Is Mercury retrograde right now?
No, Mercury is not retrograde
The next retrograde begins on 24 October 2026 · 18 days until it begins
♏︎ in Scorpio
Retrograde calendar
2026
| Period | Sign | Length |
|---|---|---|
|
26 February 2026 – 20 March 2026
Past
06:48 – 19:32 |
♓︎ Pisces | 23 days |
|
29 June 2026 – 23 July 2026
Past
17:35 – 22:57 |
♋︎ Cancer | 24 days |
|
24 October 2026 – 13 November 2026
Upcoming
07:12 – 15:53 |
♏︎ Scorpio | 20 days |
2027
| Period | Sign | Length |
|---|---|---|
|
9 February 2027 – 3 March 2027
Upcoming
17:36 – 12:32 |
Begins in Pisces, ends in Aquarius | 22 days |
|
10 June 2027 – 4 July 2027
Upcoming
18:15 – 19:39 |
Begins in Cancer, ends in Gemini | 24 days |
|
7 October 2027 – 28 October 2027
Upcoming
14:37 – 14:10 |
Begins in Scorpio, ends in Libra | 21 days |
What is Mercury retrograde?
Mercury never actually moves backwards. Earth and Mercury orbit the Sun at different speeds, and as Earth overtakes Mercury on its inner orbit, Mercury appears for a while to slide backwards against the stars. You see the same thing passing a slower car on the motorway: for a moment it seems to drift backwards. This is called apparent retrograde motion, and Mercury does it three or four times a year, for about three weeks each time.
What does it mean in astrology?
Mercury stands for communication, contracts, travel and the fine detail of thinking. Astrological tradition treats retrograde stretches as better suited to reviewing what already exists than to starting something new: reading the contract once more, finishing what was left half-done, saying what went unsaid. Those are interpretations, not measurements — the dates on this page are the measurements.
Where does it land in your own chart?
A retrograde does not touch everyone the same way. Where Mercury sits in your birth chart decides which part of your life this stretch falls across.
The dates are computed with Swiss Ephemeris, which finds the exact moment Mercury's apparent speed changes direction. Nobody types them in, so they never go stale; the page refreshes itself daily. Times are given in UTC.
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