Sometimes, life seems to be at a standstill. This might be one of those times. Currently, five planets are in retrograde. They appear to be moving backwards. This is an optical illusion. Planets don’t actually move backwards. If your life appears to be slogging along, that is an illusion, too. There really is no time. Time itself is an illusion. But illusions are convincing, and our entire existence depends on them. What you’re feeling is likely convincing and real. That’s okay. You’re probably not alone.

Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto all appear to be moving backwards. The most significant of these are Mercury and Mars. These two cycles are overlapping, and that is rare. It’s rare because Mars turns retrograde only every two years. And its correlation with Mercury retrograde enhances all this retrograde energy that saturates the air. Some things get stuck during retrograde cycles while others actually begin to move. It all depends on what it is.

But at the moment, both Mercury and Mars have just recently changed direction, that is, moved from forward to backward motion. And when that happens, things often feel stagnant and possibly frustrating. Mercury relates to communication and commerce while Mars deals with passion and willpower. Mercury is in Taurus and Mars is in Sagittarius. Uncertainty about resources and your personal values are likely. Lost passion and subsequent frustration (and anger) over a lack of perspective or adventure in life are likely too.

The good news? Retrograde periods are moments of revision and an opportunity to do things differently. They open new realities and worlds to us. But there’s always a transition. We are at such a time. Use this time to pause and step back. Take a break from how you typically approach what it is that’s not doing what you want it to. And over the next few weeks, you’ll find that a new approach is emerging if you are open to it.

For Mars, you are building up some momentum that will carry you far. That will relate to something specific in your life. If you know some astrology, look to the house in your natal chart that Mars is currently in. If not, trust your impulses and desires right now (the ones that won’t get you into serious trouble). This is an opportunity to change your life in some drastic way. Think about something you have always wanted. Now is the time, over the next two months, to build the foundation for its attainment. This is powerful magic.

With Mercury, over the next three weeks, tune into your body. Take some time to relax and trust that there aren’t many things in life that can’t wait three weeks. You are on the threshold of a potential breakthrough in many ways. And that is exciting. Make more illusionary time in your life over these three weeks for flexibility and changes of direction.

Keep your mind open to new perceptions regarding your body and the natural world around you. The universe will give you extra time for whatever you feel you don’t have time for. Get it? Good. Trust it. I’ll leave you with a quote from Lewis Hyde, author of Trickster Makes This World, “the agile mind is pleased to find what it was not looking for.”