Stop Blaming Mercury

We can fight racism while discouraging victim mentality.

Jeffrey Kass
ZORA
Published in
4 min readNov 30, 2023

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View of planet Mercury from space. Space, nebula and planet Mercury. This image elements furnished by NASA.
Image: Shutterstock/Buradaki

Ever since I moved to Colorado in 2011, I’ve heard an uninterrupted chorus of people who claim that they experience more conflict when the planet Mercury is in what’s called retrograde.

This year, Mercury is in retrograde for a month starting December 2, 2023.

It’s when the planet closest to the sun appears to move backward in its orbit.

Scientifically, though, it doesn’t. Mercury just looks like it’s retrograde because of its position relative to Earth. Spoiler Alert: It isn’t moving backward.

On a date in Boulder, Colorado in 2013, a woman explained that Neptune, which doesn’t get the same popular press as Mercury, can impact our mood. I googled it. She wasn’t making it up.

I’ve even heard someone say that Saturn, along with the moon, can cause depression.

I’m no expert on astrology or planet alignment.

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Jeffrey Kass
ZORA
Writer for

A Medium Top Writer on Racism, Diversity, Education, History and Parenting | Speaker | Award-Winning Author | Latest Book: Black Batwoman V. White Jesus | Dad