I’m writing this month’s Dean’s update under two popular “no-no”s in the astrology world. The Moon is Void until later today AND Mercury is moving retrograde at 19°40 Cancer, just opposite my own Capricorn 11th house Mercury at 20°15’. By the time our newsletter is finished and published, probably Mercury will have slowed down to prepare to station direct. 

With the Moon Void of Course, I wonder, will my words have any effect? Any impact at all? Let me see if I can share some “food for thought.” I hope I will encourage some of our FCEA family to see the power and beauty of an evolutionary perspective to such a “do nothing” time. After all, we so often hear about periods of a Void Moon (a Moon no longer making major aspects until it changes sign) or the dreaded Mercury retrograde as times of fruitless efforts and stalled communication. “Time to do the laundry!” is the common refrain. Don’t bother making plans and, well, travel will be a nightmare! Or will it be?

Most of our FCEA family already know that it is pointless to put too much of a predictive spin on either phenomenon. For instance, in The Book of the Moon, we learn that the time of the Void of Course Moon is actually useful for completing things in which we hope “nothing will come of the matter.” So, certainly, the period is good for some things. And then we consider that writing an article under a Void of Course Moon is ok, because it is not put into action through publication just yet. So, I think I am clear here. But let’s dive deeper into Mercury retrograde, the one with a notably bad reputation.

First, we all know Mercury is the trickster and often the planet throws us a curveball just when we think our day-to-day routines and reliable devices, such as our phones, computers, and calendars, are working fine. The current Mercury retrograde period in mid-July, for example, has been rough on our FCEA staff when our email server started bouncing back all the emails we made or replied to from our staff FCEA accounts to non-FCEA accounts. How frustrating! Steven even noted that Mercury is opposing the school’s Pluto, Saturn and south node as I write too! What do we always say? You just can’t make this stuff up.

We all wish to thank you, our students, members and community, for your patience when it took some time to fix the dilemma. Tricky Mercury mischief indeed! 

Most of all, I want to thank our phenomenal staff: Carlos Velazquez, our web systems administrator and technical support guy, for his prompt attention to help us get back and running with email efficiency. Paula Wansley, our business manager, is also a tech wizard – and she was most helpful and responsive. And our communications coordinator and registrar (also FCEA teacher and tutor!) Penelope Love was so supportive as we maneuvered through Mercury’s mayhem. Well done, our beloved FCEA team! We are so proud and grateful for our talented staff.

Of course, Mercury retrograde can bring us so much more than crazy chaos. It is a meaningful chance to apply all our “re” words into careful meditation: “re”view, “re”evaluate, “re”consider, you name it. But I am preaching to the choir. As evolutionary astrologers, we know this. The best use of our skillset is to pose questions, using perhaps the greatest of all “re” verbs, to reflect. No need to assume our letter definitely won’t be delivered, our words will be misconstrued or our travels delayed. 

Case in point: my new husband, Eric, and I just returned from a fabulous honeymoon cruise down the Rhine River in Germany, France and Switzerland. Our voyage started within hours after Mercury stationed to turn retrograde. What kind of astrologer would choose that date to leave on a romantic long trip abroad? But, au contraire, a simple look at our natal charts said “yes.” A Cancer moment of deep bonding and building communication between the two of us seemed to say to me, this date works just fine. And nothing “bad” occurred – no missed flight, no lost luggage, no disasters at sea. Nada.

Don’t take me wrong. Mercury retrograde is a real phenomenon. But we need not obsess over what could go wrong or, worse yet, avoid what possible door or pathway the universe is offering to us. Again, I am telling most of you what you already know. That’s why you love Steven Forrest’s methods and the particular brand of astrology we practice. Remember the Moon is Void of Course as I write. Hopefully, however, sharing this brief “re”flection “re”inforces the fundamental difference we all strive to capture in our work as evolutionary astrologers: Life is about potential and growth, not the crystal ball of prediction.

Catie Cadge, PhD
July 2026