(Reuters)
THE FIFTH COLUMN
Ten-year-olds can be very smart. They’re right in that sweet spot —after early childhood and before adolescence — where clear thought seems to thrive.
“Heat wave should be a season,” the young man said, or something to that effect. I almost knocked over his milkshake I was so taken by the idea. I told him that was a remarkable thing to say. How did he think of it? He didn’t know. We allowed the child to speak, to expand on his idea.
He said, maybe it would work to have, instead of just winter, cold and freezing cold. He went on to propose we did away with spring and autumn, because they were not really seasons, and left it at that. The wind was howling outside (not just howling; it was blowing at gale force).
Now, following the youth’s proposed model, the howling wind would suggest we are currently in the windy season, and not late spring (a season he abolished). Windy season would last until, well, it’s over, after which, presumably, the heat wave will commence and we all know what that means. And when we all know what things mean and when things will happen and exactly how many degrees it will be outside, we all feel safe and that, really, is what appears to be the only way to get through life
Every once in a while, a cosmic phenomenon swings by called Mercury’s retrograde period. I don’t know much about it other than it’s a time when you want to avoid making big decisions (signing contracts and such) and should expect electronic toys such as cellphones to break. In short, a time to live like a 10-year-old. I find Mercury retrograde to be an intensely relaxing time. We honour it religiously in our household, letting our hair down in all matters relating to the bigger picture. I let go. The universe is in charge. We simply don’t know what is going to happen next.
This year, Mercury retrograde lasts from mid-November to early December. Civilisation’s leading authority on the cosmos, the unsurprisingly titled Cosmopolitan magazine, has turned the phenomenon into a verb to help us, presumably, to take corrective action. The magazine’s latest horoscope for Scorpios firmly states: “Mercury retrogrades in your income and security account, so discipline your financial spending just a bit. You’ll need it in December!”
This simply means, from mid-November to early December, we’re all 10-year-old Scorpios without the cash or common sense to make decisions or buy lavish goods. During this period, your best course of action is to take no action at all. Sit tight, lay low, rein it in.
In only one sector, according to the magazine, does Mercury retrograde push into the positive: the friendship sector. Here, the forecast is for “inspiring, heartfelt reunions”. If the relationship was cold — even freezing cold — in the months past, expect it to thaw out as you both let go of what’s been said and done and look towards a future unknown. Retrograde into the now, Cosmo says, for we simply don’t know what’s coming next.