The deal fell through, quarreled with the authorities, missed the plane … In the near future (namely, until June 22), he, retrograde Mercury, will be to blame for everything. What is this astrological phenomenon and is it really responsible for our failures, we asked an astrophysicist and a psychologist.
Even those who are not very interested in astronomy have heard of such a phenomenon as Mercury retrograde: when the planet begins to move in the opposite direction at a certain period of time. Today he is a popular scapegoat.
By the machinations of retrograde Mercury, we often justify any of our failures lately. The last period when Mercury changed its direction began not so long ago – on May 30, 2021, and it will last until June 22, 2021.
What does science say?
In fact, retrograde is a kind of optical illusion: it only seems to us that the planet began to move in the opposite direction, in fact, it does not change either its speed or direction of movement.
“Imagine: you are driving along a highway in a car, and exactly the same highway passes parallel to you, and another car is going along it in your direction, and you are trying to catch up with it,” explains Oleg Malkov, head of the Department of Physics of Stellar Systems Institute of Astronomy RAS. – When you catch up with this car, its movement becomes more and more slow, although its linear speed does not change. And at the moment when you overtake this car, it may seem to you that it starts to move backward – such an optical illusion occurs against the background of stationary objects that are located in the distance – poles, trees.
Now imagine that these highways are actually ring-shaped. On every turn, you catch up with that car, overtake it, and the same thing happens on the next lap. This is what the retrograde motion of the planets in their orbit in the solar system is schematically.
Moreover, in reality, there are not two, but eight orbital rings, and the speed of each of the celestial bodies is different – it depends on the distance from the Sun. Therefore, the retrograde or reverse movement of different planets in astronomy is a trivial and fairly frequent phenomenon. Mercury is not alone in this.”
In the zone of increased attention
If any planet can be retrograde, why such an increased attention to Mercury?
“Perhaps the reason for the hype is that the rest of the planets retrograde motion occurs a maximum of once a year, and Mercury demonstrates it more often. suggests Oleg Malkov. “That is why it has attracted the attention of astrologers.”
In 2021 alone, Mercury in its reverse motion will be observed three times. The first such period was already in February, the second is happening now, the third time this phenomenon is expected from September 27 to October 18.
“Another thing is that the planets do not affect us in any way,” the astrophysicist continues. “It doesn’t matter if they have a normal orbit or retrograde.”
On the other side of faith
Astrologers, on the other hand, assure that during the period of retrograde Mercury, the processes that this planet patronizes slow down and even break down. And in the zone of its influence – finance, communication, business, education, and even our movements in space. In other words, virtually all areas of life.
And even those who are skeptical about astrology also feel that something is wrong in life. Why are we even affected by what we don’t believe in?
“We need an excuse for our unsuccessful actions, mistakes,” explains existential psychologist Anna Kozlova. Let’s say the meeting didn’t go as well as we would like. We are ready to take on part of the responsibility: we prepared poorly, performed poorly, said something wrong … But I want to share this responsibility with someone.
Understanding that I am not the only one responsible for everything calms me down. Of course, this is an illusory support – no matter what, we build our lives ourselves. But if it works, increases our self-esteem, why not?
Such astrological phenomena become not just a support, but a working scheme
The second point: it is difficult for some of us to make a choice. And then such astrological phenomena become not just a support, but a working scheme. We build life steps based on such guidelines. And then we gain stability, a sense of control over what happens in life.
The third nuance: we want to believe in such phenomena, because they give hope that everything is in order with us. We reason like this: “Mercury retrograde affects not only me, but everyone else, so I’m not the only one. It is easier to experience troubles when you understand that they happen not only to you.
One of the popular recommendations of astrologers for the period of retrograde Mercury is not to rush, not to start new projects, but to slow down and think about whether you are moving in the right direction. This idea resonates with many: we are tired, we really want to take a break from the constant pursuit of success.
“In the modern rhythm of life, many of us need permission from outside for such actions,” continues Anna Kozlova. “We are not always able to admit that we are running out of strength and it is worth resting, restoring resources, and only then move on. And here we “officially” have the right not only to slow down, but in some cases to take a step back.”
Well, at least for this it is worth thanking the smallest planet in the solar system!