Haphazardly through the night?

And then I looked to see what the reactions were. As always with Facebook, there was everything from professional to “complete idiot” (anyone who knows Facebook understands that).

The sense

But this hint had a purpose. There is a message behind it, a very important message.

First of all, I am not an astrology expert. Strictly speaking, I have about zero idea about it. However, I have people I can ask. Very important if you have no idea about a topic. More on this below.

However, the Mercury retrograde is an issue for me as a Gemini. Not one that always has to be in the foreground, sometimes I only analyze the effect of this phenomenon in retrospect. And then I bite my ass. Because it would have made more sense to do it beforehand.

Roughly speaking, Mercury retrograde ensures that business matters run much more slowly than usual. In such phases, concluded contracts are terminated, bookings are canceled, new bookings are made more difficult and overall business is slower than usual.

When you hit a phase like this without warning, it is extremely annoying and exhausting. Especially if you are planning marketing campaigns or major business transactions during this time. More things go wrong than usual and you have to invest a lot more energy, time and nerves.

Now, of course, you can dismiss this as a crazy idea and just get on with it. You don’t have to be like that, after all, life is not a pony farm and if you have set yourself goals, then you will achieve them. With force if necessary.

Sure, it works, but it’s really exhausting. It has to be easier somehow.

An example

Imagine you had to cross a stretch of land. A very wild stretch of land, somewhere in the outback. You are a hiker in an area where not many people live, far away from civilization.

There are no real paths, only trails. They are quite winding and never really visible, there don’t seem to be any signposts. Between you and your destination there are several rivers, lots of forest, gorges, mountains and swamps.

A real wilderness, just like you would find as a lonely hiker, far away from civilization. You are now at your starting point and have to get through it. You can already see your destination in the distance, but you can’t yet see the way there. The forest is too dense for that.

Then you go off, because it doesn’t help, you have to get through one way or another. So you take the direct route and head into the wilderness. With a machete in your hand, you make your way through the forest, wading through the first swamp, which is really exhausting, as you know if you’ve ever waded through a swamp.

Then comes the first river, phew, quite a lot of current. But you conquer it and reach the other shore. Proud of your performance, but soaked to the skin and completely out of breath. After a short rest we continue, now we come to a few mountains and gorges, quite a slog, but you’ll get through them too.

And so it goes on, with one or two more rivers to come, all with lots of water and currents. A few swamps and forest everywhere. Lots of forest. But you can do it, you’ll get there. Completely at the end of your tether, but you got through, that’s what counts!

Is that really all? Another hiker arrives shortly after you and he is not out of breath at all. He looks as if he’s just gone for a little walk, he smiles at you and wonders why you’re so exhausted.

What did the second hiker do differently? He came from the same starting point, does he have more stamina? No, he has a card. Simple solution, he has a map of the area and not only a spatial one, but also a temporal one.

What you didn’t know was where you could cross the rivers most easily and where the paths in the forest and through the swamps were. And also when the water level would be high and when it would be low. The second hiker knew when and where it was easiest to get through.

It’s as simple as that. The example is far-fetched? No, it is not. Have you ever traveled by car in Costa Rica? No, then do that. It can happen that you follow the Google navigation and suddenly find yourself in front of a river that you have to drive through because there is no bridge. This is not uncommon in Costa Rica, in some areas it is even the rule.

If you have no idea whether it’s the dry season or the rainy season, you might look pretty stupid and have to turn around again. Or drown your car in the river. And yes, that also happens there from time to time. Especially for those who don’t know the difference between the dry and rainy seasons or who want to go through the wall with their heads.

Mercury retrograde

And it’s just as simple in life, because that also knows cards like this.

Mercury is such a card, or part of it. And a temporal one at that. If it is retrograde, you know that the river in front of you is in flood. Sure, you can still get through, but you’ll be extremely out of breath afterwards and risk your head and neck.

You could also simply wait until the water level returns to normal and then wade through in a relaxed manner. You can use the time until then for something else. You can rest, make new plans, fish or simply stare holes in the air.

And that’s exactly my point with this example. Having goals, defining them and then pursuing them is one thing. A very important one, of course, because without clear goals and a clear decision to achieve them, you won’t set off in the first place.

The cards of life

But it is just as important to have a map. And there are plenty of tickets. Western astrology is just one of them. There is also the Asian equivalent and even a strategy technique called Quimen Dunjia. I dealt with this many years ago. Extremely informative. And there are plenty of other ways to analyze and refine your personality, your strengths, your strategies and the appropriate time slots.

The annual festivals, or the stations in the annual cycle, are also such a map. Incidentally, one for which I offer active guidance, see Annual Circle.

But there are also geographical maps in life, as some projects are easier to implement in other places. Which is why I left Germany, for example, and many other people change their place of residence to suit their goals. This is not “running away”, this is following a geographical map with the aim of finding the best conditions.

There are political cards, for some projects it just makes sense to turn your back on a burgeoning socialism or to avoid drastic social rules or too much surveillance and control. Or a society that is not optimal for your own growth because it pursues different goals than you do. Or because she no longer pursues any goals and gets angry when you do.

In addition to the maps, there are even guides that you can hire to help you get to your destination. People like me, for example, shamans and coaches. But you can also ask advisors of all kinds. For example, how I have people I can ask about astrology. Or who can give me legal advice or know where I can stay and for how long in order to remain tax-free.

So what to do?

Use the cards! Use all the cards you can get. And there is also a very important card, namely your gut feeling. Or your heart, however you want to define it. This is another card that works well in combination with the other cards. The important key word is “in combination”. Gut feeling without cards is just as stupid as cards without gut feeling. You can learn that too, a large part of my work revolves around exactly that.

Don’t discard half the cards just because you think they’re garbage. It’s not a map, really not a map at all. A card is a card and the cards of life are all correct. The only decision you have to make is whether to use them or not.

Then you will realize that for everything, really everything in your life, there are times, places and approaches that are more favorable than others. And then you can use your life energy more efficiently than before. Nobody is forcing you to do it, you can also do it like the first hiker in the example and conquer everything by force. You can also squat. Not all cards are always suitable for all of us. Finding out requires a bit of detective work and again the use of maps and helpers. You can do all this, try it out or leave it.

You always bear the consequences yourself anyway.

What not to do under any circumstances?

Staying in place. In the example above, both hikers have reached their destination. One with effort, the other seemingly effortlessly, but they both arrived because they both set off.

If you want to lose no matter what, then stay on your couch and wait. It could be that the target comes closer on its own or someone feeds you. It’s never worked before, but who knows …

You can always say afterwards: “I spent a lot of time on the couch”. Maybe that will be a mitigating factor when you realize you’ve wasted your life. It doesn’t help if you tell yourself that you’re fine and that the universe will always take care of you.

Sure, it does. By giving you the opportunity to act!