Mercury retrograde dates

Mercury appears to move backward 19 times between 2025 and 2030. The current or next period comes first.

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.

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)

Pre-shadow begins
Oct 4, 2026, 5:10 AM
Stations retrograde
Oct 24, 2026, 3:15 AM · 20°58′ Scorpio
Stations direct
Nov 13, 2026, 10:52 AM · 5°02′ Scorpio
Post-shadow ends
Nov 30, 2026, 1:16 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Jan 25, 2027, 1:58 PM
Stations retrograde
Feb 9, 2027, 12:35 PM · 5°58′ Pisces
Stations direct
Mar 3, 2027, 7:34 AM · 20°55′ Aquarius
Post-shadow ends
Mar 23, 2027, 11:00 AM
Pre-shadow begins
May 26, 2027, 2:04 AM
Stations retrograde
Jun 10, 2027, 2:18 PM · 6°21′ Cancer
Stations direct
Jul 4, 2027, 3:40 PM · 27°28′ Gemini
Post-shadow ends
Jul 19, 2027, 4:42 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Sep 17, 2027, 3:27 AM
Stations retrograde
Oct 7, 2027, 10:40 AM · 4°55′ Scorpio
Stations direct
Oct 28, 2027, 10:10 AM · 19°18′ Libra
Post-shadow ends
Nov 13, 2027, 4:55 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Jan 8, 2028, 2:24 PM
Stations retrograde
Jan 24, 2028, 6:03 AM · 19°41′ Aquarius
Stations direct
Feb 14, 2028, 7:38 AM · 3°59′ Aquarius
Post-shadow ends
Mar 5, 2028, 11:45 AM
Pre-shadow begins
May 6, 2028, 2:40 PM
Stations retrograde
May 21, 2028, 4:39 AM · 16°18′ Gemini
Stations direct
Jun 14, 2028, 2:07 AM · 7°45′ Gemini
Post-shadow ends
Jun 29, 2028, 4:58 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Aug 30, 2028, 3:16 AM
Stations retrograde
Sep 19, 2028, 12:30 PM · 18°35′ Libra
Stations direct
Oct 11, 2028, 6:29 AM · 3°28′ Libra
Post-shadow ends
Oct 26, 2028, 9:49 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Dec 21, 2028, 4:24 PM
Stations retrograde
Jan 7, 2029, 2:57 AM · 3°38′ Aquarius
Stations direct
Jan 27, 2029, 1:36 PM · 17°32′ Capricorn
Post-shadow ends
Feb 16, 2029, 11:50 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Apr 17, 2029, 6:43 PM
Stations retrograde
May 1, 2029, 7:09 PM · 26°40′ Taurus
Stations direct
May 25, 2029, 3:15 PM · 17°33′ Taurus
Post-shadow ends
Jun 10, 2029, 3:53 PM
Pre-shadow begins
Aug 13, 2029, 5:10 AM
Stations retrograde
Sep 2, 2029, 8:14 AM · 1°49′ Libra
Stations direct
Sep 24, 2029, 10:02 PM · 17°26′ Virgo
Post-shadow ends
Oct 9, 2029, 12:19 PM
Pre-shadow begins
Dec 4, 2029, 6:15 PM
Stations retrograde
Dec 22, 2029, 12:50 AM · 17°42′ Capricorn
Stations direct
Jan 11, 2030, 12:43 AM · 1°26′ Capricorn
Post-shadow ends
Jan 30, 2030, 10:51 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Mar 30, 2030, 3:48 AM
Stations retrograde
Apr 12, 2030, 10:27 PM · 7°47′ Taurus
Stations direct
May 6, 2030, 4:17 PM · 27°26′ Aries
Post-shadow ends
May 23, 2030, 8:40 PM
Pre-shadow begins
Jul 27, 2030, 8:48 AM
Stations retrograde
Aug 15, 2030, 9:23 PM · 14°29′ Virgo
Stations direct
Sep 8, 2030, 5:22 AM · 1°06′ Virgo
Post-shadow ends
Sep 22, 2030, 10:57 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Nov 17, 2030, 6:55 PM
Stations retrograde
Dec 5, 2030, 9:45 PM · 1°51′ Capricorn
Stations direct
Dec 25, 2030, 4:16 PM · 15°33′ Sagittarius
Post-shadow ends
Jan 13, 2031, 9:44 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Jun 12, 2026, 8:54 PM
Stations retrograde
Jun 29, 2026, 1:37 PM · 26°15′ Cancer
Stations direct
Jul 23, 2026, 6:56 PM · 16°19′ Cancer
Post-shadow ends
Aug 6, 2026, 11:36 PM
Pre-shadow begins
Feb 11, 2026, 5:13 PM
Stations retrograde
Feb 26, 2026, 1:47 AM · 22°33′ Pisces
Stations direct
Mar 20, 2026, 3:34 PM · 8°29′ Pisces
Post-shadow ends
Apr 9, 2026, 7:41 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Oct 21, 2025, 7:12 AM
Stations retrograde
Nov 9, 2025, 2:00 PM · 6°51′ Sagittarius
Stations direct
Nov 29, 2025, 12:38 PM · 20°42′ Scorpio
Post-shadow ends
Dec 16, 2025, 10:56 PM
Pre-shadow begins
Jun 30, 2025, 1:52 AM
Stations retrograde
Jul 18, 2025, 12:38 AM · 15°34′ Leo
Stations direct
Aug 11, 2025, 3:33 AM · 4°14′ Leo
Post-shadow ends
Aug 25, 2025, 4:35 AM
Pre-shadow begins
Mar 1, 2025, 2:57 AM
Stations retrograde
Mar 15, 2025, 2:47 AM · 9°35′ Aries
Stations direct
Apr 7, 2025, 7:05 AM · 26°49′ Pisces
Post-shadow ends
Apr 26, 2025, 4:26 AM

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 Swiss Ephemeris outputs. 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.

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