How MERCURY RETROGRADE Went VIRAL

The SURPRISING CULTURAL HISTORY of a LITTLE PLANET with a BIG REPUTATION

- JO LIVINGSTONE

Contracts, text messages, ex messages, and shopping for electronic devices: Astrologers tell us to steer clear of such activities when Mercury appears to reverse course in the night sky, going from east to west in "retrograde" motion. (It isn't actually moving backward; it's an illusion created by the fact that Earth and Mercury go around the sun at different speeds.) The astrological theory maintains that during these phases, which occur three or four times a year and last roughly three weeks each, Mercury, which rules communications, undergoes a kind of symbolic reversal, throwing the domain of its influence into disarray. In an era when we're reliant on the accurate transmission of meaning and data from one place to another, when everything we say or post or send is so open to misinterpretation and bad-faith reading on social media, on group chats, on Slack-a whole discourse has sprung up around Mercury's supposed effect on the tech that's closest to our hearts.

You may well know all of this already; you may well know more about Mercury as an astrological entity than a physical planet. You may have come across Mercury-retrograde merch on Etsy (like a T-shirt that reads, "Not while Mercury is in retrograde") or shared Instagram memes about it with your friends. Mercury retrograde has become a sort of astrological celebrity of the digital era, edging out sun-sign astrology-the position of the sun at the time of your birth within the 12-sign zodiac and the basis for most horoscopes-for pop-culture dominance.

Before I began looking into its origins, I knew of Mercury retrograde, but I had no real idea if the concept was new or not. Unfortunately, I use the term "Mercury in retrograde" when interviewing superstar astrologer Chani Nicholas, who gently points out that that is grammatically incorrect. "Mercury retrograde" is correct.