Mercury retrograde dates

Mercury turns retrograde three or four times a year, for about three weeks each time. Here are the dates, worked out from Mercury's actual path with the same ephemeris we use for birth charts. Dates are in Universal Time, so in the Americas a station can fall on the evening before.

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What Mercury retrograde is

From the Earth, Mercury appears to slow down, stop and back up against the stars for about three weeks, then stop again and carry on forward. Nothing actually reverses: Mercury is overtaking us on its smaller orbit. The days it stops are the stations, when it's moving slowest.

In astrology Mercury rules communication, travel, contracts and machines, so its retrograde has a reputation for missed messages, delays and things that need doing twice. The more useful reading is that it's a good time for anything that starts with "re": revising, reviewing, reconnecting, repairing. Starting brand new projects is traditionally saved for after.

The sign matters

Each retrograde happens in a particular sign, and that colors it. A retrograde in an air sign plays out in conversations and plans. In earth it's about practical details and money. In water, feelings and old memories resurface. In fire it's plans and enthusiasm that get revisited. If Mercury moves back into the previous sign during the retrograde, both signs come into it.

Where the retrograde falls in your own chart, by house, shows which part of your life it touches most. That needs your birth time, and your full chart shows it.

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