spirit is near, you don’t have to see it to be able to tell if it’s of a light or dark nature.

      You don’t mention if you are a mother yourself yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you have the same sort of experience your mother did when you are pregnant.

      Oftentimes intuitive gifts are passed down from one generation to the next. You can also develop these abilities on your own at any time you want through prayer, meditation and the study of metaphysical subjects that interest you.

      I hope this helps answer your question. Thanks so much for writing!

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