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Mercury Retrograde is coming! Here's a Q&A with a Vedic astrologer to help ease us in
Attention, astrology enthusiasts!
Mercury Retrograde is coming on April 21. Before you spiral down the path of doom and gloom, perhaps it's best for us clarify first what that really means. Is it as ominous as what we usually hear from alarmists in our social media feeds?
According to Essil Gandhi, a Vedic Astrologer and Spiritual Coach from Celessya, an all-female group of spiritual practitioners, "when Mercury goes retrograde, the slowness of things are a lot more apparent. It can manifest in delayed communication that can result in things going awry.”
“Budh (Mercury) retrograde is just one of the moments where we're asked to take things slow and be a lot more careful and mindful about the things that we think, say and do. Since the planet of communication and thinking is affected by the retrograde, we might feel a little bit more impatient which if not addressed, can result in bad decisions that we might regret later on” she adds.
The 33-year-old Essil is a freelance illustrator and a full-time mother to a 6-year-old kid and has certainly benefited from her astrology practice.
“Practicing proper scheduling and time management helps me juggle my practitioner work and other tasks smoothly without it messing up my other responsibilities," she tells GMA News Online.
"This is something that I learned to improve on when I started studying my Vedic chart in depth. Having Gemini-Capricorn placements in my chart does allow me to multitask efficiently and properly strategize my week ahead. My husband helps me manage household duties as well, especially when I have a reading session with my client. My child also understands and respects the nature of my work so she knows when to approach me for questions or ask for help,” she added.
In her practice, she uses “astrology and divination to help guide people who wish to understand who they are by looking at their birth chart to discover their interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships, innate talents and skills, as well as their karmas -most commonly those who are starting on their Spiritual Journey."
Below is our interview with Essil, edited for length and clarity.
How did you start practicing Vedic astrology? Why did you choose this over the more popular western astrology?
As a kid, my mom would always go to horoscopes to get insights for what is about to happen during the day. It's also a common topic in our household since my Indian father's culture gives much importance to Vedic astrology — Indians consult pandits (religious practitioners) everyday for almost every decision they have to make whether it was for finding the most auspicious time to get married, or even naming their newborn! This fascinated me a lot since my love for astronomy and astrology align with the study of the stars.
During the pandemic, I had the opportunity to study the basics of Western astrology. This only opened the doorway to a wider range of discoveries that you can learn from studying the energy of the stars and the planets and how it affects the situation around you, and of course, a deeper discovery about myself.
To give respect to my father's culture and with the support of my practitioner friends, I focused my studies on Vedic astrology. Although I still use the Western system (especially for easing clients into Vedic astrology readings during our session), I found the calling to help people connect with their inner self through Vedic astrology.
What is the difference of Vedic astrology from western astrology?
For the uninitiated, Vedic astrology is similar to the more popular western astrology in terms of using birth charts and having 12 signs. The main difference lies on the dates.
Western astrology uses the tropical calendar which has the four seasons, whereas Vedic astrology observes constellations. Let’s say you were born on February 23. In Western astrology, your sign is Pisces. In Vedic astrology, you are considered an Aquarian as the dates inclusive of this sign in Vedic calendar is from February 12 to March 12.
On a surface level comparison, since Vedic astrology is an ancient practice, the existence of the trans-Saturnian planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are not considered and they differ in degrees.
But in a Spiritual sense, Vedic astrology offers a much more deeper insight on a person's energies and aspects. It focuses on your karma and personal life path or dharma. It also has a different approach in retrogrades, sun signs, and rising signs.
Planetary aspects in Vedic astrology (this is something that I have learned and observed during my client sessions) are closely related to the person's Being and what their inner struggles are as a person and how their environment affects the manner of how a person thinks, decides, and feel that shapes them through everyday experiences.
For me, Western astrology is a lot more rational and external, offering insights on how the general energy is affecting the situations that you're faced with. Vedic is internal and a lot closer to our psyche.
But aside from it being one of the ancient methods of studying planetary energies and originating from India, Vedic astrology isn't that much different from its Western counterpart.
How can people benefit from Vedic astrology?
Learning about your Vedic astrology can help you understand why you react, think, feel a certain way when faced with a situation.
It can help you understand what areas of yourself you can improve on as energies also mature just like how we age. By learning your planetary aspects, you can easily see how your actions can affect your karma and how it can shift and change your manifestations and goals moving forward. This is also helpful for people who wish to do self-improvement but cannot pinpoint where they need to start. By learning about who you are to the very base of your energies, you can easily identify which part of your energy will be more beneficial to aspect in certain situations that could lead to a more beneficial result.
Knowing about your Vedic chart not only deepens your understanding with Self, but also your understanding of other people. I believe once you dive into astrology, it's addicting in a way that you'll start to understand other people's aspects as well. This helps create a much more peaceful and empathetic environment for you to grow and improve in.
Mercury Retrograde is coming. What does it mean in Vedic astrology?
Budh (Mercury in Vedic term) retrograde in Vedic astrology starts on April 21 at 4:34 pm and will end on May 14 — similar to what western astrologers say.
Pre-shadow and post-shadow effects of the retrograde may still be felt a week before and after the retrograde period.
To give clarification on what a retrograde is — grounding it in a scientific perspective — when we look at the motion of the retrograde planet in astronomy, they seem to move backwards rather than forward compared to the motion of the Earth.
In astrology, how this motion affects us is that the energy of the planet in retrograde just moves a lot slower than what we are used to. Budh (Mercury) is known to be a fast moving planet. It is the planet of communication, intelligence, strategy, and is also related to technology which requires a fast and immediate transport from point A to point B. When Mercury goes retrograde, the slowness of things are a lot more apparent. It can manifest in delayed communication that can result in things going awry.
How do we shield ourselves from the negative effects of mercury retrograde?
In a much deeper sense, planetary retrogrades are something that we cannot control but we can work with. Retrograde season is a call for us to look inward just like the motion of the planet compared to Earth.
Budh (Mercury) retrograde is just one of the moments where we're asked to take things slow and be a lot more careful and mindful about the things that we think, say and do. Since the planet of communication and thinking is affected by the retrograde, we might feel a little bit more impatient which if not addressed, can result in bad decisions that we might regret later on.
Since we already know when the retrograde season will be, it is best to finish all contracts and dues before retrograde starts to avoid communication delays. Take this period to do self-reflection and mindfulness exercises to ease the mental stress and worries that the period may bring. This is the best time to work on things that can help you practice patience and focus on more physical activities and errands to redirect the frustrating energies during this time.
What is the best advice you can give for people who are not familiar or new to Vedic astrology?
The best advice I can give to people who are not familiar with Vedic astrology, is to have an open mind and the willingness to learn and explore. People usually get scared or deny outright when their Vedic zodiac sign differs from what they're used to (modern astrologers, especially those we see in the media use Western astrology) but when we look deeper into what qualities that sign has on a personal level, it just hits differently. If you wish to understand more about yourself and uncover aspects for improvement and healing, Vedic astrology can offer Spiritual and self-improvement remedies that you can practice with mindfulness. Vedic astrology can help you uncover your unique talents and skills that resonate more to what gives you holistic fulfillment. Healing starts within you and knowing what your aspects are can help guide you live a more peaceful and happier life. — LA, GMA Integrated News
