Mercury retrograde - Silly or Scientific?
You’ve probably heard the phrase “Mercury’s in retrograde” before. It seems to be a millennial catchphrase of sorts. When things start going wrong in people’s lives, some will blame it on the planet Mercury. Though the smallest, hottest rocky planet in our solar system seems a little too far away to be able to influence anyone’s behavior or daily life, right? The topic opens plenty of debate on how or why the little planet’s motion can ever be able to impact us. In essence, this is an age-old astronomy vs astrology conversation. What’s the difference? Don’t worry, I’m very used to this question.
Astronomy is a branch of physics that studies everything in the universe through observations and mathematics. Astrology, on the other hand, deals with how the moon, sun, and solar system planets can influence human behavior, emotions, and general life. Mostly, the latter is referred to as a pseudoscience compared to astronomy, often sparking much debate on how any object in space can ever influence humans at all.
In this piece, I venture into enemy territory in an effort to free mercury of the accusations against it. (Is this what space law is?)
Astrology/Getty Images
Astrology
Astrology has been around for millennia, since the first human civilizations began looking for meaning in the night sky. As our ancestors stared at the stars, they saw patterns and images, linking them to myths and legends. With that, constellations were born. Since the stars they saw centuries ago remained in the same positions, we still see and use the very same constellations, today. These, of course, include those in the zodiac, central to astrology. Out of the 88 constellations we have today, the zodiac is comprised of 12: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. What makes these constellations “the chosen ones”?
Their motion around the sun. Well, actually, our motion around the sun...the constellations stay put. When we look up at the constellations over time, it looks, to us, as if they are the ones that are moving. This motion is, year after year, constantly orbiting the sun. But it is all an optical illusion! It is in fact, Earth’s orbital motion around the sun that changes the constellations that we see throughout the year. As an Aries, for example, the reason this is “my sign of the zodiac” is because the constellation could not be seen from Earth, on the day I was born. It was blocked by our host star, thus making it very hard to observe.
So, in line with this astrology crash course; why do astrologers believe that the zodiac is able to influence the way we act?
Well, since we have a constant influx of new and improved scientific reasoning for pretty much everything nowadays, astrologers attempt to support their beliefs using the very thing that disproves them: Logic. One argument being that the universe is governed by patterns woven within its fabric. And so, since mankind is made of the same building blocks as everything else in the cosmos, we are a part of it too. The universe is a body, and we are cells inhabiting it, controlled by the heart and the brain and everything else that keeps it alive. So, if the stars and planets and their positions in this body change, humans, as a cog in the same machine, also have a change occur to them.
Physical explanations of this are attributed to: magnetism - defined as any change in energy - gravity, and even quantum mechanics. I mean, quantum entanglement was recently proven, whereby two electrons, seemingly completely unrelated to each other, each in a different space and time, can completely change the behavior of one another (I’m being extremely simplistic here). So, if we take such ideas into account, we might see how astrologers may believe that distant, huge objects in space could be the causes of their bad day at work
What is “Retrograde”?
Retrograde motion as observed from Earth. Multiple images of a planet are taken over the months, showing its changing position.
A planet’s regular motion when observed from Earth is known as Prograde motion. This refers to its "forward” motion along its orbit that we can see from west to east over time. You see that loop there in the image? That represents what is known as Retrograde motion; east to west. This happens when either the Earth passes a planet in its orbit, or the planet passes Earth (in the case of Mercury and Venus, with smaller orbits). Retrograde begins when Earth and another planet are lined up on the same point from the sun.
In fact, retrograde motion was a driving force behind Copernicus’s heliocentric model of our solar system, as he proved, for the first time, that all the planets do, in fact, orbit the sun. It is all just due to the orbits of the planets, nothing too magical there! Though it can be hard to imagine, it could be likened to running past someone who was previously in front of you in a race. When you run past them, they look to be moving backward, even though you are still both in forward motion, you are just faster (or vice versa). In this case, Mercury “overtakes” us. So, when they say Mercury is in retrograde, that means we begin observing its motion “going back” from its original path. This happens multiple times a year because of the little planet’s short orbital time of just 88 days to circle the Sun.
How Mercury’s orbit creates apparent retrograde motion.
What has Mercury got to do with this?
In astrology, Mercury’s influence is attributed to its namesake in Roman mythology; the messenger god. This, in turn, means that it controls our communication, transportation, and overall intellectual experiences. If we observe the planet to be “moving backward”, this is perceived as a bad sign when it comes to these areas in our lives. This is, of course, backed by the aforementioned connections between humans and the motions of the celestial bodies in the sky. Overall, if Mercury is in retrograde, astrologers advise that you keep your wits about you and tie up any loose ends before it returns to its forward motion as usual. Or else.
Is it really a thing?
All this reminds me of when we’d learn about how the ancient Egyptians perceived any flood as the goddess isis being angry with them. We now know of many other reasons for the flooding of the Nile. To an astronomer, it all seems a little far-fetched to attribute planetary motion and how we observe it from Earth, to be the reason HR wasn’t happy with that joke you told your coworker the other day. People have bad days, and I feel that is more of a consequence of chance or past actions, than the definite orbit of a planet around the Sun.
One thing that might convince me otherwise is the butterfly effect. It’s attributed to a mathematical branch known as the chaos theory. The classic “If a butterfly flaps its wings in China, it can cause a storm in Texas”. Basically, it suggests that no matter how random an event might seem, it could have been caused by something ever so tiny, and seemingly unrelated.
Nevertheless, you’ll probably only find me blaming Mercury for my bad day if it tries to replace the moon and gets too close for comfort. Suffice it to say, there is zero scientific evidence for any planet’s retrograde motion having an influence on our behavior.
But hey, whatever may be the cause of your bad days, if you want to blame it on Mercury, go ahead. Unless it stops you, of course.
Thanks to Miranda for the topic recommendation!