Why I Love Retrogrades

There are currently 7 planets (astrological bodies) in Retrograde. Pluto*, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Uranus, and Chiron.* Venus goes direct today but Jupiter goes retrograde, keeping us at 7. There are even theories that the Moon is always in retrograde, or at least "apparent retrograde."

*Pluto just keeps Plutoing without caring whether we call it a planet or not. ☺
And Chiron is not a planet but is quite the interesting astrological energy. (To be explored in a later post.)

That's a lot of backward movement - 7 planets, and for some reason it seems to call for lots of posts and articles with a negative spin, especially when it's Mercury, which always seems to be in retrograde! It's not really always in retrograde but it is the planet that retrogrades most often, though for shorter periods of time.

It's funny though because in retrograde the spin is reversed, and you could say that it goes from a positive spin to a negative one. Some say that it means the energies are spinning inward.

The negative spin, the inward spin needn't be a negative energy for us however, and this is why I love Retrogrades, and not even 7+ retrogrades scare me!

Retrogrades are times of rest.

Sleep is a retrograde
Sabbath and Sabbaticals are retrograde
Relaxation and Reflection are retrogrades

We've lost the respect for retrogrades in our society. We can see this from our fears around Mercury retrogrades, and perhaps moreso in our sentiments of annoyance at any need to rest when there is "Sooooo much to doooooo." [whiny voice]

We have a tendency to complain that we don't have enough days off, while filling the days off we do have with more and more stuff, not honoring the retrograde that we need for our bodies minds and souls.

Systems break down when there is no retrograde, when there is no rest, when there is no sense of SACRED rest, when there is no sacred sabbath.

This isn't about dogma or forcing anyone to do rest the way you do rest or feeling pressured to follow someone else's version. It's about asking what retrograde, rest, and recharge mean to you.

You might be surprised to find that in honoring your own need for retrograde that you become more creative more calm , healthier and indeed happier.

Let's embrace our own retrograde. Whether you follow astrology or not, you can learn to spin inward yourself. Rest and reflect. Renew contact with your Inner Wisdom.

♥ Runa

PS Today I was in personal Retrograde and was blessed with crazy creativity. I wasn't "working" but experienced a flow of ideas.

Oh, and there's a lot more to a retrogrades that I didn't even touch on. What do you know about retrogrades?