Things were going so well. Payday arrived just in time for Halloween weekend. It’s Friday tomorrow. It finally stopped raining. But today, a deep sense of dread has settled as frantic texts from our more witchy friends roll in. Mercury is officially back in retrograde, unnervingly coinciding with All Hallows Eve, and if you thought it couldn’t get worse, this time it’s Scorpio season.

If the rumours are true, we’re in for a huge upheaval. Dead dramas will return and we’ll be forced to confront anything that’s been quietly been festering and waiting for the worst possible time to resurface. Expect texts from exes. Snakes exposed. All the free trials we forgot to cancel in 2018 are coming back to haunt us and suddenly payday feels like weeks ago. Hot Girl Halloween has descended into a hectic mess and you might be better off cutting your loses, sparing your extravagant outfit ideas and staying indoors.

To help navigate the stress, we’ve enlisted Alice Bell (Aquarius, Pisces rising, moon in Leo), Central Saint Martins graduate and astrologer for Vogue, to let us know what we should expect, and why it might not be so scary after all.

What’s special about this Mercury retrograde?
This particular Mercury retrograde is happening in the sign of Scorpio. Scorpio is a sign that’s associated with life and death, sex and intimacy, as well as deep inner transformation. Scorpio is all about facing your shadow side and dealing with emotions you might normally keep buried.

What kind of things will it shed light on?
This Mercury retrograde will have you reflecting on your relationships, and how you can be more open and vulnerable with the people in your life. It will also shed light on any negative habits you need to work on. There might be certain things you need to let go of in order to grow.

Does this mean we’re actually due a glow up?
Though it’s notorious for causing travel delays and miscommunication, Mercury retrograde isn’t something you need to dread or be afraid of. It’s simply a period of reflection where you might be figuring out what your next step needs to be. Use these next few weeks to jot down ideas you might have or reconnect with people from your past. It can be a healing time, where you gain closure on past events and relationships so that you move forward more effectively.