Sign It Now, Get It Checked and Back It Up by September 14th!
By Judi Vitale

It's time to prepare for Mercury Retrograde* -- that unpredictable time when the only thing we know we can count on is Murphy's Law. Beginning on September 14th, lots of things can go wrong and slow us down -broken elevators; traffic jams; newscasters fumbling on their words; crashing computers; broken-down cars or getting lost on your way to a meeting that's just around the corner. Since Mercury's job is to foster communication and connections, while he's retrograde, he might as well be on vacation! Since you're not on vacation, getting messages (and yourself) from one place to the other in the form you intend will be complicated. It pays to be prepared. In general, make sure your car (if you own one) is in working order, back up your computer files, and ensure that contracts and agreements are signed before the retrograde period begins. If you get ready for it, there's no need to worry. In fact, it can be a perfect time period for enhancing your life - it's all spelled out for you and your sign in our other article, "How You'll Cope with Mercury Retrograde".

Although it's a pretty big thing, Mercury Retrograde isn't the only planetary factor at work during this time period. For starters, the Sun and Mars are both in the hard working sign of Virgo, probably making you feel pretty enthusiastic about kicking off your summer sandals and slipping into those brand new fall shoes, and you'll be ready to be more efficient, reliable and productive. By now, you probably have a few pet projects you want to work on, or some goals that have been identified for you. If not, then try clearing that pile of paper off your desk - you'll be surprised how inspired you get by the time you make it all the way down to the bottom of your "in" box!

Once you've identified what you want to work on, you can give your project an extra boost by beginning your work on or around September 6th , the New Moon. This New Moon in Virgo carries more of the "hard working/clean living" energy you're already enjoying. On top of that, the way the other planets are configured around the New Moon fosters metamorphoses and personal growth. Virtually anything you do that requires organization, discipline or self-improvement will work like a charm now. On the whole, we'll also feel more like doing things for people - our sense of duty grows. We'll probably be clamoring to serve institutions ranging from our family and friends to our business, our country and the world.

It's possible, with the anniversary of 9/11 upon us, that our sense of service and need to be dutiful could be directed toward those who suffered most from the terrible losses of that day. This year, 9/11 is marked by a connection between Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter expands whatever it comes into contact with, and Neptune deals with idealism, spirituality and attempts to escape from reality. Humanitarianism is one way that this could be expressed, and the other way is an exaggerated combination of optimism and idealism. People will gamble on odds that would seem ridiculous to them at almost any other time. The possibility of losing just won't occur to them. This could cause a country (or investors) to engage in the kinds of enterprises that look perfect on the surface, but later turn out to be big losers. Of course, it's also possible that people and nations will get carried away with their causes.

On the personal level, we need to scrutinize any proposal that seems to be too good to be true, because it probably is! Get used to taking these precautions, because the Jupiter-Neptune influence will hang around for the next several months. It's exact now, and it will be again in February and June of 2003. During this entire time, we'll all want to focus our idealistic energy on projects that make positive differences for ourselves - and the world. We have to. We're depending on each other.

* Retrograde motion is an optical illusion that makes it seem like a planet is moving backwards through the zodiac. Retrograde planets sometimes have confounding effects.

NEXT TIME: THE TRUE MEANING OF FALL: LOOKING BACK