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Home » Gaining some Perspective on Retrogrades : 2023 retrogrades

Gaining some Perspective on Retrogrades : 2023 retrogrades

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We’ve all seen the memes and heard others point to retrogrades turning their world inside-out, especially when Mercury or Mars is involved. 

I personally don’t experience these things. When my world turns inside out the reason is generally because of something I have ignored or a choice I have made. I fully believe the energy of the planets affects us and I feel that, but retrograde is more an illusion of perspective than an actual physical change of a planet’s rotation. The planet doesn’t literally start rotating in the other direction, it just appears that way due our perspective of it from earth. 

Retrograde an Illusion?

So if retrograde is an illusion, a trick of perspective, why do people get all wound up about it? I think there are three reasons at play and they are interconnected.

Let’s start with the most obvious and most likely in my opinion: This illusion of reversal brings the energy of that planet to the forefront of our subconscious especially if you are tracking their movement or hearing about them. Therefore anything within that energy that we have not dealt with or have been suppressing comes to the forefront and forces us to confront it. This is why frequent shadow work and reflective periods should be a staple in every practice in my opinion. By doing this you reduce the negative effects experienced during these periods of time. 

Then we have the energy of the planet itself to consider. Yes, the event itself is an illusion due to perspective – but most of life is an illusion of perspective if you think about it. It is our perspective that shapes our view of the world around us and events within it. So even though the act of the planet spinning backwards isn’t real, our perspective is creating that reality, thus we are feeling the reversal of  that energy. It is part of being a creator being, and this is more so for those tapped into their own energy and Web the way witches and spiritually oriented people are. 

Group Think

Lastly, group think. This actually has two components to it. The first is the easy one to see – A group of people start sharing their horrible experiences during a retrograde, and it gets those types of experiences to really stand out for others reading it. They start looking for them both in a conscious and unconscious way in their own lives. Those experiences take a forefront in their mind so when they encounter them they become much more prominent in their life then if they were oblivious to the retrograde. The problem with this is that these types of experiences happen all the time in our lives. Many times just seen as learning experiences and just a part of life, but the knowledge of the retrograde kicks it up to another level. 

Which brings us to the second component of group think – honesty and taking responsibility. Many people want other things to blame besides themselves when something goes wrong. They want the fault to lie somewhere else, and the group has already given them that by saying “it is all the retrograde”.  So instead of looking at the situation with honest objectivity and accepting the role they have played in that, they push it off as the retrograde we are in. I see this all the time, so I know others do too.

This type of action is one of the biggest disservices to ourselves though. First we are creating a lie within ourselves, which in turn covers the true problem we need to confront and fix. This allows that problem to become a recurring cycle in our lives, instead of a lesson we grow from. It’s not fun to see our own faults, to understand we play a role in our own problems, especially in today’s society where blaming others has become so accepted.

If we do this though, we do not grow and will not break the cycles that make us miserable. In most cases, even in situations we did not create, we do play a role in perpetuating it, whether by thoughts, actions, or words. To break the cycle we have to take an honest look inward, identify it, learn from it, and make an effort to not repeat it. Again, another piece of shadow work. 

So now that we have a clearer view as to what aspects are at play – what do we do with that?

How to use this information

This is my suggestion : Being aware of the retrogrades is not a bad thing, and you can actually use it to your advantage. Like I said, even though it is an illusion of the planet, it doesn’t mean the energy itself isn’t real. One idea is to time shadow work through these times. Use the retrograde to bring to the surface your own inner shadow, that which you have pushed down and suppressed.

Confront the aspects of yourself that correspond to the energy of that planet. Dive deep into them, analyze them, find what is holding you back or creating those bad cycles within your life, and start making changes to break them. Retrogrades are generally a long period of time, and it takes time to break a habit – use it to your advantage.

When situations come to the surface during a retrograde, take a breath and go inward before speaking or acting. Why is this happening now? Is it a recurring issue in your life? How do you normally respond to this? What is the general outcome? How can you alter the outcome through a new action? You may choose a new action that makes it worse then the old action, but that is ok.

We are not perfect beings, sometimes we have to make a lot of mistakes before we find the correct answer. Keep trying. Be honest with yourself, be compassionate with yourself, and know transformation does not occur without some storms.

I really enjoyed this article 2023 Retrogrades: A Witch’s Guide for Reflection BY CHARLOTTE WILDE  In it she goes through and lists all the retrogrades of 2023 and her views on these times as well. So I highly suggest checking it out. Find out when each retrograde is going to happen, the energies of that planter, and start planning for them. Know the most likely things to come up or what you need to work on during those times. Be aware of those energies at play in order to recognize them for what they are – an opportunity to break cycles, grow, and transform.