But this doesn’t have to be disaster. Your Ruling Planet is always on hand to help, even if it’s retrograde. By getting you to reorder your world, Mercury retrograde helps you to focus on where you are by showing you where you’ve been. It directs your attention to the way that you approached a project, relationship, or friendship and it shows how you might have been taking things for granted or doing things by rote. This can be awkward in some situations; painful in others, but we don’t change our habits unless we’re forced to and this is the type of rethinking, refocusing, and reprioritizing that only takes place as a result of Mercury’s backwards motion.
Aries is probably the most combative sign of the zodiac. That’s because it is ruled by Mars – a planet named after the roman god of war. Mercury in this sign would have made you the object of controversy in recent weeks. Maybe you got on someone’s bad side, were put in the unfortunate position of having to play go-between between two uncompromising parties, or something you said was taken out of context and used against you to cause quite a bit of damage. The next 4 weeks will be about salvaging your reputation, putting things right, and rebuilding burnt bridges.
On April 25 you will come under fire from a harsh critic. You’ll want to defend yourself, but don’t. This is the time to find something valuable in what’s being said (even if you still disagree with his position) and to pledge to do better. Sometimes you have to throw the battle to win the war and this is one of those times.
Mercury squares Pluto on May 7. Once again you will find yourself on the wrong end of a judgment or decision. You won’t like what’s being said, but accept the verdict anyway. It pains you to have to do this but there’s no fighting this and the sooner you get through it, the better. On May 12 you will face what can only be called the final indignity. It will feel like salt is being rubbed in a wound and you will want to respond by fighting back. Don’t. Aries is the sign of the warrior and warriors don’t always fight. Sometimes they just have to tough it out and that’s what’s going on now. Tap into your warrior heart.
The end result comes on May 13 when Mercury forms its last conjunction to Uranus in Aries. This won’t happen again for another 84 years. What happens on this day will be so surprising and unexpected that you will have a hard time believing it. It’s almost as if all the trouble you’ve been through will be made right by a certain message or piece of news that you receive on this day. Is it enough to reverse all the damage that’s been done to you? Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. As a Child of Mercury you don’t put a lot of faith in deus-ex-machina, but this might turn you into a believer. Meanwhile your Ruling Planet Mercury changes zodiac signs on May 13 as well. You’ll want to check back here then to see what that means for you.
