I have a feeling that this moon cycle will be a wild ride. I could be wrong, but given the proximity of the new moon in Libra early this morning EDT and Mercury going retrograde late this evening (in Scorpio, and then going backwards into Libra), I think the next month will have some twists and turns in the road ahead.

In thinking about Mercury retrgrograde and how things usually never seem to turn out the way we think they will during these periods, reminded me how this time can be enjoyed for its more unexpected, synchronous, or even mystical apsects.

I personally think it’s important to realize that life is not always linear. I’m reminded of a guy I dated once who was very worldly in business and had in fact spent many years in India doing work running portions of this international company. Of course, I wanted to hear all about India, what he experienced there, the people, the religion, the spirituality. However he only went on for the entire evening about how non-linear everyone in India was. How, if you wanted to get from point A to point C you wouldn’t go through point B, you’d go to point D and back to A and then maybe G and only then would you get to point C. How frustrating and upsetting this was for him, and how you just couldn’t accomplish anything businesswise there.

As we were ironically enough sitting in an Indian restuarant for dinner, he went on to tell me what he thought was an exceptionally funny “team building” story that involved a miscommunication in the meaning of Hindu words. I didn’t think the story was that funny, and by the end of the evening thought this guy should get a t-shirt that read “I went to India and all I came back with was this team building story.”

Needless to say I did not go out on another date with said guy. There is more to life than going from point A to point C in a direct fashion. Life takes detours, sometimes backwards and then forwards as does Mercury three times a year. It should be noted that Mercury is the messenger of the Gods. He also ferries souls to the land of the underworld, as well presiding over aspects of sleep and dreams. Not uncoinidentally with this relationship to the dead, dreams and sleep he is also has many aspects of the Trickster.

Perhaps every Mercury retrograde is really an exercise in traveling to the realm of the unconscious, the realm of the trickster, and the realm of the underworld, where the past is brought back again into the present, in order to examine with the light of consciousness aspects of our lives that need examining. In order to become more aware of how unified we all are, perhaps without even realizing it. As well as how many things are out of our control. For what life goes exactly according to our “plans” and is always “logical.” We should hope that our lives would not always turn out as we plan them, or else they may not be as rich or as fulfilling as they could be.

So the next time you are frustrated by a Mercury retrograde period not turning out the way you want it to, remember the guy who went to India and only came back with a team building story. When you get to whatever “other side” there is you don’t want to look back and think you spent however many years on planet Earth and only came back with . . .