Thoughts on performing magic during Mercury Retrograde?

[misskatie]

I'm currently taking some Witchcraft classes (based on the Cabot tradition) and have been told by my teacher that performing any magic while Mercury is in retrograde is a bad thing. She tells me that I won't get the results I want, the spell could back fire and I could get opposite results, or the spell could simply not work.

Now...I am pretty new to all of this so I don't feel as though I can really form an opinion yet. Since I am a good student I won't be doing any magical work until after 10/15 but I am interested in others' thoughts and opinions on this.

 

[Nevada]

To me it seems that it would depend on the type of spell or magic involved. I find astrology to be a helpful tool, and let's say I would normally not want to sign a contract under Mercury retrograde, or go to a job interview or write an important letter. But I can also see where there'd be circumstances that couldn't wait until it went direct again. Some things can't be rescheduled that easily, and I wouldn't want to tell a prospective boss I needed to delay my interview until Mercury went direct. The world keeps turning while it's retrograde.

If the spell was simple, and the purpose was also simple and straightforward, nothing that could harm anyone, which I would think most spells should be anyway -- carefully worded so they're harmless -- I'm not sure I'd see the problem. So I'd say it should be done with more care about wording and having one's thoughts in order, and maybe to delay anything that could be tricky. But that's just me speaking from more knowledge of astrology than witchcraft.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I will answer. At least this gives your thread a bump. It's a good question!

Nevada

 

[Gavriela]

Mercury rx is good for internal work, also good for reconciliation for relationships where the communication got all bollixed up - it's a time for fixing and it's a good time to do spells for that, as well as bringing things to light that have got buried under miscommunication or dishonesty - whether it's just yourself, or others are involved.

I don't know Laurie Cabot's trad - all I've practised is Alexandrian/Gardnerian, but in that tradition if you keep your spells away from things like new computers, cars, telephones, etc., you ought to be fine. But your trad may be a completely different deal.