The 12th house is a subject that many astrologers prefer to avoid. It’s generally unpleasant, containing, as it does, prisons, institutions, and hidden enemies. Of course, it also contains large animals such as horses, elephants, and killer whales, but it’s hard to work Sea World into a typical astrology consultation.

You can’t ignore the 12th house; it’s a fact of life. But once you understand how the 12th house functions, you may realize that “unpleasant” isn’t the same thing as “bad.”

I was recently teaching the lesson in The Real Astrology Academy Online Natal Astrology Class when I introduce the houses. When I got to the 8th house, I reminded my students that the 5th house is the house of sex and love affairs, and commented that the only sex that belongs in the 8th house involves an extensive leather wardrobe and safe words.

I’ve always liked that joke. But then one of my students commented on it, and I started to realize that it’s not, in fact, remotely accurate. More importantly, it’s not remotely practical. I realized that there is no situation where you would ever look to the 8th house for information about a sexual relationship, no matter how adventurous or unconventional that relationship is.

And the worst part about this was I realized I could no longer tell that particular joke.

Recently, a popular astrologer sent out a popular newsletter where he proclaimed that the sky is falling. Apparently, this newsletter contained some dire predictions about the upcoming Mercury retrograde period. I say “apparently” because I don't follow this astrologer; however many of my Facebook friends do, and they were only too eager to warn everyone about how awful this upcoming Mercury retrograde will be for everyone.

No doubt you can expect garbled communication, missed connections, technical difficulties, traffic, travel delays, errors and omissions, lost luggage, electronic gremlins, and extended time on hold waiting to speak to a poorly-trained technical support person. These are all significant because, as you well know, these events only ever happen when Mercury is retrograde. The rest of the time, life is blissfully free of any disruption or inconvenience.

Oh, wait. It’s not.

It's always important to back up your data, but it's even more critical to back it up during Mercury Retrograde. Mercury is the planet that rules all forms of communication, information, and technology, including computers. When Mercury is retrograde, the likelihood of technical difficulties goes up. Computers crash, hard disks fail, internet connections develop glitches, and software bugs emerge to wreak havoc on the world.

I'm posting this for several reasons.

First, I think it's incredibly funny. 

Second, I think it is, in fact, deeply profound, and as with all good humor, it reveals an underlying truth. Certainly, I would never be that confrontational or abrupt with a client, but even so, there are times when I wish I could pull off this kind of 5-minute counseling session. No, simple is not the same thing as easy, but that doesn't change the fact that the answer to most of our problems is exactly this simple.