Everything Under the Moon

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if I could get your ideas about harvesting your herbs during mercury retrograde?

Mercury rules over communication, and since magic requires concentration to specify intent, which, in itself, is a form of communication; could the use of herbs harvested during mercury retrograde, backfire when used in spells, sachets, oils or any other forms of magick?

Hmm... Interesting take. I'm of the belief that astrology is something that can be used to add a bit of a kick to magic related stuff. I rarely worry about malifics, except to say that its not favorable. For harvesting, i usually pay more attention to the position of the planet that rules the plant. If i know ahead of time, or if its something i can store easily and label well, then i will harvest when the plants ruling planet is in a house corresponding to intent. That's kinda hard to keep track of though, and leads to a crapton on little bottles scattered around everywhere.

Mercury in retrograde motion just means there is more time for the mercurial influence in a certain position to cook things.

For example, right now Mercury is in Virgo. The longer it stays in Virgo, at a specific degree, division or otherwise, the more Virgo will influence Mercury, and more of this kind of energy will be prevalent as far as Mercury is concerned.. The same goes for any planet.

Herbs in general are ruled by the seasons on earth and the sun and the moon. If your plants are perfect for picking, I would say go ahead!

For the most part, Mercury retrograde usually only matters when humans are interacting with humans. For plants, especially mercurial plants, they're getting more of this energy.