Welcome to your Mercury retrograde guide! Here you'll find all the details of the retrograde itself, including the station dates, sign/degree of the station, and the astrological energy of the planet as a whole. You'll also find your personalized retrograde guide based on your rising sign! This guide is meant to help you navigate the retrograde energy and see it as an opportunity for growth. Mercury retrogrades are like using spellcheck. They give us an opportunity to go back and edit something we might not have gotten exactly right the first time. These guides are meant to be just that, guides. They aren't going to tell you how to escape the retrograde or dodge its influence. What they will do though is give you a better understanding of the energy at hand. I hope they help you to see retrogrades as opportunities rather than obstacles.
I'll also be including advice from my tarot cards in each of the guides. The card for each rising sign will further refine as to how we can make the best of this astrological event. So, sit back, relax, and don't fear the retrograde. I promise we'll get through it together. Also, "Rx" means retrograde and "Dx" means direct. That's just some shorthand you'll see me use throughout the post.
The Conditions of Mercury
At the time Mercury stations retrograde there will be four other planets also already engaging in Rx movement— Saturn, Chiron, Neptune, and Pluto. Mercury being a personal planet means we’re really going to feel it. The other retrograde influences may also become more pronounced or noticeable due to Mercury engaging in the same energy. If these couple weeks feel overwhelming, remind yourself that it’ll pass. Having all this retrograde energy means we’re in a rebuild phase. We’re getting the chance to go back and revise multiple areas of our lives, but extra attention should be paid to the areas that Mercury is covering. That’s right area(s)…plural. Mercury is going to be spanning two signs throughout the retrograde period, so that means we have two houses to look at, as well as two planetary rulers that will be impacted. Let’s start by exploring the energy of the Rx via the signs.
Mercury will begin its retrograde in the sign of its domicile, Virgo. This means we’re starting out the Rx cycle with mutable Earth. The first half of the Rx will feel like a true wiping of the slate. We’re going back and cleaning something up, making something better, and ensuring that we’re ready to move forward with a situation, project, feeling, or endeavor. The time that Mercury is retrograding Virgo feels very important. The domiciled energy means we can utilize mercurial abilities— this means editing, cleaning, maximizing, revising— don’t sleep on this half of the retrograde. It’ll be important that you take advantage of Virgo’s ability to connect deeply with mercurial desires. Make a to-do list for the first half of the Rx before it begins and set out to get it done before Mercury ingresses into Leo. Once Mercury heads back into Leo, we’re not going to feel as strongly about getting things done. It’s more about self-assessment at that point. Fixed Fire is the part of the Rx that has us questioning our intentions, motives, and inner desires. How we handle the first half of the Rx will likely dictate the energy of the second half. Meaning, if we put in the work while Mercury is in Virgo, we’ll feel a lot better about ourselves when Mercury hits Leo. If we end up slacking while Mercury is in Virgo, you can bet you’ll be taking a long, hard look in the mirror while Mercury traverses Leo.
This retrograde cycle has two ruling planets— Mercury and the Sun. When Mercury ingresses into Leo, that’s when we need to start looking at where the Sun is for more information about the Rx energy. At some point the Sun will ingress into Virgo while Mercury is in Leo. This is going to highlight that to-do list that I said to make. It’s partially why the first half of the Rx is so important, because that energy is going to come back around, and fast. We can’t escape the responsibilities that the house of Virgo rules. You can essentially look at this retrograde as responsibilities (Virgo) and self-assessment (Leo). We’re assessing our ego against what we’re trying to create, do, or put into the world. The energy of Virgo is where we’re not sure about something, where we’re editing something and reworking it to suit our current understanding of self. Our understanding of self is Leo. This will be the part of the Rx that reminds us of our passions and motivations of the heart. We might need the Leo portion of the retrograde to even understand what it is we’re trying to achieve in the realm of Virgo. We need to become focused in the area of our passions to truly maximize the utility of Mercury in Virgo.
Below are both charts for when Mercury stations Rx and Dx:
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