Who’s afraid of Mercury Retrograde?
The first time I came across this phenomenon was when I was a teenager, all I knew was that travelling plans tend to get disrupted and there tended to be more political disputes than normal. The more I pay attention to Mercury Retrograde, the more I realised how all our lives are affected - whether you are an artist in Edinburgh, or an engineer in China, you cannot escape the power of Mercury Retrograde ; I tended to enter into misunderstandings with people and my electrical appliances have a tendency to end their lives during this period. I used to dread Mercury Retrograde, as I felt that during this period it’s a manifestation of Murphy’s law - whatever can go wrong, go wrong.
I’ve recently been to a wonderfully healing Labyrinth workshop by my friend Tania Ho - she also has a physical one in Thailand! Visit if you can
As someone who likes to get things done and get annoyed with disruptions in life, Mercury Retrograde could mean a heightened of emotions and the explosion of frustrations. However, I found out that my fear of Mercury Retrograde is simply a disguise of my inability to stay grounded and my irrational need to control everything. Now I come to appreciate that it is a time of reflection, review, reexamination as well as reconsideration. In our home, our own sacred spaces, there are a lot of things we can do to make the best use of the energy of Mercury Retrograde, and also things that help us to manage the unexpected during this potentially stormy time
Check your electrical appliances’ statuses, warranty information
"It is vital for our electrical applianes to work for feng shui
because the break down of appliances affect energy flow
This Mercury Retrograde my fridge broke down for the 3rd time (probably it broke down the last 2 mercury retrograde!), I ended up spending 3 working days on the phone with customer service - of course, communication isn’t the easiest during this period. However, I am grateful that I am under the absolute certainty that my fridge was still in warranty and therefore knew where my consumer position was during the 3 whole days on the phone, with 3 separate departments and 15 different customer service agents!
It’s a great time to review your appliances’ status and whether they are in warranty. It is vital for all major appliances to work for feng shui, as the break down of appliances will affect energy flow (think about it, would you get annoyed when a major appliance like washing machine break down? This will affect not only your home energy, and also yours!) Use this time to consider the lifespan of appliances and replace any lightbulbs, fixtures that no longer work. When your appliances work , your home is vibrating at a higher frequency. I’d also use this time to check whether they are in warranty; you can create a list of warranty information with the model numbers so that you can easily access should a breakdown happens - usually when a breakdown occurs, we are in panic mode and information we thought is easily accessible just disappeared, so this list would prevent the panic and able to help you should any accidents take place. Mercury Retrograde is a good time to review, and also plan - and knowing where you are at is part of planning.
Organise paperwork
While you are checking the electrical appliances, you might realise you have lost While you are checking your electrical appliances, you might realise you have lost or misplaced the instruction manual. When the time is calling for us to review, it is a good time to look at the ways you organise your paperwork. Do you keep all your instruction manuals together so you can easily find what you need? Do you put all your pet’shealth record in one single folder? Take the time to develop or create a filing system that works for you. Personally, I like to make use of boxed files and file divider for anything business-related. I’d separate clients’ projects in each tab with an index for the box file so I can easily find what I need. For instructions manuals, separate them into rooms of your home, or function of the appliance. I have so many appliances I’m shocked how thick the manual folder is - what I did to make the folder significantly smaller (and hence, less overwhelming!) is to only keep the English instructions, and to digitalise the small appliances’ manual.
Review what you no longer need and declutter
When we are decluttering, we are letting go of the parts of life that no longer serve us
When we are busy, clutter accumulates. My deadliest clutter is the assortments of cables - from phone computer, lamp chargers, very often I find out I have so many cables that they tangle together. Its not uncommon to find out that I have over 10 copies of the same cable - usually it’s the android cable which seems to be the standard for a lot of small appliances. I tend to take stock of my possessions during Mercury Retrograde, and I keep what I need, and put the rest to donation. Its still lockdown in Edinburgh which means that my usual go-to place for donations are not opened, however you can still declutter by posting unwanted items on the internet such as Facebook marketplace and gumtree. What you dont need might be exactly what someone else is looking for.
When we are decluttering, We are working on to let go of the parts that no longer serve us, and consciously making a choice to live an aligned life with things that support us in our daily work and life, or with things that we treasure. Decluttering can be overwhelming, and that’s definitely something you don’t want during mercury retrograde, so start small! start with a drawer - for me, it’s just a basket of electrical cables!
Reexamine your relationship with your home
Mercury Retrograde calls for us to reflect and review - which is the prerequisite for growth. It’s a wonderful time to review whether you are still in alignment with your home, perhaps the recent addition of a furry child means you need to make it more pet safe? Or that you struggle to focus at your home as you don’t have a suitable desk? Or you don’t feel inspired, productive, relaxed at your home?
You don’t need to renovate or move when the misalignment happens. Sometimes all you need is space clear the room, shuffle your decorations, repaint the colour of the wall. Another thing is you can apply feng shui to your home (If you’ve already feng shui home, check if the cures you applied is aligned with the year’s flying stars and auspicious placements) - just adding some symbols in the correct direction could increase the vibration of your home. If you are feeling misaligned, click the button at the end of the blog and let’s chat.
It’s taken me a long time to appreciate the introspective aspects of Mercury Retrograde - however, knowing that this astrological phenomenon takes place every now and then offers us the opportunities to look inwards and reflect on our own being and where we want to be. I hope that by realigning your home with your life, you can feel some peace despite the usual turmoils of Mercury Retrograde!
