Mercury and the Moon

My two favourite astrological events are Mercury retrograde, and Moon void-of-course. Well, when I say they are my favourite, I mean they are ones I actually understand. Astrology as a whole is a little beyond me, other than reading my horoscope in the paper once in a while. Of all the complex concepts in astrology, these 2 are the most commonly known and possibly the easiest to understand.

Mercury Retrograde
Mercury is in retrograde, when (by an optical illusion) it seems to stop its movement across the sky and travel backwards for several days. Then it stops again, and continues on its proper journey. Now, the planet doesn't actually change direction, it only looks that way. Mercury rules mainly over communications, and so when it is in retrograde, you'll find communications fall apart. There will be misunderstandings, arguments and mixed messages. So I suggest during these times, that you be extra careful getting details and being as clear as possible in all your relationships (family, love, or business).

These are the upcoming retrograde periods for Mercury:
December 26, 2009 - January 15, 2010
April 17 - May 11, 2010
August 20 - September 12
December 10 - December 30

Moon Void-of-Course
Another event to cause havoc in your life. Being void-of-course means the period of time between the Moon leaving one house (sign of the zodiac) and entering the next. These periods can last a few minutes, or up to a couple of days. When the Moon is this astrological empty place, things go awry. With Mercury retrograde, it's about communications. When the Moon is void-of-course, it's about everything. All manner of things can (and do) go wrong. Generally speaking, these are the perfect times for you to sit back and do nothing.

There are too many void-of-course times and dates for me to list here. You can find a table of the 2010 Moon locations (organized by month) at AstroProfile.