Seriously, if you’re not feeling like the picture up above, then good for you!!  You’re one of those few, rare people that aren’t getting beaten up by the current astrological activity up above.  What’s going on you might ask?  Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto are all retrograde right now!  This has been a real storm for those who are empaths and particularly sensitive.  I myself have been completely unmotivated to do just about anything, all my work I’ve been doing has come to a standstill, and I’ve been facing some inner shadows that haven’t been an issue in years {and by years I mean things I haven’t dealt with since high school}.  Well, this rare occurrence of four planets all being retrograde at once it’s caused some really heavy energy for a lot of people.

You probably already know that I’m not one for freaking out over Mercury Retrograde.  I tend to find the “Oh no, it’s Mercury Retro” panic to be a bit much.  For any number of weeks people end up blaming every little snafu they have on Mercury Retrograde.   I’ve seen people become afraid of even doing certain things just because Mercury is going through a retrograde period.

All plants go through retrogrades.  It’s unavoidable and it does cause a little havoc from time to time, but it’s nothing to be freaked out about.  It is important, however, to know what’s happening astrologically if you’re someone that’s easily affected by these things, which many empathic, intuitive, and spiritual people are.

It wasn’t until the a few days ago, after almost a week of not being motivated to do much more than check my email and watch movies I’ve seen 20 times before, that I finally had to ask “What the hell is going on in the heavens that has me so out of sorts?”  When I brought it up on my personal Facebook page I was happy to know a lot of my friends were feeling like I was and that it wasn’t just me.  When I brought it up on my fan page I was also happy to see people agreeing with the weirdness in the air.

Knowing that you’re someone who’s sensitive and knowing what’s happening in the skies is important.  It will help you to keep from being confused or lost when you suddenly feel “off” for no reason.  You’ll know why and you’ll know what to expect and how to deal with it.

Let’s talk about what’s happening in the skies right now with Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto all being retrograde.

First, know that the worst is about to be over in a few days.  Here are the dates of when these planets went retrograde and when they will be going direct.

[one_half] [fontpress type=”webfonts” name=”Happy Monkey” size=”14px” lh=”16px” color=”#008D43″]Retrograde Dates[/fontpress] Pluto – April 10
Neptune – June 4
Uranus – July 13
Mercury – July 15
[/one_half] [one_half_last] [fontpress type=”webfonts” name=”Happy Monkey” size=”14px” lh=”16px” color=”#008D43″]Direct Dates[/fontpress] Mercury – August 8
Pluto – September 18
Neptune – November 11
Uranus – December 13
[/one_half_last]

As of July 15th we’ve been feeling the full on effects of this because that’s when all four started their mutual retrograde dance.  In a few days we’ll see Mercury go direct and that will lighten the load a little. But for most of us Mercury is really the least of the problem here with these darker, heavier energies from the other three.

Mercury Retrograde {what we already know}
Most of us are familiar with the general impact of Mercury Retrograde, but here’s a recap.

Mercury is a planet that is concerned with intelligence, education, and truth and is sometimes seen as the “truth seeker”.  Mercury, with it’s rule over intellect, tends to not have a lot of emotional energy to it.  It’s practical and governs the practical and mundane, things like technology, communication, and travel.  During Mercury Retrograde we tend to see an increase in computer problems, car trouble, and issues with pretty much any of our gadgets and technologies that we interact with regularly.

In general everything becomes stalled, slowed, and subject to lots of interruptions.  Travel, negotiations, signing contracts, and business deals all become a bit touch and go.   Holding off on these things when possible is usually a good safeguard during Mercury Retrograde.

We notice more problems with communication and how things are said or understood.  Again, because of the lack of emotionally ties, during Mercury Retrograde it’s not uncommon for people to say things a little differently than they are meant and for people to hear things a little differently too.  We end up taking things to heart in a way we normally wouldn’t.  Having a “wait and see” attitude toward relationships is usually best during this retrograde.

Uranus Retrograde
We can call Uranus the “tough love” planet when it’s in retrograde.  Uranus is a plant that’s focused on change, big or small, and is often seen as a planet of revolution.  It’s been said that Uranus has been active during the start of many wars and because of that it’s often seen as a big shaker, a planet that can inspire conflict.  However when it’s in retrograde it still inspires that radical change but this change ends up coming from within and ends up reflecting from the inside out.

Uranus Retrograde will have you experiencing some A-HA moments but they don’t always come easily.  A lot of these moments come as a result of facing personal fears and being confronted with the big roadblocks that are keeping us from living our dreams. We find ourselves in a position to have to “get real” about a lot of things.  What do we really want from our careers, relationships, and life in general?  Who are we and is who we are today who we want to be tomorrow?  When we start facing these things, asking these tough questions we can find those A-HA moments that push out beyond the comfortable and into situations that have us making big changes in our lives.

The trick here…these changes don’t always happen in the time frame that we might have opted for them to happen were Uranus direct.

Neptune Retrograde
When Neptune is retrograde it’s wake up time!  When Neptune is direct we find it can help us with putting unpleasant things in our lives are arms length and being able to create safe zones around them so we can buffer ourselves from those things that just ruffle our feathers and make us uncomfortable.  When Neptune goes retrograde the bubble is burst and we find these things facing us head on and staring us in eye.

Neptune in retrograde tells us that it’s time to start working with our inner focus.  It’s time to force us into questioning things about our dreams and passions, especially if this has to do with any new ventures we’re trying to work out.  Neptune in retrograde is not the best time to start creating a new dream business, for example, because you might find yourself questioning your every move.

What Neptune is doing, in a sort of tough love way like what Uranus does, is ask us “Are you sure this is doable?”  It’s actually helping us despite the fact that we might thing otherwise.  Neptune in this phase is forcing us to look and question things now so that we don’t have a huge downfall or disappointment later on.

Neptune is sometimes seen as a “dreamy planet”.  It has energies that helps us with our dreams, both literal and figurative.  During this retrograde phase it can become really easy to escape into the world of spirituality, doing more trance or meditation work, in order to protect ourselves from the things Neptune is bringing up.  It’s better to face the music than get lost in this landscape for too long…Neptune will remind you of that.

Pluto Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde is a time for facing the shadows.  During this phase Pluto forces us to focus on inner shifts and what our personal shadows, the Shadow Self, have to tell us.  Pluto’s big themes are usually focused on power and desire.  In retrograde Pluto has us in a position to get honest with ourselves about our own personal motivations behind power and the things we desire.  Why do we do what we do and why are we after it in the first place? Pluto Retrograde is all about transforming the dark.

Pluto in retrograde can bring out some of the darker and unpleasant sides of our personalities so it’s important to be mindful of darker moods and thoughts during this time.  It’s not uncommon for people to find themselves getting bummed out or down in the dumps for no real reason and to start doing all kinds of “bad things” to quell their emotional states {taking up drinking or smoking again, spending lots of money to try using retail therapy on themselves, etc}.

We can take advantage of Pluto Retrograde by looking for the things about ourselves that we’d really like to let go of, the darker and less appealing habits or qualities that we are truly ready to work through and release.  Now’s a great time to face them, work with them, and bid farewell.  We can also use this time to revisit issues and concerns from the past that we never faced before but know we still have to work on.  They will come up easily now and it will be easy to work those out and release them.

Now, see these all dancing together and what kinds of energy they’re generating.  You have Mercury wreaking havoc with communication in general and three other planets that have us either questioning everything in our lives or causing our deepest, darkest emotions to come out and play.  Next thing you know people are saying things to dear friends and loved ones that they never would have said before but that are now taken even worse by the person on the receiving end, causing them to wonder “What the hell did I ever do?!  Am I a horrible person!?!”

The worst part of this fearsome foursome has been the fact that all of these planets, like many planets when they are in retrograde, slow down and become dark, sticky, and tiresome.  With so much energy on inner reflection and looking at what’s going on inside ourselves that it’s hard to produce in the real world meaning getting things done is even more unlikely than it is when it’s just Mercury fucking with you.

Mercury will go direct in a few days, but keep in mind, even when a planet hits its “direct date” it takes a few days to a few weeks for the energy to truly straighten itself out.  We’ll still be feeling Mercury a bit until mid August, but the worst of it will be over in a week or so.

As for the other planets, well we have a little way to go.  But now you know what you’re feeling like carrying a pillow around with you everywhere you go and not dealing with much of anything.  Now is a good time to really look within and use the energy you’re being given.  No need to fight it, just flow with it!