This might be not IN TOPIC that much but how can you see if ,at the date of your birth, Mercury Was Retrograde or not?? I'm interested about that as I've got much of mercury in my chart
I can answer this!
Assuming you are using
Astrodienst to create your natal chart, look at the pretty pictures under
Astrodienst free Horoscopes and click the arrow to the
left to change the pictures. Now click on the picture to the extreme
right that reads
Extended Chart Selection when you hover your mouse over it.
Now select your name in the drop-down menu next to
Horoscope for: , if you have already created your natal chart. If you have not, click on
Add a New Person to the
right of that drop-down menu and enter your natal data. Click the blue button that says
Click here to show the chart.
This page should be familiar to you if you've used Astrodiesnt before. At the top-left corner of the page, you'll see a link you may not have noticed before that reads
View the additional tables (PDF)--it's under the link that reads View the PDF drawing (for subscribers). A window should pop up in your browser; if not, you may have to disable your pop-up blocker.
You'll see a bunch of charts on this page. You're looking at the first one labeled
Planet positions, specifically under the column labeled
Longitude. Go down that column for the planet you're looking for; the planets are listed to the right. If a planet is direct, it will not have any symbol after the longitude degree. If a planet is retrograde, it will have the familar Rx after the degree. What you're looking for is a different symbol--either
Sd for stationary direct or
Sr for stationary retrograde. If these symbols are not in the chart, then you do not have any natal planets which are stationary retrograde.
I hear ya about the stereotyping of Mercury/Taurus as being slow or mentally plodding. That is not the case generally unless there are real afflictions to undermine the mercury's effectiveness
...and I feel the same way regarding afflictions to Mercury, especially those regarding Saturn, as being indicative of a low IQ.
Perhaps due to this aspect, which I possess natally, I have difficulty understanding why the words "slow" or "mentally plodding" seem to be associated with stupidity. A quick thinker is not necessarily a careful thinker...
Going back to the topic at hand, didn't one of the United States presidents have stationary Mercury--perhaps John F. Kennedy? I'll have to check this out.
EDIT: Ah, I knew it! Scroll down to the section titled
The Birth of JFK in this article:
JFK, Chiron and The Wound That Never Heals: America's Turning Point of the 20th Century. Supposedly, JFK had both Mercury and Uranus stationary retrograde on the day of his birth; I must have discovered this while researching my own natal Uranus.
Arian Maverick