When people talk about Mercury being ‘in retrograde’ what do they mean? And is it a Christian thing?

Astrologers are reporting that Mercury is now “in retrograde” until 15^th September, which they claim means disruptions for communication and travel. But what do Christians believe?

I used to read my star sign when I was a teenager. I would pour over the horoscopes page of Mizz magazine in the hope of finding out if my crush was about to make his move. Then when I was in my 20s – and by this time a fully-baptised Christian – I worked with a journalist who used to write for a women’s TV magazine. She told me that she had been sitting at her desk when someone shouted over at her to throw together the horoscopes for the next edition. So she did – with suitably generic “fortune cookie style” insights into people’s future.

Not all websites and magazines that claim to offer zodiac readings, do so with such a blatant disregard for the practice. When done by astrologers, I understand that there is a teachable system for creating the readings. An element of the astrological that has gained huge traction in recent years is predictions based on when Mercury is “in retrograde”.