different character and meaning. Taking one without the others means missing some of the most important pieces of the puzzle. These three phases are 1) the pre-retrograde phase – called Entering the Shadow 2) the Retrograde Phase and 3) the post-retrograde phase – called Exiting the Shadow. Part one is like when Zorro draws the first part of his signature Z. It begins when the planet hits the degree it will return to at the very end of Retrograde. During the Retrograde time the planet appears to move backwards – all the way to the same degree where it began. This resembles the second / slash that Zorro draws with his blade when making his signature as it returns to the same level that the Z began at. Finally the planet changes directions again and makes it’s final pass across the same degrees that it has crossed twice already – first when entering the shadow, then in retrograde, and now finally as it is exiting the shadow. And this resembles Zorro’s final sword stroke as he finishes off the last flourish of the Z and moves on to new things.
To illustrate what happens during a Mercury Retrograde cycle, just imagine that our Hero Zorro is out and about, doing what he does when he spies a problem. He quickly get’s into his “superhero” outfit. We can think of this preparation time as entering the Shadow. Then he runs off and fights the bad guys. We can think of this time as Retrograde, because he has come back to a situation in order to fix it. Finally he turns the bad guys over to the authorities and gets back into his street clothes; which we can compare to the phase of leaving the shadow. Job well done! And he moves on to other things.
By understanding this deceptively simple concept we can see how