Cards for the Day: Knight of Chalices/r’d Judgment: Ghosts from the Past Haunt Us (Thanks, Mercury Retrograde!)

Mercury retrograde is here and it has hit us with a vengeance: computer problems, communication difficulties. The hardest part of all, though, in my opinion, is when Mercury hits us with a return to old emotional issues that we thought we had let go of…suddenly, they’re back! Old bad habits, people from the past (sometimes, though, this is a good thing), and consequences of past actions, as well — all are hitting us at once. Now is when both karmic and financial bills seem to come due. It also seems as though now is the time of year when ex-smokers are terribly tempted to go back to smoking, when recovering alcoholics want to fall back off the wagon, when we want to let our eating habits go back to the old unhealthy ways (if we’ve cleaned those up).

For me, Mercury retrograde brings a return to crutches that I don’t normally rely on every day any more: stuff like crystals and essential oils. And these aren’t bad ways to cope with Mercury retrograde stress. If your past involves heartbreak, now can be the time to sleep with a rose quartz crystal clenched in your fist; if it involves fear, a chunk of citrine will do well; if you are having a lot of negative emotions that you can’t let go of, labradorite pressed against your chest for an hour or so can be awesome, or black tourmaline or hematite. If essential oils are more your cup of tea, lavender (for stress and anxiety) helps a lot, and so does white angelica (for protection from negativity). Valerian oil, if you’re looking for a Xanax substitute, can be helpful for anxiety, though it doesn’t taste great. But it is easily concealed in orange juice.

Still, this doesn’t have to be a negative time. Just as Mercury retrograde is a good time for many of us to organize, regroup and declutter, we can use the energy of this cycle to declutter our emotional lives, working through and letting go of old fears and anxieties, and maybe, with a lot of work, even past traumas. Using this time to get back in touch with old friends and family members that we wish we saw more of is also a great way to turn Mercury retrograde from a negative into a positive.