Mercury Retrograde
Shadow: be afraid,
be very afraid
By Jessica Adams
The ‘Shadow’ of the Mercury Retrograde is too
often ignored by astrologers – and if you’re not
convinced, read on
Mercury Retrograde Shadow
Start of Shadow is decided by the degree on which the retrograde ends –
so look back to see when Mercury was last on that degree. End of shadow
is the degree on which the retrograde begins – so look forward to see
when Mercury returns to that degree.
Many astrologers are taught that Mercury
Retrograde is only a problem when they
see R for retrograde in the ephemeris.
Then they assume everything is fine when
they see D for direct. This began to worry
me about ten years ago, when I realised
I was seeing classic Mercury Retrograde
‘snafu’ [i.ie chaotic] situations many days
before they were supposed to happen.
The Shadow (yes, I know, it sounds like a
horror film) is something only a minority
of astrologers work with. It can be truly
horrific, though, as it is implicated in both
The Wall Street Crash and The Titanic.
I know some astrologers moan about it,
but if you want happy clients, or accurate
predictions, Mercury Retrograde Shadow
is worth taking seriously. If it coincides
with more serious transits in a chart, it
can be the paperweight that sinks the
ship. Or, the lying dictator with a bad
moustache who foils plans for “peace in
our time”.
The full Mercury Retrograde
cycle revealed
Think of Mercury as a courier who is
wobbling on his motorbike. He’s been to
the pub, had six pints and now he’s on a
mission. You can win huge points with
your clients (and also help your own life)
by knowing the cycle, and putting it in
context with other transits.
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Sep/Oct 2015 The Astrological Journal
FIRST SHADOW Mercury moves
forward, but over a sign and degree
where it will shortly get stuck. This
sets up potential future chaos as new
information may come in later, altering
the old message or even making it
redundant. We also see future-lag at this
time. I know that sounds strange, but the
chaotic future (when Mercury is properly
retrograde) back-announces itself during
the first shadow.
FIRST STATION Mercury hovers on
the spot, otherwise known as making a
station. Mercury hits the same degree, in
the same sign, repeatedly. This is like a
courier running on the spot or freezing.
President Barack Obama famously
made his victory speech on a Mercury
Retrograde Station. Cue government
shutdown shortly afterwards.
RETROGRADE The courier now goes
fully backwards, delivering information
which adds to, or perhaps alters, the first
messages. This is when revelations can
occur. Things are revealed. There may be
a big review or rethink required. (Just put
‘re’ in front of any word and you get instant
Mercury Retrograde effects. Reschedule.
Recount. Reconsider. Retract.)
SECOND STATION Mercury hovers
on the spot again. Doing nothing, going
nowhere. The freezing effect.
SECOND SHADOW Mercury the
messenger finally moves forward again,
but he will do so over the same sign and
degree where he just gave two earlier
messages. You can just imagine the
effects.
AND RELAX… At last Mercury is free of
the sign and degree where he just created
contradictions or complications. You
can breathe and buy a computer. He is
moving properly forward.
What have the Romans ever
done for us?
Astrology as we use it today comes to
us from the Romans. They pinched
Hermes and turned him into Mercury.
Not surprisingly, anything which is the
modern equivalent of the old Roman
relay postal system is likely to create
chaos during the Retrograde.
The Roman post office was known as the
cursus publicus. Thousands of stations on
straight Roman roads held messengers
and horses, ready for a relay message
system.
Guess what happened at the London 2012
Olympics, held on Mercury Retrograde.
U.S. relay runner Manteo Mitchell broke
his leg. Great Britain made a baton
changeover mistake in the spring relay. A
mark was set in the wrong place. A full-
Mercury Retrograde Shadow: be afraid, be very afraid
scale inquiry into the failure of Britain’s
sprint relay followed.
Oh, and the BBC reported that around
one-quarter of a million Olympics seats
were never sold. Many of them were for
football, which is particularly affected
by Mercury Retrograde. When did FIFA
melt down? On the May/June 2015
Mercury Retrograde cycle.
Never hire a football manager on Mercury
Retrograde Shadow. On 20 July 1974,
controversial manager Brian Clough was
named manager of Leeds United. He was
dismissed from the post on 12 September
1974, after only 44 days in charge. Clough
was hired on Mercury Shadow and the
whole saga became a film - The Damned
United.
Richard Nixon, Watergate and
Mercury Retrograde
Nixon was ahead in most polls for the
entire election cycle back in 1972, and
was re-elected on 7 November in one
of the biggest landslides in American
history. He also did it straight through
a full Mercury Retrograde cycle in two
signs, Scorpio and Sagittarius, including
the dreaded shadow. After the Watergate
scandal Nixon famously resigned as
president on 9 August 1974.
The Wall Street Crash and the
Shadow
Mercury has a strong connection to the
share market and its cycles are often
indicators of market flux. You have to
read the shadow very carefully in context
with other transits, but it was there at the
Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Here is British astrologer Charles Carter
writing on Mercury in Essays on the
Foundations of Astrology (L.N. Fowler,
London, 1947):
“Mythology is not always a clear
guide to astrological doctrine but
often it throws a brilliant light
upon our science. Hermes was the
messenge