The Cosmic Career Coach

Dear Cosmic Career Coach,

I've heard that the so-called "Mercury retrograde" is bad for getting work done. Surely some people get work done under this planetary influence. When is the next Mercury retrograde, and how will I be impacted? I'm a Gemini and I work in Web design.

—Curious in Cincinnati

Dear Curious,

Happy birthday, Gemini. Here's the scoop: Mercury retrogrades are the cosmic equivalent of a huge traffic jam encountered on the way to your first date with the hottest person you've ever met—on the one day you happened to leave your cell phone at home. You can kick and scream and give up, or holler into the parking lot around you and see if another commuter can share their cell phone.

Mercury retrograde periods typically happen three times a year. During a retrograde, the planet Mercury is literally moving backward slightly or only hovering in place. Translation: The planet of communications is treading water. What this means is that Mercury-related industries (media, computing, publishing, telecom, teaching, translation and writing-related endeavors) are prone to hiccoughs. Activities that are Mercury-related are prone to glitches: Cell phones malfunction, travel schedules hit snags, electronics break down, e-mails and packages don't arrive on time, and car or computer troubles—especially electrical troubles—frequently surface.

During 2008, Mercury went retrograde from January 28 to February 19. It goes retrograde again from May 26 to June 19 and September 24 to October 15.

On the work front, avoid signing or inking new contracts, wait to make hires or to accept a promotion, and don't buy new tech equipment. If you're in a business where writing, presentations or computing are important, double-check your material for errors. Double-check your Web design work. Allow time for travel delays, too. Mercury retrogrades do have benefits: They offer time to pause and reflect, or to revise and edit past plans or communications. Revisiting the past can be productive during this time.

Hot Careers for Gemini

• Education
• Law
• Psychology

Dear Cosmic Career Coach,

I'm 28 and, unlike many of my friends, I don't want to talk non-stop about my career. I like my work as a paralegal and may even get a law degree part-time. But unlike many of my peers, I'm getting married this year and have had trouble in my extended family. This has given me more perspective and made me less absorbed with work—and I'm not so sure I want to get all caught up again in work like some of my friends seem to be. Frankly, they're starting to bore me. I'm a Libra. Am I mature or am I missing something?

—Loco in Los Angeles

Dear Loco Libra,

How Libran of you to seek life balance. There's a time in life to identify with music videos on YouTube, a time to think you rock your entry-level job, and a time to run on auto-pilot at work because you've got Stuff Going On. You, sage one, understand that. But since your peers haven't gone through what you have, they're a few grades behind in the elementary school that is Life in Your 20s.

You're also approaching what astrology calls the "Saturn return." The short version is that Saturn is located very far out in space and it takes the planet roughly 29 years to revisit the spot it occupied at the moment you were born. As the planet of authority, obstacles and life lessons, Saturn's return either rewards you or re-routes you. You're getting rewards, it seems.

Getting married and mulling grad school are "Saturn" decisions—gestures that further solidify who you are as an authority and adult. It sounds to this astrologer that Saturn is already doing his thing by stirring up discomfort between you and self-absorbed peers who can't see the big picture. This astrologer suggests you flout that famous Libran diplomacy and play busy until your wedding, and cross your fingers that some of them will grow in the next year or two, possibly going through their own Saturn returns. If they don't grow up, gently set them—and yourself—free. By the way, yes, you're more mature than they are.

Hot Careers for Libra

• Human Resources
• Interior Design
• Teaching

About Jane Hodges, The Cosmic Career Coach Jane Hodges is a Seattle-based business writer. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, The Seattle Times, Seattle Magazine and many other publications. When she's not reporting on real estate or big business, she writes the "Seeing Stars" astrology column for Southwest Airlines' magazine, Spirit. She is also the author of Cosmic Grooves, a music and astrology book series (Chronicle Books/Rhino Records, 2001).