How to say the planet names in French

MVTMJSUNP… No, I didn’t fall asleep on my keyboard!

MVTMJSUNP (“mon vieux tu m’as jeté sur une nouvelle planète” meaning “Buddy, you threw me on a new planet”) is the French mnemonic to remember the planet names in order starting from closest to the sun (le soleil) and going outward.

Mercure
Vénus
la Terre
Mars
Jupiter
Saturne
Uranus
Neptune
Pluton

box with images of planets next to brownies and cookies with astrology sign stickers on them
I brought cosmic brownies and black & white “moon” cookies for Astronomy night at my daughter’s school

What is Mercury Retrograde?

Due to the planet Mercury moving slower, it appears to move backwards, so it’s called Mercury Retrograde (or Mercure Rétrograde in French) and it happens four times a year.

The metaphysical phenomenon is known to cause miscommunication, traffic jams, plans to fall through, and other unpleasant occurrences.

People who practice astrology believe this is a time of high intuition and a time to reflect and rewind.

The catchy “Be Kind. Rewind.” slogan from the American video rental store, Blockbuster, came to mind when I learned that the next Mercury Retrograde is happening from April 20-21 to May 14-15, 2023 (depending on where you are located on La Terre.)

During this three-week Mercury Retrograde (and every day, really), we need to:

  • practice self-compassion
  • pause a moment and “rewind” what you said or heard before responding, or ask for clarification to reduce miscommunication and misunderstandings
  • allow extra time to finish tasks or travel to reduce missed deadlines or late arrivals
  • resist frustration when you find your internet slow or spotty

Very humbling revelation for me: Just as people were needing to switch to virtual working or remote learning at the start of the pandemic, I was surprised to learn that many households in big cities did not have internet!

In short, heed that Blockbuster slogan and let’s “be kind” to ourselves. It’s not selfish. It’s necessary. ❤️