Mercury Retrograde Tarot Spread and Tips for Success by Psychic Spring

Surviving Mercury Retrograde takes a bit of preparation and courage. No matter how comfortable we were beforehand, each Mercury Retrograde season brings the energy of transformation into our lives. That is why we have prepared the perfect Mercury Retrograde Tarot spread to aid with this time of deep reflections, and help you handle the occasional setback.  

The energy of Mercury retrogrades causes us to evaluate our romantic relationships, work aspirations, and overall dreams and goals. Most impactfully, it forces us to reconnect on a deeper level to our spiritual nature. This is why working with the Tarot during this time is a powerful way to gain profound guidance during any retrograde.

Curious about which questions you should ask or not ask during your next reading? Join us as we show you how to successfully navigate the energy of Mercury Retrogrades during your next tarot reading. Whether you are conducting the reading yourself or working with one of our talented psychic advisors, gain the right guidance with this Mercury Retrograde tarot spread tips for success! 

Tips for Managing Mercury Retrogrades

Mercury retrogrades are a time of reflection, rest, and rejuvenation. During any retrograde period, it is important to identify the constellation through which the planet is retrograding (or traveling in a backward orbit). Mercury is the planetary ruler of the third house, which is our house of communication, technology, travel, mental magic, and interpersonal relationships. Each Mercury retrograde shines a bright light into the shadows of these areas in our lives. It helps us to identify how well we have been managing or mismanaging these areas. 

The best way to manage each retrograde is by identifying the following:

• During any retrograde period, it is important to identify the constellation through which the planet is retrograding (or traveling in a backward orbit). The Farmer’s Almanac or another reputable public astrology website should have that information. By knowing which sign the retrograde is occurring through, you can gauge what area more specifically of your life is being highlighted for shadow work. 

For example, if a retrograde is occurring within the sign of Libra, whose primary planetary ruler is Venus, the primordial goddess of love and beauty, this could mean there is a need to evaluate our romantic partnerships, and to determine what you behold as beautiful in yourself as well as a partner or prospective partner.

• Discover what major lunar energy is occurring during the retrograde period. What is the date range of the Mercury retrograde? Once you have this information, look up if there are any full or new moons occurring during this time. Make a note of which sign/s this full moon or new moon occurs in and identify ways in which this may relate to the Mercury retrograde. 

For example, if there is a Pisces Full Moon that falls during the Mercury retrograde period, this could greatly impact the clarity of your dreams. Since Neptune is the planetary ruler for Pisces, who rules the dream realms. The way our dreams communicate to us may be foggy because of Mercury retrograding. 

• Identify and compare which sign the Mercury retrograde is occurring within and match your natal birth chart. You can look up your birth chart by working with one of our experienced astrologers or by researching online. If the retrograde is occurring in a sign that has dominant placements in your natal birth chart, this could mean greater energetic impacts and shifts for you. 

For example, if the Mercury retrograde period is occurring in the sign of Aquarius, and your sun sign is Aquarius, this could mean you have a huge need to review your friendships and use technology such as social media. The same should be considered for all relevant chart placements such as your Moon, Rising, Mercury, Venus, and Mars placements. 

 

Mercury Retrograde Tarot Spread

This tarot spread is simple and easy for anyone to conduct. If you are a personal tarot reader or if you are working with our amazing advisors, you will find this spread gives a lot of information without too many cards. The recommended deck to use (and the deck that is depicted) is the traditional Rider Waite Tarot Deck. However, you can use any tarot or divination card deck you feel most comfortable with using. 

This spread requires seven card placements (positions). Each card position represents an area in your life that the mercury retrograde period is highlighting about a particular circumstance.

There are several ways you can approach using this Mercury Retrograde spread, such as:

• Love. Matters of the heart of essential for repairing during retrograde periods. Especially during Mercury retrogrades, communication in relationships can be temperamental. This spread guides you on how both you and your partner can improve and what is working well for your relationship.
• Business or financial success. Mercury retrogrades are a wonderful time for evaluating our expenses and aspirations for financial growth. In this spread, learn what is working for you, where you can improve, and take notice of any unexpected blessings that are coming in. 
• General inquiry. If you want general advice about a situation that has been contributing stress to your life or, you are just eager about the outcome of a circumstance. This Mercury retrograde spread allows you to see the past, present, and current future potential outcome – nothing is concrete! It also highlights important intuitive messages as well as shadow work guidance. 

Although we are only requiring the use of seven cards for this Mercury retrograde tarot spread, it is recommended you use “clarifying” cards on placements that you need more clarity on. A clarifying card is an additional card pulled from your deck to further explain the intuitive message from another card’s placement. See examples of a clarifying card in the following image. In this case, the reader wanted more information or clarity for the answers to questions 1, 2, and 3.

Instructions: 

For the best results with your Mercury Retrograde tarot spread reading, we suggest that you use the “suggested questions” that we’ll provide in the next section. These suggested questions are tailored to be specific to the card positions for Love, Business and Finance, or General Inquiry readings. 

For general instructions on how to cast this spread, please read along the following steps. 

1. Prepare your space and deck using your preferred blessing methods.
2. Take a few moments of prep by closing your eyes and taking three deep breaths.
3. Decide which type of reading you are conducting Love, Business and Finance, or General Inquiry. Once decided, prepare any specific questions you have.
4. Shuffle your deck and begin pulling the first card for placement one. Leave facing down.
5. Proceed to pull the remaining cards and place them in their positions, leaving them faced down.
6. Once each card is pulled and placed in its position, turn over the first card and begin connecting to the intuitive message you receive from it. Leave it facing up and move on to the second card.
7. Allow each card to reveal a message to you. Once you’ve finished connecting to each card, review the entire spread and see if there is a story being told. Do you notice any synchronicities, numbers, images, or messages being channeled? 
8. Make clear notes in your journal and close the spread. Take pictures of the cards if possible. 

Quick tips for casting this Mercury Retrograde tarot spread:

• Do not spend too much time on one card, if it does not make sense, move on to the next one and return to it later. 
• Remember to leave the cards facing down as you cast your spread to avoid getting distracted from prematurely reading the card placements.
• Know your topic! This spread only works if you have an area in your life or situation to focus on. 
• Not sure what you should ask? Refer to the above section on Tips for Managing Mercury Retrogrades to identify which area in your life you may want to consider. 
• Feel free to interpret your cards either using the reversal meanings or not using them at all, as you see fit for your reading.

Suggested Questions for Mercury Retrograde Tarot Spreads

While you do not have to use the below-suggested questions, these questions were inspired to help you gain the most insight during your tarot readings. Feel free to either use the below as a blueprint for your readings or make edits where you see fit for your circumstances. Note that all questions are formatted as (Q1 – Q7) to match the card placements for the tarot spread.

Mercury Retrograde Tarot Love Reading Questions

Q1 – What is your current energy in the relationship?

Q2 – How is the overall combined energy (positive or negative) in the relationship?

Q3 – What about their current energy in the relationship?

Q4 - How do you positively contribute to the relationship?

Q5 - What you should work on to improve your relationship.

Q6 - What is working very well in the relationship?

Q7 - How can your partner add improvements to your relationship? 

Mercury Retrograde Tarot Business and Finances Reading Questions 

Q1 – What about your past energy? 

Q2 – How is your present (current) energy?

Q3 – What can you expect regarding future energy? 

Q4 - How can you increase your earnings?

Q5 - What needs evaluating in your business or finances? 

Q6 - What is hindering your success and financial growth? 

Q7 – Are there any unforeseen advantages or blessings to expect? 

Mercury Retrograde General Inquiry Reading Questions 

Q1 – What can you learn from the past energy of the event? 

Q2 – What is happening surrounding the present energy of the event?

Q3 – What may you expect with the potential future outcome of the event? 

Q4 - What is working to your benefit about the situation?

Q5 - What do you need to release around the situation?

Q6 – What healing energy is coming to aid with your situation? 

Q7 - What shadow work needs to be conducted around the situation? 

By using the above tarot spread you can well prepare for the big themes the retrograde season brings to our attention. One of the best ways to prepare is to plan a ritual where you can personally connect to this energy. Some of the best rituals that you can conduct during a retrograde period are to:

• Take a spiritual bath or spiritual shower using herbs, salts, essential oils, and fresh flowers. Spiritual baths not only relieve physical tension but also provide a mega boost to our auras for added spiritual protection.
• Get a reiki session performed to best clear and align your chakra channels and ground your energy during this usually confusing period.  
• Schedule an appointment for a personal reading with one of our advisors to center on the ways you can best embrace this momentous energy. 

You are now ready to tackle any Mercury retrograde season with the tips provided today. This is also a time for greater alignment with your higher self. If you are excited about enhancing your spiritual gifts and gaining clarity during this retrograde, try using our Mercury Retrograde Tarot spread or suggested rituals, and let us know how you’ve enjoyed the insight you’ve gained!