Was your flight delayed? Blame Mercury retrograde. Notice some suspicious charges on your credit card? Blame Mercury retrograde. Get into a shouting match with your partner? You can probably guess the pattern — and the culprit — by now.

Mercury retrograde , the phenomenon in which Mercury appears to change the direction of its orbit, has become the number-one scapegoat for general life chaos among the horoscope-reading set. We hold Mercury accountable for all aspects of communication in our lives. So when things start to go awry in that area (and Mercury's up there in the sky looking like it's doing something it doesn't normally do), we naturally think it's responsible for throwing things out of whack.Of course, this has led to a bit of a vicious cycle. We only think the retrograde is a straight-up life-ruiner because of the negative connotations that we as a culture have placed on it. In reality, it comes down to the individual. Do you actually think the retrograde will affect you? If the answer is no, there are plenty of ways to defy the classic rules for coping. If you answered yes, then by all means proceed with caution.Ahead, we present you with 30 retrograde-survival tips from some of our favorite astrologers, for believers and skeptics alike.