“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.”
— George Jean Nathan
Oddly enough, I’ve been sent this by political friends of both stripes.
Mercury Retrograde, Election, and Football
Earlier this week, I ran an image on one of my sites, a recently captured image of an old — and to me — familiar sign: Beware of Snakes. Sign has a picture of rattlesnake on, or an iconic and clearly understandable image of a rattler. Or what a rattler would look like, if it was mean, which they are, pit vipers, actually, with an attitude. While the poison is rarely fatal these days, it’s still very painful.
The sign is located about ten miles north of my friend’s place in El Paso, TX. The sign is at a New Mexico border crossing, tourist info, and rest stop (Free Coffee!)
I grabbed the image a few weeks before, on my way out of town after working in El Paso for a weekend, such is the life of a traveling astrologer, author, and teacher. While it’s not the first time, it was a good picture against a West Texas sunset. Besides, with Mercury in Retrograde?
Beware of snakes.
The recent election, I voted early and I was on a fishing trip — again, images on the web — so I missed some of the local mudslinging. I was, however, subjected to a great deal of very provincial, last-minute election advertising. Here’s the way this election breaks down: the winner claims victory, the loser claims voter fraud, ballot box stuffing, and how the winner’s mother dressed him funny.
Anyone familiar with my work will quickly respond the obvious ad hominem bit on that last part. In other words, when there is no fact, attack the man.
There’s also much metaphysical, new age discussion about this election occurring on the day Mercury Turn Retrograde, and how this is downfall of civilization, the end of the world, and maybe the Mayans were right.
I’ve already addressed the Mayan Calendar issue in a separate forum, thanks for asking.
In order to predict the future, the easiest place to stat is history. Think back to the Bush/Gore election, and what happened then, the dreaded hanging shad. What was leftover from Mercury Retrograde?
Among my liberal friends, there are still hurt feelings about that. So as we look at another close race, so the polls tell us, the outcome of this election might take longer than anticipated.
My casual guess has pointed the Thanksgiving before there’s a clear victory. Wait for the mud to slide off the winner, and then? Well, best of luck.
Timing and Guidelines for Mercury in Retrograde
I have three different astrology programs and each one returns slightly different data for timing of retrogrades. To accurately determine the exact time of a retrograde, do we start when the planet hits the point that it will tun backwards from? Do we start when the planet arrives at its destination? Do we use the mean average?
Different programs and my list of charts and tables, they all agree within a few hours of the time of the retrograde. What I’ve found more helpful is to allow a little time for extra “Mercury Retrograde” issues to crop up — and extra time to deal with such exigencies.
No two pieces of software will agree on the exact minute and moment of the retrograde. However, we can get close. That’s why consulting an astrologer is always good.
I am available through my site, astrofish.net and my book is free on the web, at astrofish.net/mrx.
Football
Watch for it. There will be a number of “I told you so” examples in the next few weeks. Nothing to do with anything. Monday-Morning Quarterbacks, only, with astrological analysis.
I’m not doing that. Can’t play that game.