I knew I loved you before I met you, I think I dreamed you into life…

Venus has just moved into Pisces. This means that (except for the Moon) all personal planets are now swimming happily in the big fish tank that is the Universe.

This news is not being met with dancing girls and hallelujah choruses from everyone though…for fire and air types, it’s a little like having a fog descend across your eyes and your boots covered in mud…or quicksand. You might feel as though you’re treading water when you want to be lapping the opposition. You might feel like you’re driving in the rain and your wipers aren’t working.

For those of us receptive to this energy, it’s absolutely beautiful.

Standing in the customs queue at Sydney Airport on Sunday afternoon I had the best idea for my next manuscript.

Waiting on the Help Line today for my bank, I had an idea for a pitch I can make to a travel magazine.

Yesterday while waiting for the internet to recover from an unscheduled “pause” I called an old friend I hadn’t spoken to for too many months.

Mercury Retrograde brings these little moments of creativity and reconnection. It’s like the Universe is giving us a chance to slow down and revisit those thoughts and ideas and dreams that would otherwise flit right on through your brain.

I know that people are told what not to do in a time of Mercury retrograde, but even these issues can be mitigated if common sense is used. Mercury is a Trickster, but he shouldn’t be blamed for everything bad that happens over the next few weeks- although obviously you can if you wish.

Sure anything to do with appointments, computers, messages, communications, travel, contracts may be upset- this is all Mercury stuff. For anything other than this, I’d suggest looking for something else going on in the chart.

Yesterday here in Australia one of our major banks systems went down- both in branches and online. Given that all customer identity and balance verification is based on the information these systems provide, the result was pure chaos.

It wasn’t an accident- these things never are. I don’t know the details behind this one, but apparently it had something to do with a change that needed to be backed out.

In all of my years as a Change Manager, the one unbreakable rule was unless it can absolutely be avoided, don’t implement an IT based change during a Mercury retrograde. Not because it won’t work, but because often times the procedures, implementation instructions, test plans or operational communication aren’t followed completely by someone. Short cuts are unconsciously taken.

Whilst I would never put “Mercury Retrograde” in the root cause analysis field of any Post Implementation Review, the point is most of us persist in fighting the influence of the retrograde motion and proceed as we normally would- rather than slowing down and ticking the boxes. I get that- we’re all busy.

The thing is, life doesn’t stop a few times a year for Mercury. People get married, buy houses, phones and cars. They book flights, hotels and appointments. They implement software changes.

Strangely not all of these end in disaster. Luggage arrives, mail arrives, planes arrive and changes work.

Although there are always examples where they don’t. Where the messages don’t get through the system properly. Where the appropriate checks and common-sense balances aren’t taken into consideration. Where the procedures aren’t followed. This type of thing tends to be more prevalent when Mercury is in reverse.

This Mercury retrograde is in Pisces, a sign where Mercury is in both his detriment and fall.

Pisces is a sign of illusion, delusion and head in the ground hope for the best. It’s also a sign of great imagination and creativity.

This retrograde, try, if you can, to go with the flow a little- a little how this post started to be about Venus and morphed into something about Mercury. Slow down and employ all those re words we use. Finish unfinished projects. Make notes of creative flashes, reconnect with loves from the past- and leave them there in need.

And, if you need to do any of the things that you’re told not to under a Mercury retrograde, check the fine print- at least a few times over. Or, do nothing…until it’s over- that one’s your call.

Oh and yesterdays Bank debacle? They issued a press release to the newspapers that spun the story from the days chaos that it was into reading like it was a temporary blip. Now that’s Mercury in Pisces at work.

If you want to know how Pisces is in love, check out this post…

And the song is by Savage Garden…check it out and listen to the lyrics here.