It evidently takes bad astrology news to make the mainstream blogosphere. The Daily Beast has posted an article that predicts “holiday hell”:
The stars are aligning to ruin Christmas. Astrologers say that for the first time in years, the tumultuous astrological cycle known as Mercury Retrograde falls during the holidays, causing “tears,” “confusion,” and “throwdowns” during the busy shopping and travel season.
This article is largely based on an interview with Susan Miller, who is one of the best known astrologers in the US today and was one of the earlier pioneers of internet astrology with her Astrology Zone on America Online back in the early 1990s. But in this article she seems to have lost her mind.
It starts with Black Friday and Saturday, which they say will be doomed by bad deals and under-stocked merchandise. And shoppers who wait until after December 9 will get stuck with faulty products or presents that no one wanted in the first place. By mid-December, holiday travelers will be hit with bad weather, mechanical errors and possibly, terrorist threats. Wars may break out, marriages will dissolve, people will lose their jobs and, as astrologer Gahl Sasson put it, “the whole planet is going to have Tourette’s syndrome.” But that’s not even the worst of it. The darkest day comes on the Winter Solstice (December 21), when a full moon eclipse will wreak its own special havoc.
“It’s a nightmare,” says New York astrologerSusan Miller. “People will be in tears.”
I’m in tears already thinking about the effect on humans across the planet whose fear in reading these words will inspire ridiculous behavior that is apt to make this prediction bear fruit.
Mercury turns retrograde for three weeks four times a year, every year. Often these periods create snafus, but not universally and not as dire as this article suggests.
It’s true that the week around the Solstice eclipse does have its challenges, and with Mercury (short trips, communication) in a challenging square to both Uranus and Jupiter there is a heightened risk of traffic accidents and communication glitches. The lunar eclipse on the Solstice is a potent one since it tightly conjoins the North Node and Pluto at the 29th degree of Gemini. I’ll be writing more about this eclipse as we get closer to the event, because this will be a significant time of completion and resolution for many of us.
Yes, it could be intense with that Pluto/North node conjunction to the eclipse. Yes, Mercury will be retrograde and our attention is turned backwards. Wars are already breaking out, without the assistance of Pluto or Mercury and we have certainly had our share of planetary bad news this year.
My advice heading into the holiday season is to try to be as conscious as possible, and if you must travel over the holidays expect the usual glitches of Mercury retrograde. No matter who you are with around the Solstice, any hidden conflicts will certainly emerge under this lunar eclipse, so just expect them and learn from their resolution. Astrology is best used as a tool to work through challenging situations, NOT to create more fear in our lives.
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It’s refreshing to read your Mercury Retrograde stance, Lynn. It is very calming, and I will repost it everywhere to fight back against the other astrologers’ negativity!
Though Susan Miller is popular beyond words, and Gahl Sasson is an academic-scientific computer, I don’t find their reports and readings as personal and realistic as yours. With their wide appeal, why would they want to raise such mass hysteria and a vision of doom?
It’s kind of like dat guy on da street cawner in New Yawk proclaiming “Da Woild is Endink!” What better way to ruin people’s holiday plans then to proclaim them rotten a month before they even start?
Mercury Retrograde periods are usually actually very good for me. And I’m going to move forward into December with that approach in mind. Attitude is everything!
Vicky
Thank you for the measured response and emphasis on personal consciousness. If anything is getting through to me these days, it’s that responding to the actual is quite enough. Appreciate it, Lynn! Let’s just give everyone a banjo for the season.
I found *last* Christmas season to be richly introspective. Sounds like this year, it would be wise to plan for another. (A banjo! I love it, Carol!)
I really, really dislike sensationalizing astrology like that just for sales. Looks like the first set of squares from Mercury to Jupiter & Uranus (one on T-Day & the other on 11-27) are having an effect! Write first, engage brain later . . . :D
xo diane~
On the positive side, retrograde Mercury is often a time of returning to familiar places or reuniting with old friends. As long as you are not visiting someplace entirely new, there can be comfort in retracing old lines of travel.
I was born with Mercury square Jupiter/Uranus and have only ever been in one very minor car accident despite much travel…There are tendencies to abrupt, spontaneous actions, last minute changes of plan and stirring things up verbally.
Thanks for all of your comments. I’ve really learned to appreciate Mercury retrograde periods and as Shakti says they can be great times for returning to place from the past. They’re wonderful times for going back over anything in our lives that needs re-doing. Every astrological cycle has a positive gift if we look for it. This fearmongering from astrologers is disappointing to me and thank you all for working so diligently to counter it!
I’ve stopped listening to Susan Miller at all anyway! My monthly horoscopes used to be so accurate – now it’s almost like she writes something and the universe conspires to make the opposite happen….. So I suppose I should be looking forward to a very Merry Christmas indeed!
Thanks so much for posting this, I emailed you about this too after reading a tweet from Susan. I thought she was very over the top with the negative outlook. I’m an optimist and really hope for the best.
Thanks!
Well really, sun sign horoscopes can’t by their very nature be accurate. The Sun is just one piece of a much larger puzzle, and the ascendant has much more to do with our day to day lives in any case.
This is the first time I have written a comment on anything. I must agree with all the comments. I have been reading Susan Millers astrology blog for approximately 3 years and not once, in all of that time, has she been even remotely correct as far as my chart is concerned. My instincts and feelings tell me all the ‘feel-good’ things that never happen are simply ‘fishing for business. Thanks for being there for us Lynn.
‘DEAR CAPRICORN!’
28-12-48
Have studied astrology for years and never have had any problems with Mercury retrograde…just lucky, I guess?
Anyway, the more people agonize and fret over it, does nothing but make it worse!!!!
“What you think abou