It’s that time again when the fastest planet in our solar system—Mercury! begins to retrograde in the sky from June 17- July 12. Speedy Mercury retrogrades three to four times a year for three weeks and with it, a much needed moment to slow down and revisit, review, or regroup.

Mercury is retrograding through the water signs, and it’s Cancer’s turn to put its spin on how we communicate. Cancer is ruled by the moon and that rules our emotions. She also finds security at home and in nurturing and wants us to connect with our roots or ancestors—those lights flying around your house, yeah that’s them. Perhaps we could express ourselves more emotionally than usual and find that we feel safer just staying home in deep contemplation and meditation.

Thinking back to February when we had our first Mercury retrograde of the year in Pisces, the first COVID-19 cases led to a global shutdown. As we see cases begin to spike again, staying home and reviewing our lifestyle may return to our focus. Paired with the fact that Mercury rules transportation, when he’s going backwards there are definitely delays from reaching our destination. Another plus for staying in.

All this action or inaction will start at 14° Cancer and end at 5°. The number 14 in the tarot is Temperance, so you’ll need to remain as balanced and patient as possible at this time, which can be challenging when faced with so much injustice right now. Also, when we add 1 and 4 we get 5, and as Mercury begins to move forward in July it will be at 5°. Five signifies change, and in Cancer it could bring that change into our homes and how we feel on a global scale.

Another plus for this slow down is to regroup and plan for the future of this country and the treatment of its people. The BLM movement has been ignited and by no means will this retrograde stop it, (especially when Mars moves into Aries later this month, hold onto your butts!) but this is a moment for all of us to look at our past and see what we want to take into the future. Remember it’s not just Mercury that’s retrograde right now but ALSO Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, and Venus (and soon Neptune). Much learning and reprogramming is going on so take this opportunity to talk less and listen more especially to the voices that have been silenced for too long.

PS backup your hard drive because Mercury rules computers too!