Lifestyle
Mercury In Retrograde Is Happening On A Full Moon This Year, So Prepare To Enter The Upside Down

by Rosey Baker
Matt Cardy/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Let's just say for a minute I was really into the idea of starting my own cult and I needed to pick a doomsday date for all my people to live in fear of. Then one day, one of my followers asks me what Mercury retrograde during a full moon means? ...This is the the moment I would improvise and say, "although science hasn't proved anything yet, I believe that's the day we should all enter the fallout shelter we've been building for the apocalypse and never come out from underground again." Why? Because I cannot think of a worse combination of astrological events to occur at the same time.

I mean, think about it; the full moon makes everyone lose touch with their rational thoughts and gets everyone in their feelings, and Mercury retrograde screws with our communication, our judgment, and our clarity of thought. Choosing to do anything of importance on a day like that is the cosmic equivalent of drinking four margaritas and going for a scenic drive off the edge of the planet. I'm not trying to scare anyone, so before you start digging a hole in the ground to go hide in, let's look at some of the bright spots in the horrible terrible thing that is Mercury retrograde on a full moon.

Communications Slow Down

Mercury is the planet of communication, and when it goes retrograde, everything having to do with communication, including technology, travel, and even your thoughts can go awry. There are a ton of misunderstandings, and these misunderstandings could feel like mysteries that just completely go unsolved. You could upset someone without knowing it, or receive a text from someone that was meant for someone else, and it's important to try to clear those things up, but maybe wait until after Mercury goes direct.

Confusion Sets In, Big Time

With all that mercurial confusion, the full moon will step in to double the mental fogginess. Not only does the full moon make everyone super emotional, but it is a time when certain things in our lives that no longer work for us (even if we think they do) tend to up and disappear.

We don't have Mercury on our side to help us clearly contemplate our emotional landscape, or the restraint needed to help us navigate this energy shift from a rational perspective. I guess what I'm saying is, prepare to enter the upside down, because it's going to feel like we live there, at least for a little while.

When It's Over, It Feels Like A Cleanse

Now for the good news: By the time Mercury goes direct on Dec 23, we have Saturn moving into the sign it rules, Capricorn, to stay for the next two and a half years. Think of this time during the full moon, and while Mercury is retrograde, as a spiritual cleansing.

By the time Saturn moves into Capricorn, the fog will clear, and not only will it clear, but everything will come into crystal clear focus. This Mercury retrograde is sweeping away cobwebs in your life that would have distracted you from the important work that Saturn in Capricorn is asking you to do on yourself. This transit, which will last for two and a half YEARS, is going to serve as a transition into real adulthood, when personal responsibility takes over in any area of your life you were previously acting as just a passenger.

Overall, in spite of the fact that I've made this sound like one long and terrible nightmare, we're all gonna be okay, because that's how life is. It works itself out.