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Retrograde planets

Mercury retrograde dates

Mercury appears to move backward 19 times between 2025 and 2030. The current or next period comes first, then every period in date order.

Terms used here

Station
The moment a planet seems to stand still in the sky before it appears to change direction: it stations retrograde, and later stations direct.
Pre-shadow
The weeks before a retrograde station in which the planet first crosses the stretch of the zodiac it will later back over. Shown for Mercury, Venus and Mars.
Post-shadow
The weeks after the direct station in which the planet moves forward over that stretch again, until it passes the degree where it stationed retrograde.

What each retrograde means

Three or four times a year, Mercury overtakes Earth on the inside and appears, from here, to move backward through the zodiac for 19 to 24 days — retrograde, apparent only, never a real reversal. As symbol rather than force, that doubling-back reads as a cue to review: reread, revisit a conversation, notice what you skimmed. Decide and travel as you please; just take a second look.

Mercury retrograde in Scorpio

While Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio — seeming, from Earth, to move backward through this fixed water sign, though it never reverses its orbit — astrologers read a pull toward buried material: the half-said thing, the motive under the motive. You might reread old messages, or finally ask the question you circled. Nothing here forbids deciding; it invites looking twice.

The interpretations on this page were drafted with software assistance and checked against our voice guidelines by an automated reviewer.

Times in Eastern Time (ET)

  1. pre-shadow

    Mercury enters its pre-retrograde shadow on Oct 4 and stations retrograde on Oct 24.

    Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 20°58′ Scorpio
    Stations direct
    · 5°02′ Scorpio
    Post-shadow ends

Every Mercury retrograde, 2025–2030

  1. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 9°35′ Aries
    Back into Pisces
    before it turns direct
    Stations direct
    · 26°49′ Pisces
    Post-shadow ends
  2. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 15°34′ Leo
    Stations direct
    · 4°14′ Leo
    Post-shadow ends
  3. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 6°51′ Sagittarius
    Back into Scorpio
    Stations direct
    · 20°42′ Scorpio
    Post-shadow ends
  4. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 22°33′ Pisces
    Stations direct
    · 8°29′ Pisces
    Post-shadow ends
  5. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 26°15′ Cancer
    Stations direct
    · 16°19′ Cancer
    Post-shadow ends
  6. pre-shadow
    Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 20°58′ Scorpio
    Stations direct
    · 5°02′ Scorpio
    Post-shadow ends
  7. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 5°58′ Pisces
    Back into Aquarius
    Stations direct
    · 20°55′ Aquarius
    Post-shadow ends
  8. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 6°21′ Cancer
    Back into Gemini
    Stations direct
    · 27°28′ Gemini
    Post-shadow ends
  9. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 4°55′ Scorpio
    Back into Libra
    Stations direct
    · 19°18′ Libra
    Post-shadow ends
  10. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 19°41′ Aquarius
    Stations direct
    · 3°59′ Aquarius
    Post-shadow ends
  11. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 16°18′ Gemini
    Stations direct
    · 7°45′ Gemini
    Post-shadow ends
  12. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 18°35′ Libra
    Stations direct
    · 3°28′ Libra
    Post-shadow ends
  13. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 3°38′ Aquarius
    Back into Capricorn
    before it turns direct
    Stations direct
    · 17°32′ Capricorn
    Post-shadow ends
  14. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 26°40′ Taurus
    Stations direct
    · 17°33′ Taurus
    Post-shadow ends
  15. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 1°49′ Libra
    Back into Virgo
    before it turns direct
    Stations direct
    · 17°26′ Virgo
    Post-shadow ends
  16. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 17°42′ Capricorn
    Stations direct
    · 1°26′ Capricorn
    Post-shadow ends
  17. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 7°47′ Taurus
    Back into Aries
    before it turns direct
    Stations direct
    · 27°26′ Aries
    Post-shadow ends
  18. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 14°29′ Virgo
    Stations direct
    · 1°06′ Virgo
    Post-shadow ends
  19. Pre-shadow begins
    Stations retrograde
    · 1°51′ Capricorn
    Back into Sagittarius
    before it turns direct
    Stations direct
    · 15°33′ Sagittarius
    Post-shadow ends

Where to go from here

How these times are computed

Every time here comes from our own engine, built on astronomy-engine, an open-source ephemeris, and checked against independent references: the U.S. Naval Observatory's Moon phases, NASA's eclipse canon and a second, independent ephemeris. The page is written in Eastern Time (ET); your browser shows the times in the zone you pick.

A station is the moment a planet seems to stand still before it appears to reverse. Retrograde motion is apparent: seen from Earth the planet looks as if it moves backward, while in its orbit it never does. For Mercury, Venus and Mars we also give the shadow: the pre-shadow begins when the planet first reaches the degree where it will later station direct, and the post-shadow ends when it returns to the degree where it stationed retrograde.

Astrology is a symbolic language, not a science: the positions are exact, and what they mean is interpretation.