Kari

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

Welcome to the Kara’s Cures digital show, where we explore The Cutting Edge of Wellness. I’m Kara Sunland. So what do the stars say about 2023, and what happens when Mercury is retrograde? As it is at this taping right now, joining us now is internationally-known astrologist and happiness coach Kari Samuels. Welcome, Kari. Thank you so much, Cara. It’s wonderful to be here. You know, I think Mercury in retrograde has actually become somewhat mainstream. I now see USA Today reporting it. I’ve seen it in newspapers. We joke about it here in The Newsroom that when things aren’t working properly, or we’re reporting all these flights being grounded, that, oh, it must be Mercury and retrograde, and in fact, it is right now as we’ve just experienced all these crazy flight delays But what exactly does it mean when Mercury is in retrograde? Mercury is the planet that rules communication, transportation, and Commerce. Retrograde means that it appears to be moving backward. a planet can never move backward, but from the Earth’s perspective, which is where we live, it looks like it’s moving backward.

Interview with Kari

So when the planet of communication and transportation is in this retrograde, appearing to be moving backward motion things associated with it also can appear to be moving backward or going haywire. But what’s important to remember about this is that this is actually to help us fix these things. When all these things go haywire, when Mercury is retrograde, it’s because we’re meant to take a step back and correct course. We’re supposed to look and see what went wrong, so many people get worried. You know, they hear Mercury and retrograde to go, oh no, everything will be horrible. You actually say that that’s not how we should be handling it from an astrologist’s perspective, yeah, and from a nature perspective, when people were observing the planets back in ancient times when they were looking at planets, they didn’t have internet. They didn’t have electricity. They didn’t have phones to distract them, so they looked up at the stars. Astrology was created to help us be in tune with the cycles of nature and the cycles of the universe, so we’re not anymore. That’s when things go Haywire because we’re meant to take a step back and slow down, and that’s what the Mercury retrograde cycle is about taking a step back, slowing down, and re-examine our communication re-examine our transportation, re-examine how we connect with each other.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

And we’re forced to do it during Mercury retrograde because things go wrong, but things don’t have to go wrong if we do this intentionally, okay, so Mercury and retrograde it’s happening now? We’re coming out of it soon, right? Did you tell me about January 18th? Yes, you have an amazing memory, so we’ve been in this cycle for 2023 so far. It started on December 29th of 2022, and it’s a three-week-ish cycle, usually a little longer. That happens around every four months, and so we begin this year with Mercury retrograde, and we actually end the year with Mercury retrograde, but so far, all of 2023 has been in this cycle, and I think we all feel that as well, so basically when it’s happening the rules of thumb are we need to leave room for flexibility we need to slow down we need to catch our breath yes all the r e words are applicable during any retrograde actually every single planet is going retrograde this year at some point, actually. We just came out of Mars retrograde, which actually may have caused more chaos than Mercury retrograde. It just happens less often, so it’s not as Infamous, but all the RE words review, revise, and repair are three big ones, so that’s why things break down during Mercury retrograde. It’s not like it’s random. It’s not like communication breaks down arbitrarily or appliances break arbitrarily.

Interview with Kari

We were meant to look at them but so much in life was like, I’ll look at this later, I’ll get to it later, I’ll get to that pile of papers later, I’ll get to fix that later and so during these retrograde times, we have to, we’re forced to, but if we do these things proactively if we say let’s leave this space in our calendar to let’s just I always Mark Mercury retrograde on my calendar so if I’m doing a product launch or anything like that I usually don’t during that time I use that time to fix things on my website to re-record something or to go through those piles of paper that build up. So if you do that proactively and mark it on your calendar ahead of time, which I suggest people do, then you won’t be surprised by the trickster energy of Mercury retrograde. For those who are doubters or, say, you have to believe her, I mean, you like to make the Mystic more mainstream so that we can understand this, okay, so I’m wondering. I remember doing a report about Walt Disney. He never opened a park without consulting an astrologist. He wanted the dates to be correct for the opening. There’s one of the famous investors. Oh gosh, I think it’s. I’ll think about it. Was it Rockefeller, or was it, oh, JP Morgan? I’m sorry, but one of the famous investors JP Morgan, said I remember doing this report that millionaires don’t use astrology billionaires do.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

Yet in modern times, we kind of tend to look at it like, maybe the younger generation, I think, all the social media says what your sun sign is people are much it’s becoming back, but for those who are just not paying attention, how does astrology work for mainstream people why should we look at this as well. I actually think you don’t even need to believe in astrology to take three weeks every four months to do that because it’s really good. Everything in nature helps us be in tune with rhythms and Cycles, so astrology is like weather forecasting. It’s telling you these are the cycles of nature, so the Ancients used to study astrology with astronomy and all of their arts and all of their Sciences because it’s really about getting in tune with nature. In the modern world, we tend to live as if every day is a Monday in summer. We are not in tune with any cycle. We just live every day going, and it’s not good for us. Even trees rest even everything is in a cycle of nature, so astrology it’s misinterpreted as this fortune telling. I don’t believe in fortune-telling. Astrology forecasts are like weather forecasts, and so to me, it’s like would you plan a summer beach vacation in winter in Minnesota, right?

Interview with Kari

But that’s what people essentially do without looking at the cycles of nature. Or not looking at astrology which is this thousands-year-old tool that people have been using to be in touch with cycles and rhythms. So you’re missing out if you’re just trying to plan something without looking at what cycle we’re in. This is literally like weather forecasting, except its not the weather that is about storms. It’s more celestial storms and more energies and what’s going on. Right. And I think, you know, from a scientific perspective, people say, well, if the tides are affected by the planets, if the animals are affected by the planets, if the plants are affected by the plants, why wouldn’t humans at some level, so I think it makes sense to look at this certainly wherever your belief is. But I think it’s interesting you brought up the history. It’s true. I was reading about 400 years ago, if you were lucky enough to go to college, which meant you were probably a wealthy man, you would have had to study astrology. It was part of getting the right degree. I also studied the sister science numerology, which is modern numerology and thousands of years old, like Pythagoras. Like all the ancient scientists and philosophers, he had a mystery school like the Pythagorean theorem. They studied astrology because it’s like studying Natural Sciences.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

You mentioned the moon and our tides the moon because it’s hard to think, okay, so these are millions of miles away. How do they affect us? How do planets affect us? The moon governs our tides. Right. We are made of 60 percent water. The iron in our blood is literally from an exploded star, so we are made of Stardust, and they’ve recently done a scientific study that proves that Jupiter and Venus, Venus is the planet closest to Earth and Jupiter is the largest planet, affect our climate this is a scientific study we’re in a solar system. The sun is literally the source of all life. It’s millions of miles away, but we’re in this system where we have this gravitational pull. So again, planets don’t do things to us. They don’t make us do things, but we’re connected, and we feel disconnected because we lost touch with our natural rhythms and with this Attunement to Nature and our cycles. So again, you don’t need to believe in astrology and trust me. Astrology will happen whether you believe in it or not. This Mercury retrograde will happen to you whether you believe in it or not if you’re not paying attention to what these energies are trying to show you, so this is about communication and transportation. The world has shown us that this definitely happened. Flights were delayed, and there were communication issues. But what happened with that is we had to say what went wrong, yeah, and so I love that you want to make this practice of what we would do due to this information.

Interview with Kari

We often hear that when Mercury is retrograde, we should not sign contracts or make large purchases. Is that also true? Yes, and the reason being is that Mercury is the planet that governs our mind. Mercury and all the planets are named after mythological gods. These gods believed in this at the time because they each represented a certain quality, a certain aspect of human life. Mercury’s communication and transportation are how you think your communication is how you connect with others. That’s why it’s also associated with transportation. So during these times in our life where we’re picking up information all the time, lots of information that we don’t process, and so during these retrograde times of mercury which is 20 of the year, it’s an 80 20 rule 80 of the time Mercury is whizzing along in this seemingly it’s always in a forward motion, but 20 of the time it’s this retreating this going back. So you don’t sign a contract because your mind will be picking up on pieces of information you had previously overlooked, okay? Hence, it’s a time to review, as you said, so I mean if you have to sign something if you have to do it, then what? Well, again, this is if nothing needs to be a superstitious endeavor, so if you have to do it, you want to make sure you’re checking all the facts you’re researching. Research is another re word you’re researching.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

You’re reviewing everything in detail. You know that you’re thorough, that you haven’t missed anything, and that you looked at everything that you need to look at, so if you need to have surgery, things do break down too. So you need to buy something else, but make sure you do your research and that you’re dotting your eyes and crossing your t’s. That way, sometimes, if you do something during Mercury retrograde, you’ll have to go back and do it later because you may have missed something, and that’s okay again. Nothing’s about being superstitious, and nothing is about, oh no, I’ve cursed the universe loves you. Yeah, this is all to help you do the best you can. So let’s switch to this year, 2023. You’re also a numerologist, so what can you tell us about 2023? Well, it’s sort of a retrograde year like the whole year is about tuning in, and more than tuning in, it’s about expressing who you are more authentic. I looked at every aspect of the astrology and numerology of the year, plus my own art of interpreting things. There’s a lot in it about healing and mental health, especially since our planet Saturn rules structures going into Pisces for three years when Saturn went into Aquarius in 2020. That’s when we had do you remember what happened in March of 2020? Let’s not have that again. yeah well that the thing is, Saturn’s about

Interview with Kari

Yeah, well, the thing is, Saturn’s about restrictions, and Aquarius is our society. So we saw all these restrictions in our society when Saturn went into Aquarius Saturn’s moving into Pisces for three years starting in March. Actually, there are a lot of Pluto. I’m sorry Saturn’s moving into Pisces. Pluto is moving into Aquarius. They’re passing the Baton, and that’s going to be a 20-year cycle, but Saturn moving into Pisces is all about compassion, healing, and connectedness. And that’s why we’re beginning to see more people being more honest about who they are and their mental health because this is a time of healing. We’ve been through a lot of collective trauma for three years, yeah, and it’s brought up things that need to be healed, but in this healing process, we feel more comfortable being who we are, and so we talk about numerology 2023 in numerology is a seven universal here, and seven is about being in touch with your soul your life purpose you’re calling what you’re here to do it’s also very introspective and every planet’s retrograde this year, which isn’t every other year kind of thing, so Venus is going retrograde Mars because personal planets aren’t always retrograde. This is a time of going Within, asking what I really want to do and Express in the world and doing it in a very authentic way, and that is your key to success, okay all right, so you know people I think have been through it.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

We’ve all gone through this collective trauma. And in some ways, it might have created the Great Resignation. We have people reevaluating what’s important to them. But I think people want to hear that, okay, good, you know, is the energy right to start new things or to start to feel lighter, or I read somewhere might have been your forecast that we’re actually officially moving into the quote-unquote age of Aquarius talk about that is it do we have things to look forward to oh yeah we have a lot to look forward to this is the first year since 2020. I do a forecast every year where I look at this and when I did my 2020 forecast, and this is recorded, I was like, I don’t know if I’ll ever leave my house in 2020, and I barely did, and I said, we’re not you, know I don’t think we’re going to be flying internationally and there was a lot in our astrology that showed all about restriction and the past three years every time I do the forecast I felt anxious, but this year I feel so much joy about what’s ahead because I really feel that so much of what’s been happening and what we’ve been through has taught us again, like the Great Resignation, what we will no longer tolerate, what’s no longer right for our soul, and that seven years and the Pisces in Saturn and also because Pluto moves into Aquarius which is all about connectedness in society but also being an individual it’s how the individual helps the greater good. So I feel that all of this has culminated into this year where if we have the courage to be ourselves if we have the courage to be authentic.

Interview with Kari

That’s why I say mental health is a big part because it’s not about being the Instagram version of ourselves. It’s about being the true version of ourselves, like all of it, the parts that we’ve been afraid to express, and when you are living and expressing those parts of yourself that you’ve been afraid to express, that’s when good things happen to you that’s when you live your Soul’s purpose so I think all of this collective trauma has been about helping us say you know what, I can’t anymore? I have to be myself. I have no other choice. And so everything in our astrology right now and our numerology is saying, please have the courage to show the people closest to you and the world who you are and go for your dreams. So Pisces is a sign of dreams. We’re moving into Saturn, which is about building structures. This is literally three years where it’s like, go build your dreams. Build your dreams, go for what you want, and believe in yourself. Have courage. That’s a big theme this year, and this is why I feel so excited about the energies this year that are your weather forecast. Be yourself. That’s what the stars and the planets and the numbers are saying, and again you don’t need to believe in astrology or numerology to do this, but I feel like we’re all feeling this, yeah, well, I think a lot of people are hoping and being more optimistic

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

I’m just excited to do other things and maybe feel on a practical level. Like, I just want to travel, or I want to see friends again, or some definition of what really matters to them. And we’re certainly talking about it in the business world as wel.l So whatever the stars are saying, we’re also talking about this in a practical way. I love that part of what you do is give practical guidance. So, in a number seven year what is practical guidance? Well, the thing about a seven-year is it always involves some type of retreat or tuning into yourself, so practically, you want to make sure, and I know that there are a lot of moms and parents out there that say, I can’t take time to myself, but you’re actually going to have to take time to yourself because that’s how you catch up with yourself and this is a year because everything’s retrograde and retrograde is always about catching up with yourself. The Seven Year everything in the year says you need to take time for yourself and catch up with yourself. So does that mean journaling? Does that mean meditating? These are all good things to do, even if you do them a little every day. It’s really important, and so that’s how you connect with the parts of yourself that you’ve maybe overlooked or ignored, and that’s where you’re going to get those wonderful what I like to call Divine downloads where you receive inspiration like JK Rowling was sitting on a train when Harry Potter just came to her.

Interview with Kari

It’s when you’re in those moments of quiet and space when you’re in that zone, the right brain Zone the intuitive Zone when you’re creative, when you’re allowing yourself just to be, that’s actually essential for you to do more and again I know our society isn’t really cool with that, but that’s actually your key to success is to make sure you’re taking that time to yourself to receive the parts of your intuitive brain that are trying to connect with you. I think that sometimes, though, when people might struggle with, okay, I got this idea, life gets in the way of actually doing something or changing something. For those people who have a dream and are listening to you and saying, this is great. I’m gonna act on it this year. I’m gonna go within and follow my dream. What practically, how do you advise people to get there because they’re living their regular lives right, that is busy, yeah, well, practically with everything that you’re you want to build, it’s one step at a time, and this, again, is what Saturn teaches us.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

It’s about discipline, so it’s about having boundaries with your time and important things. You need to be very focused so if you realize that you have something in your life that is an energy drain or that is taking up your time, or you’re spending too much time with, even if you just do five minutes a day where you do something for yourself, start a blog, figure out how to use a webcam, figure out how to upload something or figure out how to get on a dating site, And it’s again it’s about building your courage muscles little by little steps lead to big changes, but there’s always magic on the other side of fear, so if you just do little things to overcome your fear step by step, pretty soon your courage muscles will be so strong, and things will be second nature for you, and when you believe in yourself, that is when opportunities abound for you that is when opportunities happen for you. So I live in Portland where we have Nike, so just do it is a lot out here, yeah, right, so I like that too. I say that to my kids all the time you like Nike, just do it. It’s usually about cleaning their room but yeah, so spark before you feel ready, so you don’t ever feel ready, right? So do the things that you’re saying I’ll do next year, or I’ll do in six months, do it

Interview with Kari

Now, do it small and build step by step, step by step, and I know you’re helping people with that. You have a lot of practical programs on your website karisamuels.com. You put out a whole forecast if people want to learn more about this for 2023 the numerology, the astrology. Let me just ask you if you believe in astrology or not like you know your sun sign, right? I’m Cancer. I do a show with someone who’s in Aries. We joke about how much it really matters to our Sun Signs, we know that, or is it like really our whole chart? Well, sun science can help a lot. I actually love numerology because it’s, in a way, easier to learn than astrology, too. If you learn these nine numbers, you’ll start to see them show up everywhere, like on license plates, but the sun signs are very helpful throughout the whole chart. If you can, I think people get into astrology when they get their chart done, and they’re blown away by how accurate it is because you can see everything about your childhood and why things are challenging for you. It’s pretty remarkable, but the sun sign it’s like knowing if you’re going to adopt a dog. You look up the breed and say, okay, this dog likes to chew, or this dog needs exercise in a way. The sun sign is like that, it shows you your nature and what you need to express yourself, and even just something as simple as that can be so helpful in understanding each other if you are a Cancer, we know that you’re squishy and tender on the inside, that family is important to you. We’ve certainly seen that in your life, right, and we love you. We’ve got to have water, and you’ve got to have water; its cancers can be protective on the outside. They’re very protective, and cancer is actually ruled by the moon, so you would actually be more connected to them, which is probably why you’re like, hey, let’s have an astrologer on.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde?

Well, we joke about Mercury retrograde all the time on Great Day Connecticut, and my co-host laughs like oh, come on, it’s an emergency. I’m like, it is, but I know we’re out of time for this. But I want all the people everyone knows they can go to karisamuels.com. They can also follow you on Instagram, which is at karisamuels.com. You are taking the mystical and making it practical all day, so we appreciate your time. I know Mercury will go direct in a couple of days, so I’m grateful that Zoom worked. Everything was fine, and we could take a moment and review this over the next couple of weeks, so thanks, Kari. All right, thanks so much for having me. It’s been a joy, and thanks for joining us for Kara’s Cures on The Cutting Edge of Wellness. You can find more inspiration that inspires on my Facebook. Go to Cara’s Cara Sunderland. You can follow me there or join Kara’s Cures Facebook group on Facebook, have a great day, everyone, and all is well.