If you are on earth with your telescope looking at a planet it LOOKS LIKE is moving backwards because the speeds of earth and in this case, Mercury, are different. A popular way to explain this is the following. You are in a car or a train and another car pulls up along side of you. The car may look like it’s moving backwards from your viewpoint but in fact it isn’t, it is just moving a different speed, but still moving forward. Does this make sense? If not, please let me know because retrograde planets in astrology have powerful energy focused inward so it’s important to understand this concept.
Every planet that goes retrograde follows the same pattern as we view it from earth. First, the speed of the planet starts to slow and continually gets slower. This the shadow period or PRE-SHADOW period. Then it looks like the planet has stopped moving forward. That is what astrologers call “stationing”. After a planet has finished stationing then it looks like it is moving backwards, or retrograde. Then, at the point that it looks like it is no longer moving backward, the planet stations again, and moves forward. It doesn’t immediately move forward at the same speed. Rather it is in POST-SHADOW period as it picks up speed. Once the planet is a full speed again it fully direct.
In astrology we say that the planet is DIRECT again when it begins to move forward even though the planet is not at full speed,
The phases are — 1. Pre-Shadow Period, 2. Stationing, 3. Retrograde, 4. Post-Shadow Period, 5. Direct – Full Speed Ahead!
TODAY BEGINS THE PRE-SHADOW PERIOD OF MERCURY.
LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE MERCURY RETROGRADE IN YOUR CHART! I would love to hear any correlations you have as s result of it.
Jupiter is going to move retrograde today, but more on that tomorrow, astrology lovers!
-Amy Domres