Mercury RE-Retrograde: Is it really over?

Is the most recent Mercury retrograde over?

According to my astrological calendar, Mercury (that little bugger of a planet) should have only been retrograde from December 26, 2009 to January 15, 2010. As an astrologer, I know that the retrograde "madness" can be felt as Mercury is approaching its backward spin, and the days following Mercury's return to forward motion can also seem a little crazy. But this particular Mercury retrograde has been really intense. Oh, don't forget that Mars, quite the master of aggravation, was and still is retrograde at the same time that Mercury decided to backtrack. (FYI, Mars will finally go direct on March 10, 2010. Can we all wait that long?)

Let's see...during this retrograde period, my hot water heater went, I needed to call an electrician for an electrical outlet problem, my house heater stopped working (on Christmas Day, when it was freezing here in Philadelphia), my vacuum cleaner fell apart (it was only less then a year old), I fell down the steps (stop laughing!), my Christmas lights wouldn't work, my coffee pot broke, I lost an earring...should I go on?

Anyone who knows me is very aware that I am super anal about things, and for all of this to happen to me during one Mercury retrograde period is absolutely unbelievable. Oh, by the way: I almost forgot to mention that the "check engine" light on my car came on (got that fixed too). And just when I thought that this Mercury massacre retrograde was over, my daughter told me that the microwave was smoking and smelled like burning wires after she tried to heat up her lunch (which never did heat up). What the hell is happening here?

Aside from all of my mishaps, numerous clients and friends have related stories of how the past few weeks have been havoc for them also: missed flights and trains, breakups, lost items, tons of car battery problems (in all fairness, I might let Mercury off the hook for that one since we have had a very cold winter this year), broken washing machines, and computers crashing.

By the way, I am writing this blog on my daughter's computer since - you guessed it - my freakn' computer caught a virus! Good thing that her boyfriend is an IT specialist because my version of backing up my work is to send a file to myself via email. (I'm still getting the gist of "cut and paste"!) Let's hope that all the work I have done for my next manuscript submission is still there. It is about karma, past lives, and relationships. Actually, before my computer came down with the H1N1 virus (aka: Holy-shit-not-again! virus), I did a little retrograde re-thinking by revamping my book proposal and initial chapters.

Despite the chaos, Mercury retrogrades do have a few good points, too. ( Just a few mind you.) You have the opportunity to RE-do, RE-vamp, RE-connect, RE-consider, and do almost anything that begins with the letters "RE": REpair, REplace, REnegotiate, and so on. But don't do anything for the first time during a Mercury retrograde unless you are up to doing it again, the next time a wild Mercury retrograde period like the last one comes along.

Is it possible to RElax now that the Mercury retrograde is over? Let's all hope.

Namaste