1. All those horrendous Mercury Retrograde stories tend to be about things that happen on challenging final Lunar aspect days & times.

2. Even on non-challenging final Lunar aspects days, as Gilbert Navarro said (no doubt probably from his his horary astrology teacher, under Mercury retrograde, "We don't have all the infornation." If business and/or planning and/or rational analysis MUST be done at this time, my analogy for this time is the WHEEL of FORTUNE TV program. All the letters haven't been turned over. I/we MIGHT be able to read "it" correctly, might read "it" incorrectly, might not be able to read it correctly now.

  3. It's harder than usual to get a hold of people and to get accurate and complete documents, etc.

4. As other astrologers, such as Jim Shawvan, have pointed out, Mercury retrograde "issues" are relevant just before and just after each retrograde. If in doubt, add a week of tentativeness before and after each Merc Retro.

5. Retrograde Mercury periods are for MANY people, times of "catching up" on paperwork, communications, etc. This makes sense because Mercury was going so fast (seemingly too fast) when in direct motion before the retrograde.

6. Mercury Retrogrades in the Mercury-ruled signs of Gemini or Virgo are particularly pronounced in regard to all five points mentioned above.

7. Mercury's house rulerships for an individual show where that person tends to be challenged or "thrown off" during the retrograde, particularly if Mercury is transiting retrograde in the house ruled by Mercury.