Yesterday, Mercury retrograde released us from its commanding backwards grip and lurched forward, dragging us with it.  

Most Mercury retrograde periods operate like a somewhat recalcitrant mule, stubbornly pulling and pushing us in directions we don’t want to go. Slow and very annoying at times, but manageable with a little effort. This one felt more like a high strung, intelligent, vindictive stallion, plotting ways to distract us so that it could forcefully brush us up against trees, scrape our skin and dislodge us. It was an intense, emotional ride and there were countless number of times it felt like I had to hang on for dear life.

Mercury was in the sign Cancer during the entire 24 day Mercury retrograde period. Cancer’s domain rules foundations and what’s under the surface of all things emotional, familial and nurturing. When Mercury goes retrograde, it gives us, as one client put it—AFOG—Another F*****g Opportunity for Growth. When Mercury goes retrograde in Cancer, it gives us AFOG squared.

People and situations from the past, memories (some good, some bad), unfinished emotional business, past life flashbacks, gnarly epic dreams and more all showed up, demanding conscious attention. People and circumstances that I’d forgotten ever existed came up for review and what I hope is finally resolution. I did a lot of internal, emotional house cleaning (Cancer rules homes and the care of them).

Suppressed emotions that needed to be brought to the surface and consciously felt, dealt with and properly disposed of were key for me. I forgave and released a lot—other people, life, myself. This Mercury retrograde scraped the ‘skin’ off so much that was unconsciously and subconsciously buried. It was one of the most uncomfortable Mercury retrograde periods I’ve experienced in years. It was also one of the most rewarding, liberating Mercury retrogrades I’ve experienced.

And that’s just on the emotional level! Machinery and technology acted up, too. In the middle of an important writing task, with the deadline looming large, my keyboard decided to take a vacation! No matter what I did, it refused to function. I knew I had to do something and I knew that whatever I did would end in probable frustration of some kind. I quickly researched, tracked down, bought and drove miles to pick up a new (very expensive!) keyboard and mouse. Once home with my new purchase, before I could install it—yes, you guessed it—my keyboard decided it liked me after all and is now functioning!

You think I’d have learned by now, but, knowing better, last week I cleverly decided to purchase and download a book. A simple operation that should have taken a few minutes stretched into a seemingly endless number of phone calls over a span of days to the help center before the download was accomplished. I’m now way more familiar with the call center’s techs then I ever thought I’d be.

In the understatement of the year, I’m glad it’s over.