Mercury Retrograde Tarot Spread

A Mercury Retrograde five-card Tarot spread laid out.

It’s Time for Mercury Retrograde

The planet Mercury goes retrograde three to four times a year for approximately three weeks each time. Many astrologers also take into account a “shadow period” lasting a week or so on either side of the retrograde period. This “shadow” starts from the date Mercury slows down and stations up until it resumes its usual direction and full speed.

So, of course, all this means we’re in for five weeks of hell, right? Not necessarily.

What Kinds of Things Can Happen?

You’ve heard the stories. Car repairs botched, “down” computers, bad decisions you can’t undo. Misunderstandings are rampant. Decisions and directives are revised or cancelled within hours. Anything technological is full of snags.

Travel plans go awry. You miss flights. The weather is goofy or “reversed” for the season and location. Your luggage gets lost and so does your passport.

You want to say something important to someone important, but it doesn’t come out the way you really mean it. You can’t make essential meetings because your devices go black at just the wrong time. Communication seems to be blocked or misconstrued.

The Bright Side of Mercury Retrograde

Every difficult astrological event has an evolutionary purpose. It contains some element of challenge that helps us evolve as a species and grow as spiritual beings.

Here’s the bright side to Mercury Retrograde: you have a chance to improve what isn’t working. You can revisit, revamp, rediscover, or return to something you liked before, and restore what was lost. If you lost your sunglasses during the last Mercury Retrograde, you might find them during the next one. The same can apply with lost friends or loves.

Essentially, it’s an opportunity period of about three weeks when we can go back and fix what isn’t working. Furthermore, Tarot can help us bring out Mercury Retrograde’s positive side by giving us a chance to explore what we’d like to improve and providing direction on how to go about it.

The astrological sign the retrograde takes place in, and the house where it falls in our natal charts, will point the way to where the work begins and to what can potentially be accomplished!

How a Mercury Retrograde Tarot Spread Can Help

Here is an example of how a five-card Mercury Retrograde Tarot spread reveals what’s causing the Mercury Retrograde knot and how to untangle it.

Cecilia felt that her promising romance of three months’ time was “going off track.” Her person of interest was texting and calling less frequently, and he seemed preoccupied when they got together on the weekends. She looked ahead at the coming Mercury retrograde with fear because she thought it would make bad matters worse between the two of them.

Luckily, the cards revealed something better during Cecilia’s reading. She came to see how and why she could use the Mercury Retrograde to improve the lagging communication between her boyfriend, Zach, and herself. Her cards fell as follows:

Card One: What Is the Main Lesson or Skill I Will Learn During This Retrograde Period?

Eight of Wands – Reversed

Lots of information was coming her way.  She needed to weed out the wheat from the chaff. Friends were giving Cecilia all kinds of advice, things like: get new lingerie, travel to an exotic destination, or get a make-over. But none of it seemed to hit at the essence of what was really going on.

Cecilia read many articles suggesting various communication techniques. Most of them seemed a little manipulative or even embarrassing, and she couldn’t really see herself using any of them.

She ultimately found a couple of good insights and ideas, and she applied them to what she was experiencing with Zach. After that, Cecilia noticed a positive shift right away. Humor was on her side, and reflective listening was too. Her Tarot reading provided further clarification by “diagnosing” the problem clearly. He opened up to her again, and it made her very happy.

Card Two: What Issue, Situation or Relationship Will This Mercury Retrograde Potentially Change for the Better?

Two of Cups – Reversed

Could better communication save this relationship? This card highlighted the fact that weak communication was, indeed, the root of the problem Cecilia was having with her boyfriend. Poor communication was turning a sweet and exciting experience into something dull and frustrating. She was doing a lot of guessing about “what was really going on” in his mind and heart. She wondered how he really felt about her, or if she was simply wasting her time.

Card Three: How Can I Prepare To Make the Most of This Retrograde Period?

The Chariot

The Chariot card said: Take control of your communications and shoot for quality, rather than quantity, in your messages to him. Cecilia realized that when she took the time to meditate and journal, everything else fell into place. Her inner order and connection with herself made her centered and helped her feel serene and fresh instead of scattered, harried and incoherent. She planned how she could eliminate wasted minutes in every day and use them to focus within, and ultimately saw how much easier this made her encounters with Zach.

Cecilia stopped messaging him all day. She didn’t look for “constant contact” with Zach anymore, instead focusing on the quality of the contact. They both began enjoying their phone calls and texts again. It reconnected them. Their communication was once again intimate and authentic.

Card Four: How Can I Avoid Being Manipulated During This Period?

Seven of Wands

The Seven of Wands says: Retain your focus, and claim your space and time, no matter what. In order to do this, Cecilia became almost brutal about what she said “yes” or “no” to doing. By setting these boundaries thoughtfully, she felt a lot more strength in her inner core. She slept better, thought more clearly, and enjoyed everything much more.

Cecilia saw that when she was tired and frazzled from too much work or socializing, her conversations with Zach became dry and rote. She realized she had been burned out and needed to rest and recharge before she made calls or sent texts to him. She stopped discussing her relationship with her friends all the time and stopped letting herself become confused with all their varying opinions.

Card Five: How Can I Express Myself More Clearly During This Mercury Retrograde?

Queen of Cups

This card is saying: Go within and find what you really most want to say, then speak from the heart. You have the power.

Cecilia had excellent intuition, but she didn’t trust it. The card affirmed for her that she was naturally tuned into all parts of her life and even her past life karma.

By focusing in on what she most wanted to express and listening closely to Zach’s verbal and non-verbal language, she came to a balanced place within herself that actually improved her interactions with Zach.

Cecilia discovered that she could use the insight of Tarot take stock of what she wanted to change and improve the next time Mercury Retrograde loomed ahead. She could also use that period to maintain her space and tune in to herself, in addition to listening to and speaking from her heart.

Why not try a Mercury Retrograde Tarot spread reading to see how it can help you win out over the Mercury Retrograde blues?


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