Rockaway’s Children Of The 12 Signs
“Paula! Mercury is in retrograde this weekend, be careful.” My friend called out. “Oh shit, thanks!” I shouted back as I swung the bodega door open. Sign talk is everywhere in Rockaway – on the boulevard, on the beach, on your board, at the gym… waiting for the shuttle. “He had a great aura in the water today.” “Why are there so many Aries in Rockaway?” But wait… what is your rising sign?” “Crystals.”
I’m a novice. I didn’t know what Mercury in retrograde ment until like two years ago. Guess what? The messenger planet does not move backwards. It moves slower and therefore, in the simplest of terms, things are out of whack. This phenomenon happens three to four times a year, for about a three to four week period.
What will happen to you when Mercury is in retrograde tomorrow? According to various questionable websites on the internet, earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) in particular will feel unmoored. We need to be especially careful when this cosmic occurrence ensues. Unresolved situations from our past may surface. Mercury’s lethargy will bring attention to situations that are unsettled in our lives. A positive perhaps… this allows us latitude to gain closure, putting the difficult past behind us if we choose. Mercury is the planet of communication, intellect, memory, and transportation, therefore for the next few weeks, expect trouble in all of those areas. I suggest taking the ferry instead of the A train.
A day after my friend kindly warned me that my Universe will turn upside down, my other friend, who is a Casual Sorcerer, comes by for morning coffee. Lauren brings with her six different Tarot card decks (casual Monday). She tells me to choose one. “It is a gift!” she says. All the decks looked precious. They were so worn, I could almost see the stories they had predicted. It was hard to choose. The cards were beautifully designed with illustrations and mystifying unknown symbols. “Take the one that calls to you,” Lauren suggests.
The Casual Sorcerer also gave me a sacred book, The Message Of The Stars. It opens, “It’s a matter of common knowledge among mystics that the evolutionary career of mankind is indissoluble bound up with the divine hierarchies who rule the planets and the signs of the Zodiac, and that the passage of the Sun and the planets through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, marks man’s progress in time and space.” I’m keeping caution with this book. I’ve placed it by the brass, holy water crucifix my father found on the job,* which he gave to me years ago. I will read the book, bit by bit when I feel open to its pages.
Between my “lay low” Mercury is in Retrograde reminder and the new presence of tarot cards in my life, I feel I’ve received a message. I’m unclear what the Universe is trying to tell me but my mind is open to listening and my body is ready to receive it.
Disclaimer: I’m a witch in training, consequently, I have know idea what I’m talking about. But I’m learning new things, so there’s that! See my journey through Mercury in retrograde on IG – @theglorifiedtomato.
*NYC Sanitation Dept.
The peninsula is geographically special. We have manifested here in fire, earth, air and water. These elements throughout our seasons in Rockaway are more extreme than elsewhere. The sun’s fire over the ocean sweats our drive and pride into the sea. We planted our roots in earth’s soil on the edge of the ocean. We swim in the water we hear when we sleep deeply, entering our psychic realm. The windy air blows freedom through these connections, calling the misfits and mystics to Rockaway.
