What is the Mercury Retrograde Shadow?

Every Mercury Retrograde has a pre-shadow and post-shadow period. The pre-shadow begins about two weeks before the retrograde, and the post-shadow ends about two weeks after Mercury stations direct. I often get asked how to use these times. Are the shadow periods just “Mercury Retrograde lite”? No. I’ve come to realize that, like any other planetary cycle, they go more smoothly for us when we align with the energies at play.