Mercury Retrograde and OM Music Sanity

Crashed computer? Missed flights? Tensions in your workplace? Stop!

Maybe you think you were born under a bad sign for the duration, or maybe it’s just Mercury Retrograde messing with your mind, life and whatever else it can throw a monkey wrench into.

People have been driven to the frayed edge of sanity during the most recent Mercury Retrograde which occurred during March 5 to March 28, 2019. This most recent one really hit hard for many, including this writer. Things became so dire that it was decided that a trip to the Green Man Store in North Hollywood was in order to pick up some supplies to counteract the consequences of this vile Mercury Retrograde.

Once the decision was made to go to Green Man, the tape of OM music that had been playing on my stereo system snapped and I knew it was the right decision to pay a visit to Green Man to purchase their special candles and incense made especially for Mercury Retrograde.

OM music has been a lifeline to sanity and peace of mind during Mercury Retrograde for many decades and the tape decides to break now? Yeah, just another ploy by Mercury Retrograde to tamper with my mind. Off to Green Man I fly. As I am leaving my apartment building, the building’s fire alarm goes off. Jeez, enough already….please.

Practically crawling into Green Man, I spy out of my eye an OM recording by Jason D. McKean. “Saved” I whisper to myself. It did not occur to me that this music would be available at Green Man at the time I decided to visit them. Serendipity? Kismet? Who cares! They had it and that is all I cared about.

I quickly grabbed my special candle, incense and OM chants and headed home to chase away the Mercury Retrograde blues. Thank you, Hovik, for being such a huge help.

Once home I tore the wrapper off of “OM Serenity” and began to soak up the vibes of peace and breathe freely. This is the music to listen to when Mercury Retrograde invades your space and makes day to day living a really trying experience.

“OM Serenity’s” cover tells us to “step into the flow, open a clear channel to your heart.” Ok, I’m all for that. It goes on to say “Serenity is a way of life. Allow the OM to flow into your heart, and be the transformation you seek in the world. The OM, created with both male and female voices, is combined with gentle movements of harp and synthesizer, lifting you into a serene state of being. Ideal for meditation, yoga, relaxation and massage.” And away I sailed into an altered state of relaxation, which is something that my favorite genre of music cannot do for me.

So taken with this CD of OM music, I decided to give this guy Jason D. McKean a call and find out more about his methodology for creating peace in the middle of Mercury Retrograde’s chaos. Once connected to McKean, there is a whole lot of wonderful things swirling around his creative forces to be known and understood. Originally from Alaska, McKean first cut his creative chops on Punk music with a band that called themselves the Psychedelic Skeletons, which modeled themselves after the Butthole Surfers and they actually were able to open for them in Austin, Texas. How cool!

McKean cites The Dead Kennedys, Violent Femmes and Patti Smith as influences in the early stages of his musical career which in time morphed into OM chants. As McKean tells it, “there were 10 people in front of a mic just doing “OM” chants and I had no idea of what it was doing.”

This was done for a publishing company in Agoura, CA that produced New Age music and books. They wanted to create to an “OM” chant and there was the opportunity. McKean used/uses “a basic tone key of “C” with a ⅕ and drone for a meditative background.

McKean is a self-taught musician that has his own studio in Malibu, CA and has never put his photo on any of his recording because he “didn’t to impede a listener’s journey.” This makes sense in an offbeat sort of way.

“With the OMs I feel a very different attitude for. It’s not about me, it’s about their connection to the divine. A background, a tone, a primordial sound. It’s a sacred tone which is a source of healing and calming,” McKean adds.

According to McKean, vibrations can calm when the Mercury Retrograde effect comes into play. “We’ve got to be flexible and slow things down especially when it comes to communication,” McKean explained.

McKean has been on the OM chant road for 25 years and also can be found at the Green Man reading Tarot cards. Interestingly McKean also finds solace and calm at the “Self Realization Center and Lake Shrine” on Sunset Blvd. as I do when in need of peace and a quiet place to meditate.

We aren’t finished with Mercury Retrograde just yet as there are two more cycles to come July 7 to August 2 and October 31 to November 20. If this last one that was March 5 to March 28 is an indicator of what to expect, I say stock up on your OM chants ahead of the next one.

The cycle that begins on October 31 is more than likely going to require all that you can muster to get through due to the nature of Halloween. Remember, anything that can go wrong will, which is especially true for communication as McKean has suggested.

McKean’s voice has a soothing quality that I’ve not heard on other OM chant records and has served me well. There are several CDs in his collection, some of which can be found at Green Man. If you would like to check out his website please go to OMdogOM.com and check out his selection. The CD that I purchased is titled “OM Sanctuary” and I have found a great deal of peace with it.

Caroline McElroy
The muse struck at a young age and began with Ernie’s Record Shop on Lankershim Blvd. In North Hollywood where I purchased my first Beatle record “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and a record by Major Lance titled “Um,Um,Um,Um,Um,Um”. From there I saw the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl and I was hooked…on Rock N’ Roll. At the age of 13 it seems as if the magical world of Rock N’ Roll opened up and welcomed me. A trip to Indio with Frank Zappa and possee, and subsequent gigs as a dancer at The Teen Fairs at the Hollywood Palladium sealed the deal. As a trained journalist, I’ve written for magazines, newsletters,newspapers and blogs. In addition, I have run a nightclub by the name of The Cave. Music is the thread that weaves a patchwork quilt of genres, venues and experience out of my life and in the process have introduced many fine acts to my followers. For the rest of my story dear readers, read my articles and it will unfold like the petals of a lotus flower. Sometimes you’ve gotta wear the hat to remind people who they are dealing with. LOL