Superbowl 2009 Astrological Prediction

When the 2009 Superbowl kicks off at 6:20 PM EST, Sunday, February 1, in Tampa, Florida, the timing will coincide with a frequently occurring and somewhat troublesome phenomenon known to astrology devotees as Mercury retrograde. What is Mercury retrograde and what will this mean to the course of the game?

To those who study the ancient belief system of astrology, the planet Mercury rules communication and transportation. All sorts of related areas come under the influence of Mercury, such as computers, deliveries, travel, information, publishing and public relations. The placement of Mercury in a person's chart and the aspects to it indicate how a range of practical, everyday transactions flow and how well the person learns and communicates.

Typically, three times a year, for a period lasting about 20 days, Mercury is in a state labeled retrograde. Retrograde is defined as an apparent backward motion. While the planet itself doesn't move backward, of course, the situation is frequently compared to the feeling you get while riding in a car which is beside a moving train. People in the car get the odd perception that they are moving backward. While retrograde, Mercury's cosmic tools are in limbo. This year's Superbowl is scheduled for the day a Mercury retrograde session ends.

During these retrograde periods, all sorts of everyday matters get confused and go awry: you lose your keys, the computer crashes, you mail a bill without putting the check into the envelope. In most cases, we're not referring to terribly disastrous or tragic events here, just irritating and confusing ones. On the day retrograde begins and the day it ends, the planet is said to be stationary, stopping motion before changing direction. These days, and in fact, the two or three days on either side of the dates are especially hectic.

The most significant and telling illustration of the power of Mercury retrograde's confusion occurred on November 7, 2000, the day of the fateful presidential election between Gore and Bush, with all its mind numbing chaos. Mercury retrograde ended November 8, 2000.

So, what will this mean for the Superbowl? Probably an unusual amount of mistakes and blunders will be committed. Referees may make bad calls, players might misinterpret the signals from the coach or quarterback. There will be a good chance of technical problems, maybe a satellite feed failure or perhaps storms will cause power outages over large areas, so that TVs will be off. I would expect lots of player injuries, and the score of the game might favor one team for most of the game, only to flip wildly at the last minute.

The infamous Janet Jackson Superbowl wardrobe malfunction on February 1, 2004, would be something that could be an example, but, in fact, Mercury retrograde was not involved in that date, perhaps confirming that the "accident" was no accident.

Since commercials are such an important element of the Superbowl, and Mercury rules public relations, a big fiasco might be on tap.

To the advantage of everyone involved, the Superbowl date is the day the retrograde period ends, not the date it starts, so we will be pulling away from the influence, but astrologers agree that no one is out of the woods and influences don't calm down until a few days later. This Mercury retrograde period began on January 11, so look back and see what happened in your life around that date and over the course of the ensuing days.

Conventional astrology advice tells us to never purchase electronics or sign important documents during these days. The battery in my electronic scale died, I ordered a new one online and when it arrived, it didn't work, and I needed to send it back. The battery in my car's remote key system also died. My satellite TV has been losing its signal several times a day for the last two weeks and I had to go through a long tech support session and then schedule a service technician's house call. These are all typical of Mercury retrograde events.

Why does a wise universe hassle us with Mercury malfunctions? Astrologers say these times are to be used for rest and regrouping, redoing, and revisiting. Lost objects pop up and people reunite with long lost family members during Mercury retrograde.

Who will come out ahead in this year's Superbowl? That's another matter, but I'm going to say the Pittsburgh Steelers. What planetary aspects predicted that? I don't know, I just said that because I'm from the 'Burgh. Here we go Steelers, here we go!