Natal Wheel › Guides › Mercury retrograde
Retrogrades
Mercury retrograde dates
Every Mercury retrograde from 2024 to 2032, with the exact stations, the signs they fall in and the shadow zones either side — computed from the Swiss Ephemeris, not copied from a list.
2026 at a glance
| 2026-02-26 → 2026-03-20 | Stations retrograde at 22°34′ Pisces, turns direct at 8°29′ Pisces. 23 days. Shadow 2026-02-11 to 2026-04-09. |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-29 → 2026-07-23 | Stations retrograde at 26°15′ Cancer, turns direct at 16°19′ Cancer. 24 days. Shadow 2026-06-13 to 2026-08-07. |
| 2026-10-24 → 2026-11-13 | Stations retrograde at 20°59′ Scorpio, turns direct at 5°02′ Scorpio. 20 days. Shadow 2026-10-04 to 2026-11-30. |
- Mercury retrograde 20243 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20253 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20263 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20273 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20283 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20294 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20303 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20313 retrogrades
- Mercury retrograde 20323 retrogrades
What a retrograde actually is
Mercury never reverses. Earth and Mercury both orbit the Sun at different speeds, and three or four times a year Earth overtakes Mercury on the inside of its orbit — from here, Mercury appears to slow, stop, drift backwards against the stars for about three weeks, stop again and resume. The station is the turning point; the retrograde is the drift between the two stations.
The shadow zone is the stretch of zodiac the planet covers three times: once going forward before the station, once backwards, and once forward again afterwards. That is why a retrograde period often feels longer than its three weeks — the first pass over those degrees sets something up, and the third finishes it.
How to read it in your own chart
A retrograde matters to you in proportion to what it touches. Find the degrees above in your own chart: the house they fall in is the department of life being re-covered, and any natal planet within a few degrees gets the three passes rather than one. Mercury rules thinking, speech, travel and paperwork, so those are the textures — but the house is the subject.
The practical advice is duller than the internet suggests: back things up, read the contract twice, expect the reply to be slow, and prefer revising to launching. Nothing is forbidden.
Common questions
Is Mercury retrograde happening right now?
No. The dates above are computed from the ephemeris and update themselves.
How long does Mercury retrograde last?
About three weeks between the two stations, plus the shadow zones either side — the degrees Mercury covers three times, which usually add two to three weeks in total.