Everyone always says to me when I tell them Mercury Retrograde is coming around,  “Again?!!” “Didn’t we just have one?”Mercury does indeed go Retrograde three times a year. And this year it’s not just Mercury going retrograde for our New Year’s but also Mars will start walking backwards on December the 20th. I had joked earlier this year that if you wanted to take a silent retreat, the week of coming New Year’s would be a great time! And I still agree! Plus to make things even more interesting, we will be having a lunar eclipse on December 31st! Bonus Points!!! Eclipses always bring change, especially lunar ones, so I can imagine with two major planets walking backwards and an eclipse around New Year’s we will not be feeling like moving forwards about anything, although some interesting events and perhaps some Epiphanies may transpire around this time. If you want to view this eclipse, you may have to take a trip to EurAsia or parts of Africa as it won’t be visible in North America. But don’t worry–you’ll feel the affects of it anyhow! We all will!

I will be going into more detail later about what exactly TO DO during this combo Merc/Mars Retro experience. Those of us with TO DO lists may feel a tad stymied. But in general anything with a Re– in front of it is a good thing to do during retrogrades: relax, reflect, relieve, reposition, reconfigure, redesign, and lastly but most importantly: renew! So while this New Year’s may not be outwardly spectacular with fireworks, internally it’s a great time to start anew! Think of this year’s new year, as the start of a new you: one that may take a little time to figure out, but I think it will be a great year for many changes!