{"id":2538,"date":"2016-01-06T23:18:27","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T23:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ohmystars\/?p=2538"},"modified":"2016-01-15T04:27:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T04:27:02","slug":"mercury-retrograde-a-bad-slice-of-%cf%80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ohmystars\/2016\/01\/mercury-retrograde-a-bad-slice-of-%cf%80.html","title":{"rendered":"Mercury Retrograde: A Bad Slice Of \u03a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"beliefnet<\/a>Mercury is now retrograde<\/strong>, bringing with it cluttered thinking and a tendency to grasp at the wrong solution to difficult issues (if you aren’t familiar with the concept, click HERE<\/a> and HERE<\/a> for all the details). This is a time when Mercury-ruled things like packages in the mail and short trips and software updates and agreements can all go unexpectedly wonky. Good ideas can turn out badly, and sometimes bad ideas can gain ground. Like, for instance, that time the Indiana State Legislature tried to re-write how The Universe works.<\/p>\n

Politicians love simple, straightforward facts.<\/strong> Unfortunately, life is too often filled with messy details that don\u2019t fit into a soundbite or a poster. Politicians sometimes respond to this by rounding the uneven corners off of The Truth. And, in one rather famous case, they decided to tell the Universe how to do its job.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll probably recall the concept of \u201cpi\u201d (\u03c0) from High School: it\u2019s the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In other words, if a circle is 1 meter across, it is \u03c0 meters around. \u03c0 itself is what\u2019s called an \u201cirrational number\u201d like \u221a2, for example. Most kids sitting in a classroom get a little nervous at the concept of a \u201cnumber\u201d that is, in fact, a long string of numbers (3.1415926535897932\u2026 and on and on for billions of decimal places with no end).<\/p>\n

So, on January 18th, 1897, with Mercury retrograde in \u201cdon\u2019t tell me what to do\u201d Aquarius, and with Saturn (the traditional ruler of Aquarius\u2026 \u201claying down the law\u201d) conjunct Uranus (the modern ruler of Aquarius\u2026 \u201cthe weirder the better!\u201d)\u2026 the Indiana State Legislature began debate on a bill which defined \u03c0 as exactly 3.2<\/em><\/strong>. That\u2019s all: just plain old 3.2. Finally, a government makes things simpler and easier to use! Too bad that the bill contradicted the Known Universe actually works. Other than that small problem.. great idea guys!<\/p>\n

The original mind behind the bill was a Dr. Edwin J. Goodman<\/strong>, an amateur mathematical enthusiast and physician who had claimed to have discovered the true value of pi\u2026 right down to patenting the idea, so that anyone attempting to use the \u201cmore accurate\u201d version of the mathematical constant would owe the good Doctor a user\u2019s fee<\/em>. His math may have been questionable but his business instincts were impeccable.<\/p>\n

The bill passed the House unanimously, and moved on to the State Senate.<\/strong> Fortunately for Indiana engineers (and the people who rely on their vehicles and elevators and public schools) the Bill died in the Senate\u2026 once an actual<\/em> Professor of Mathematics explained to the Senators how utterly ridiculous the concept was. So — once Mercury was no longer retrograde — the bill died.<\/p>\n

So you see: don\u2019t feel too badly about any bad decisions you\u2019ve made lately, any drunk dialing to exes you may regret, or any recent bad decisions. You may have misinterpreted what The Universe wanted you to do\u2026 but at least you didn\u2019t tell The Universe how to do its job.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Want a free e-book? Sure you do! Click HERE!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Questions about your birth chart, or astrology in general? Want to know more about my big discount on readings for new clients? Want a free month of my NEW Subscription Service? Write me for details!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

CLICK HERE to join the Oh My Stars Facebook Fan Page, and get exclusive content, an additional discount on a reading, more material on blog entries, AND ANOTHER free e-book!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mercury is now retrograde, bringing with it cluttered thinking and a tendency to grasp at the wrong solution to difficult issues (if you aren’t familiar with the concept, click HERE and HERE for all the details). This is a time when Mercury-ruled things like packages in the mail and short trips and software updates and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,66],"tags":[2,143],"class_list":["post-2538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astrology","category-mercury","tag-astrology","tag-mercury"],"yoast_head":"\nMercury Retrograde: A Bad Slice Of \u03a0 - Oh My Stars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ohmystars\/2016\/01\/mercury-retrograde-a-bad-slice-of-\u03c0.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mercury Retrograde: A Bad Slice Of \u03a0 - Oh My Stars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mercury is now retrograde, bringing with it cluttered thinking and a tendency to grasp at the wrong solution to difficult issues (if you aren’t familiar with the concept, click HERE and HERE for all the details). 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