Cover Anxieties resurface as Mercury retrograde returns. These Asian customs and traditions may ward off the chaos. (Photo: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington)
Anxieties resurface as Mercury retrograde returns. These Asian customs and traditions may ward off the chaos. (Photo: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington)
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Mercury retrograde doesn’t have to mean chaos—these traditional Asian practices can help you stay grounded and in control
As Mercury retrograde begins its disruptive dance on July 17, familiar anxieties resurface—missed messages, technology failures and general chaos. While Western astrology has popularised this planetary phenomenon as the culprit behind modern mishaps, Asian cultures have been mastering the art of warding off bad luck for millennia. From spirit-banishing rituals to ancestor-honouring traditions, these time-tested practices offer powerful alternatives to simply waiting out the cosmic storm.
In case you missed it: How the second Mercury retrograde in 2025 will affect your star sign
To banish bad luck: Hong Kong’s ‘villain hitting’ ritual
Above Hong Kong’s folk ritual features a beaten effigy stuffed into a paper tiger’s mouth to ward off bad luck. (Photo: SoHome Jacaranda Lilau / Wikimedia Commons)
Hong Kong’s folk ritual features a beaten effigy stuffed into a paper tiger’s mouth to ward off bad luck. (Photo: SoHome Jacaranda Lilau / Wikimedia Commons)
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Hong Kong’s da siu yan transforms Mercury retrograde frustration into cathartic action. This folk ritual involves hiring a street practitioner to beat a paper effigy representing your “villain” with an old shoe while chanting curses. The beaten effigy is then stuffed into a paper tiger’s mouth and burned, symbolically feeding your enemy to the White Tiger deity. Most potent during Jingzhe (early March), this ritual is famously performed under Canal Road Flyover in Causeway Bay, where the gloomy atmosphere is considered ideal for such dark arts.
To protect your tech: Taiwan’s ‘obedient’ snack
Taiwan’s tech industry has discovered the perfect Mercury retrograde antidote: the Kuai Kuai snack. Workers place green bags of these coconut-flavoured puffs on servers and critical equipment. The brand name means “obedient”, serving as a symbolic plea for machinery to behave properly. Only green bags are used—the colour signifies “go” or systems running correctly. Yellow bags suggest warnings, while red bags are associated with romance rather than reliable technology.
To reverse a stranger’s curse: the Philippines’s saliva cure
Above To neutralise negative energy passed onto infants, saliva is applied to the child’s forehead. (Photo: Jamie Coupaud / Unsplash)
To neutralise negative energy passed onto infants, saliva is applied to the child’s forehead. (Photo: Jamie Coupaud / Unsplash)
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Filipino culture recognises usog, a folk illness caused by a stranger’s compliment or envious gaze that triggers sudden fever or crying in infants. The remedy is remarkably intimate: the person who gave the compliment must dab their own saliva onto the child’s forehead or abdomen while whispering, “Pwera usog” (“Out, usog”). This transforms the source of the curse into the healer, instantly neutralising the negative energy and restoring social harmony.
To appease unseen landlords: Thailand’s spirit house—and Fanta
Above Miniature shrines provide homes for guardian spirits, ensuring they protect rather than trouble the property. (Photo: Chainwit / Wikimedia Commons)
Miniature shrines provide homes for guardian spirits, ensuring they protect rather than trouble the property. (Photo: Chainwit / Wikimedia Commons)
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Thailand’s san phra phum spirit houses acknowledge that land spirits inhabited the earth long before humans arrived. These ornate miniature shrines provide comfortable homes for guardian spirits, ensuring they protect rather than trouble the property. Daily offerings include flowers, fruit and incense, but the most common modern addition is red strawberry Fanta. This vibrant soda is believed to serve as a contemporary, bloodless substitute for ancient animal sacrifices.
To ensure a lucky new year: Vietnam’s first footer
Vietnamese families influence their annual fortune through xong dat, a Tet tradition where the first person entering the home on New Year’s Day determines the family’s luck for 12 months. Rather than leaving this to chance, families carefully pre-select their “first footer” based on their success, good character or happiness. This person’s positive attributes are believed to be imported into the home, ensuring a prosperous year ahead. Interestingly, very similar traditions exist in Greece, Georgia, Scotland, Northern England and the Isle of Man.
To deflect envy and jealousy: India’s lemon-and-chilli charm
The evil eye, or nazar, inflicts misfortune through envious gazes. India’s nimbu mirchi totka—seven green chillies and one lemon strung together—creates a powerful protective barrier. The sourness of the lemon and the pungency of the chillies absorb negative energy, making this charm particularly effective when hung at home, at entrances, inside cars—everywhere, really. The ubiquitous talisman requires weekly replacement to maintain its protective power.
To protect your community: Malaysia’s calamity-rejection ceremony
Malaysia’s tolak bala (“rejecting misfortune”) addresses Mercury retrograde’s chaos on a communal level. This ritual historically involved animistic offerings and animal sacrifice to appease spirits causing widespread illness or disaster. Modern versions incorporate Islamic prayers and community feasts while maintaining the protective goal. The indigenous Bidayuh people perform the Sigar Tulak Bala dance after harvest, using offerings and a miniature boat to guide disease-bearing spirits peacefully back to the sea.
After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
