On August 30th, Mercury will slip into retrograde in the sign of Virgo until September 21st.

During this time, Mercury is going to be slowing down the energy of the Universe and working alongside both the Solar and Lunar Eclipses to help bring the truth to the surface.

Mercury rules over communication and when in retrograde, he challenges all of us to go within and pay attention to the smaller details.

What are we missing? What are we skimming over? What are we not listening to?

Wherever we need to pay attention, wherever we need to be more open and honest with ourselves, wherever we need to express ourselves, will be highlighted by this upcoming Mercury retrograde.

As Mercury travels through Virgo he will also have some companions along the way. These companions are actually going to soften and support Mercury, making this one of the lightest retrogrades of the year.

These companions include the planets Jupiter and Venus. Both of these planets will give an optimistic and romantic feel to this Mercury retrograde, and will be helping us all to tap deeper into our hearts.

This Mercury Retrograde is particularly lucky for love. It is also likely that themes of romance may be stirred or brought up for review from August until September.

Mercury will also be helping us to align with our truth and to communicate to others and to ourselves, how we truly feel about something or someone.

When Mercury first moves into retrograde however, he is going to be challenging us to go slow. This is going to cause the potent New Moon Solar Eclipse to feel somewhat confusing.

Mercury has information that needs to be delivered before the energy of the Solar Eclipse can be fully embraced. This information is buried deep within our souls, and it won’t be until Mercury goes direct again that we will truly understand what he has been trying to tell us.

Emotions and feelings may bubble to the surface, old thoughts may filter back in and old belief systems and thinking may be up for review.

Essentially, this Mercury retrograde is going to be helping us to clear out our closets and remove all the thoughts and feelings that hold us back from seeing the truth.

This Mercury retrograde is gentle on its own, but coupled with the two eclipses, it is going to play a very significant role.

Mercury retrograde often gets a bad wrap, but truly it is nothing to fear. As long as we are paying attention to our inner-voice, as long as we are following the signs from the Universe, Mercury retrograde can actually be a very powerful time of healing.

When Mercury shifts into retrograde, he helps us to become better and more effective communicators, and allows us to dig deep within our hearts and soul so we can express ourselves and our truth.

Mercury will start going direct on September 21, but won’t officially be back to his usual speed and stamina until October 6th.

This means that until this time, we are not really going to be able to fully understand all that Mercury is bringing forward for us.

To help you cope with this retrograde cycle, it is best to avoid starting anything new. Instead it is the perfect time to pay attention to your surroundings, to the Universe and to what your heart, soul and body are communicating to you.