Everything Under the Moon

What is the significance of a retrograde? I see some witches treat it like a time where things can be touchy or it's not a good time to do certain kinds of spell work. I understand what it means in astronomy but not in astrology if that makes sense.

Actually, I am kinda right there with you and hope someone comes along with helpful bits of information as well.

I've always been told to never sign contracts or start a new job during the retrograde- I'm doing both. *shrugs*

Let me first say that I have no astrology know-how, and that this is a guess. I did take astronomy classes a looong time ago. I think there are times when the planets of Mercury & Venus appear to reverse orbit. It's an illusion caused by Earth rotation in relation to the positions of those planets in their orbits. Obviously a planet cannot back up. That being said, the appearance of this phenomena has impact on interpretaion of the effect these planets have on us...as if their normal influences get reversed, like an up-side-down Tarot card has a reverse meaning. maybe.

I do think it is interesting that Mercury and Venus are the occult God and Goddess energies, and Venus' 4-year path in the sky draws a pentagram.

https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/20 ... -of-venus/
Here's that venus pattern

A quick look at this years Mecury Retrogrades:
2016
January 5 - January 25, 2016 in Aquarius, ends in earth-sign Capricorn
April 28 - May 22, 2016 in earth-sign Taurus
August 30 - September 22, 2016 in earth-sign Virgo
Dec 19 2016 - Jan 8, 2017 in earth-sign Capricorn, ends in fire-sign Sagittarius
Source: http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/mercury.html

The thing I personally experience during mercury retrograde is the break down of mechanical things. Usually my car
FF

That is very helpful, Firebird, and even though I wasn't the OP, thanks. The five petaled path of Venus reminds me of the five petaled rose I saw on Lithuanian headstones from my days at the cemetery, but I digress.

So right now a few planets are currently in retrograde, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto. As was said, that means they are appearing to move backwards in our sky - although, of course, in reality they're carrying on in their orbit as usual. What this means is that the things a planet rules over aren't going well right now. For Mercury that is primarily communication and travel. So according to astrology right now, with Mercury in retrograde, you would not want to plan any big trips, take any big trips, sign contracts, make big purchases, go on new dates, start new jobs, start new hobbies or projects... or really, you don't want to do a ton of things, depending on who you ask. There are some people who seem to put their life completely on hold over this sort of thing - but most people continue on with life as normal, but maybe with a little extra care when communicating and traveling.

Personally, while I find astrology interesting, I don't really read too much into it, or follow it religiously, and have never really had any problems when a planet is in retrograde myself... Symbolically I like the idea of being a bit more mindful of my words, but that's always good at any time, of course.

I just made travel plans for June 2. It's the annual pilgrimage to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Snow

For me personally if I've already been needing to do something or if I've planned it for a while and it starts during retrograde it's all good. But if the idea and the start of the thing all happens in retrograde it may be a lot harder to accomplish.
I've also found that once I know Mercury in retrograde is in effect, things don't seem to mess up as bad for me. And it's most just communication, electronics, ect with me.
Always great is I seem to get things done that I've been putting off. But everyone's experience is different.

Interesting. I do know what the astronomy concept of retrograde was. Just curious as to the astrological meaning. I haven't chatted things to note a pattern of behavior mood or mishaps to match them up to a retrograde. I do not hear about the other planet retrograde as much as Mercury?

Chatted=charted

Is Mercury in retrograde bringing out the trolls?

Snow

Ok, so for mecury retrograde this time around thus far has blown the engine and trans in my mother in laws car...my husband and her were 50 miles out of Vegas...had to get towed to town.
Then...
Two days ago the radiator hose in our little red truck broke the same day the water spigot in the back run decided to fail...had to turn the water to the house off for the night. Thankfully they were both easy fixes...ma in laws car....not so much.

I forgot to add...
A week ago a tree fell on my daughters boyfriends car. It's totaled. No comprehensive insurance on that car. Good thing was he switched his vehicles about an hour prior... Could have been his truck! Foresight? Nice....
I don't know if this falls under Mecury retrograde or Murphys law.
Bb, Firebird

WiccanWitch wrote:I do not hear about the other planet retrograde as much as Mercury?

This might be because Mercury is the one that will go into retrograde most often, around four times a year. Others only do it maybe once a year, or less for some, I believe. According to astrology, this should still have some effect, depending on which planet it is, but Mercury does seem to be the one folks focus on the most.

Wow Firebird...
Been a rough few weeks for me and the family.