I read on another forum that Mercury is in retrograde this year. Do you take things like that into account when working with the planets or it does not matter?
Mercury goes retrograde 3 or 4 times a year, for example, in 2016:
January 5 - January 25, 2016 starts in Aquarius, ends in earth Capricorn
April 28 - May 22, 2016 in earth sign Taurus
August 30 - September 22, 2016 in earth sign Virgo
December 19 2016 - January 8, 2017 in earth Capricorn to late degree fire Sagittarius
Source
A few years ago, I took note of when it happened over the course of about 9 months, observed it made no difference to my results, and decided to disregard it.
That decision feels more right and kind of holy (if that makes sense) than allowing my actions to be restricted by this.
JMO. 
My partner has heavily Mercurial energy, and it never seems to affect him.
I guess, if in doubt, do some divination or ask a spirit.
I imagine most don’t take it into account at all.
Even for those who do, Mercury retrograde is a relatively minor thing that happens all the time and is over-hyped. There are far worse things and in fact, when Mercury (or any of the planets) goes retrograde it is actually at its closest point to earth. In eastern astrology a retrograde planet is actually considered stronger because of this.
The most important considerations for planetary magic are whether the moon is in a nice aspect to the planet (and preferably waxing), whether Saturn or Mars are afflicting it by negative aspect, whether the planet is too close to the sun, what sign the planet is in and perhaps most importantly, how it is orientated relative to us - i.e. it should be rising on the horizon or at some other “angular” place where its power seeps into the world actively.
Thus you have rituals calling for the rising sun or at “midnight” which would be apparent astronomical midnight based on the sun, rather than because the clock says 00:00. The same can be done with any of the planets (or degrees of zodiac, stars etc).
[quote=“Lady Eva, post:2, topic:6942”]That decision feels more right and kind of holy (if that makes sense) than allowing my actions to be restricted by this.
JMO. 
My partner has heavily Mercurial energy, and it never seems to affect him.
I guess, if in doubt, do some divination or ask a spirit.[/quote]
Thank you for your input, Eva. I totally agree with what you said above. I don’t believe humans are limited by such things either, I was just curious if people who use the planet energies take that into account.
I’m still new to Planetary Magick, but neither of the books I own, “Planetary Magic” by Dennings and Phillips and “Advanced Planetary Magic” by Jason Miller, require any knowledge of Astrology. Rather, they seem to suggest the energies are always there, and always useable as long as you observe planetary days and hours. This leads me to believe it’s a non issue.
ETA: IIRC, Jason Miller pooh-poohs the idea that planets in “bad” positions have any effect on magick as long as your preparation and methodology is sound.
I’d disregard the retrogrades if it were not for the fact that planetary positions had affected me and others I have spoken to on separate occasions. Some time ago I was experiencing obstacles with my workings. Thanks to the divinations and information given by two greatly knowledgeable members of this forum, we were able to determine that the culprit was the unwanted influence of certain planetary positions. Armed with this knowledge I was able to work around this problem and make my work more efficient.
In addition to Mercury retrograde, some people experience backlash whenever their natal planet goes into retrograde as well. Thankfully I haven’t had as poor an experience during Mercury retrograde as others that I’ve spoken to, but others have experienced communication breakdowns, technology going on the fritz, more arguments than usual, deliveries or mail getting lost or delayed; the list goes on.
The upside is that the schedules of retrograde periods are completely predictable. If you find yourself among those who are sensitive to Mercury retrograde, make your magical and mundane preparations beforehand to mitigate or prevent backlash.
In addition to Mercury retrograde, some people experience backlash whenever their natal planet goes into retrograde as well. Thankfully I haven’t had as poor an experience during Mercury retrograde as others that I’ve spoken to, but others have experienced communication breakdowns, technology going on the fritz, more arguments than usual, deliveries or mail getting lost or delayed; the list goes on.
I have Mercury retrograde in my sign , and the predictions at least for this month are s…t. I have already enough s…t so what do you advice me to do? thank you
Ignore astrology and go out and be the badass you were meant to be.
[quote=“cristinica, post:7, topic:6942”]In addition to Mercury retrograde, some people experience backlash whenever their natal planet goes into retrograde as well. Thankfully I haven’t had as poor an experience during Mercury retrograde as others that I’ve spoken to, but others have experienced communication breakdowns, technology going on the fritz, more arguments than usual, deliveries or mail getting lost or delayed; the list goes on.
I have Mercury retrograde in my sign , and the predictions at least for this month are s…t. I have already enough s…t so what do you advice me to do? thank you[/quote]
The people on the other board said this would be a good time to work with the SUN.
Also found this:
[url=http://jesscarlson.com/beat-mercury-retrograde-candle-magic/]http://jesscarlson.com/beat-mercury-retrograde-candle-magic/[/url]