As the pace of life gets faster, how do we cope with Mercury retrograde, that once-every-three-month anomaly where the planet of communication, commerce, and travel turns on its heels, often resulting in mayhem on planet Earth? As a species, we are no longer accustomed to going slow, taking time out, or being patient when things go wrong. Even if we want to, circumstances usually prevent it: Bosses and clients do not mark three weeks off the calendar so we can stop what we’re doing and reassess various parts of our lives. So we experience glitches, things that stop us or take us out of our normal, daily lives. But if embraced, or just accepted for a short while, these glitches can afford us chances to change our perspectives or make progress in the areas of life we have neglected.

It might help to remember this information during the first half of the month, particularly as we approach the full moon on March 9, when tensions might run high and emotions are more volatile. This full moon asks for tolerance, compassion, forgiveness, and a gentler way of doing things. The Sun’s alignment with Neptune in Pisces offers us the experience of transcendence if we are willing to rise above the tensions and look for God in the everyday. Delayed train journeys or cancelled flights might give us chances for conversations with people we might never have gotten to know otherwise. Our computers or the internet going down might make us do other things instead, things that are more nourishing for our souls. We can try to see delays, glitches, and problems in our lives as gifts from God, even if we think, “I don’t need this.” We probably do need it.

Mercury turns direct on March 10, followed by the Sun going into Aries on March 20, which brings a much lighter and more positive feel; now things can get moving again. As Mercury moves into a helpful alignment with Uranus, any ideas we might have received during Mercury’s pause can now be put into action. Inspiration and innovation are the keywords here, so the days around March 20 are ideal for downloading insights and using them to push ourselves and others forward.