Mercury Retrograde: March 14-April 7, 2025

Continuing our journey through spring and the current retrograde period

The dust storms have hit, and with them, Mercury Retrograde. What came before was just a taste. It’s more than local wind, more than restless—it’s like a desiccated hurricane sweeping the southwest. The air is so thick that air quality and driving condition alerts ding on our phones and you can barely see the mountains. Gusts blow cars off their course and even obscure vision with particulate; I can hear them echoing in our unused swap cooler vents, in the cracks of every window, in the whipping tree branches outside. The wind pushes up against every wall of our house and hammers like tsunami waves, over, and over, and over. Even inside, protected as you are from the physical blows, the howling and whistling is haunting. If you live near trees, you pray they stay strong, or that the wind blows them away from your home. If you are not, the dust has probably already swallowed you whole.

This is fitting for springtime. I already wrote a post waxing on about the way the wind represents the Venus Retrograde through Aries this year, clearing the way for new growth yet tempting flames to spark in the dehydrated desert. I would also like to posit that it represents Mercury Retrograde (also through Aries) just as well.

I certainly do associate Mercury with the Air element (and wind), especially considering the air sign Gemini is one of its rulerships. Mercury in mythology is known for being quick-footed, mischievous, constantly moving, and widely traveled, linked to music, words and speech. He is also associated with the transition from life to death, escorting the souls of the dead out of their bodies and to the gates of the underworld. During this retrograde, these things are backward: death transitions to life (winter transforming into spring), and the dust whips across a large landscape and laces everyone’s minds and devices into confusion and miscommunication. I might be applying flexible logic here, but I found these coincidences to be interesting at the very least.

The other sign Mercury rules is earth-based Virgo, maiden of the harvest. While she may be more closely tied to autumn, the land must be tilled, planted, and tended seasons prior in order for any harvest at all to result in the fall. And this must begin with those spring winds, the final cleansing that is also a mass pollination, the beginning of the growth process anew. An Aries (spring) Mercury retrograde is when the maiden takes stock of her land after the chill of winter. When she is not able to begin working it (retrograde, backwards motion, even metaphorically), the soil will crumble into lifeless dust, into more irritants that kick up with the next blast of wind.

Now what does it all mean? you might be asking. What does it mean for you, for the world, for your communities, for your failing printer? Are we doomed to live in chaos and destruction?

The answer is no. Relax. Mercury goes retrograde every three months or so for about three weeks at a time. That means it’s happening for at least nine weeks out of pretty much every year. Depending on where these retrogrades fall in a natal (birth) chart, they affect people at different intensities and in different places in their lives, so it’s not always all crazy all at once. Here’s my general advice.

It’s springtime, so inspiration is everywhere. Just don’t be too attached to the outcome of any projects you start now; you’ll likely have to revisit them in a few weeks once Mercury goes direct again. This isn’t always a bad thing—sometimes a tester stage is necessary for success. Also, be mindful when it comes to big changes, whether it’s to your appearance or signing a contract. Go slow, be sure, and tread carefully. That’s not to say don’t do it, just attend faithfully to the details and don’t be too frustrated when things get misconstrued. Pick up, try again, or just move on. What’s most important right now is that we keep moving, keep attempting, and eventually something will stick.

Things have a tendency to be overwhelming right now, especially when thinking about the future or what might come next. Our pasts feel closer than ever as we set our sights on what is ahead of us, and even if we feel the momentum of a fresh start, we still feel echoes of disappointment or fear from what failed before. These traces live in our bodies like wounds, re-opening and re-infecting when reminders of them catch us off guard. They deserve tending, attention, and care to heal, because, as I talked about in the Venus Retrograde piece, and in Semisonic’s iconically timeless words, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.”

Mercury and Venus retrograding through Aries particularly re-inflame these wounds, these traces of the past, to flag them for cleaning in order to help us move on to the next era. So, somewhat ironically, the best way to plan and prepare for the future is to focus on the past. I don’t mean dwell in traumatic memories or pick up poor coping strategies again, but rather, make peace with who you had to become to survive those things. Recognize that person is the same one supporting you now, the one bringing you into this exciting new time. You deserve your own love. You deserve to have kind shelter from life’s dust storms.

The biggest piece of general advice i can give you about Mercury Retrograde in general is…shut up. Ironic, given I’m basically writing an essay trying to get across an interpretation in one of the most subjective fields of human history. Believe you me, I do not have faith any of this actually makes sense, but sometimes you just gotta keep trucking, you know? Communication is just going to be tough for a minute, so if you have something important to say, keep it short and simple. Read it over a few times. Take a nap when things feel too difficult, or watch some trash tv. Take care of yourself. We’ll get back to business soon.

Me personally? I’m gonna wait to put my new screen protector on my phone until after April 7th.