Blame it on Mercury

When I lived in Sedona, I spent most of my time with a friend who was always blaming our bickering on Mercury Retrograde. I thought it was ridiculous. And it seemed too often to be true. How often does Mercury go retrograde? A few times a year?

Although I find a lot of Astrology interesting and useful, I never bought into the whole Mercury retrograde thing. But now I do.

So I'm blaming my clumsiness, forgetfulness, and my mini-dramas of last week and weekend on Mercury.

Not really.

Or at least not fully.

Just because the planets influence us doesn't absolve us from taking personal responsibility. Or does it?

Does it go against nature to resist the havoc wreaked by the planets? Is it even possible to resist? And is it silly to deny that Mercury has anything to do with it?

Is being affected by Mercury retrograde just part of being human?

Saturn return excuses and blame never bothered me, but it always bothered me when my friend would use Mercury as an excuse, as if neither of us had any control over our behavior, our emotions, our reactions, our words. Aha! I think I see what the real problem was: control. I didn't like the thought of being out of control. Couldn't let go. Couldn't surrender to the universe. I also couldn't see, back then, that Mercury may have been messing with my sense of reality and with my ability to function and communicate with myself and others as a way of providing me with opportunities to learn and grow.

So maybe it's time to give Mercury some credit, rather than blame.....