When does Mercury retrograde actually start?
Apparently, the definition of Mercury’s shadow has shifted a bit. It used to mean the period after Mercury went direct until it reached the point it made its original station. In other words, let’s say Mercury goes retrograde at 15 Virgo, then “goes backwards, until it reaches 5 Virgo, then goes direct. Some astrologers would then say that Mercury is still considered to be retrograde, or the effects of Mercury retrograde continue until it reaches 15 Virgo. That is the shadow period. Your definition puts the period of the effects prior to its actual station. Now if we accept either definition or include both, this would put Mercury Rx at as much as 6 weeks at a time or maybe longer, and if Merc goes Rx 3 times per year, it would mean something like 18 or more of 52 weeks has Mercury retrograde. I’ve never been able to accept this. It seems like a way to increase the time period so we have a longer time to “blame” Mercury Rx for things that go wrong. Stations, on the other hand are very
