Mercury Retrogrades, 2026
Before reviewing these dates, take a deep breath & loudly sigh it out... Retrogrades are a normal part of planetary movement. The outer planets retrograde for half the year every year! Retrograde Cycles: Mercury: 3-4/year; Venus: every 1.5 years; Mars: every ~2 years; Jupiter thru Pluto: every year, for months at a time. Ok, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way - let’s dive into the details, so you can put calendar reminders in and prepare rather than sweat over them. This post goes over Mercury only.
Mercury Retrograde Dates: February 25th - March 20th; June 29th - July 23rd; October 23rd - November 13th.
Mercury has 3 retrograde cycles this year, swimming back thru each water sign. Mercury is the fastest moving planet, so while these retrograde cycles can be frustrating, they are blessedly swift.
Mercury rules the mind, communication (including coordination), travel, and technology; Mercury retrograde is often associated with delayed travels, lost communications (including emails, texts, and misunderstandings), and malfunctioning technology.
The first cycle starts February 25th at 8:47pm at 22º Pisces and stations direct on March 20th at 9:33am at 8º Pisces.
This retrograde begins with a close conjunction to Venus, emphasizing that Venusian themes will be at play. Values, relationships, love, and finances will burble to the surface of our thoughts and lips. It ends with an exact degree of conjunction to the North Node in Pisces, indicating fated mindset shifts are at play – something larger than the present moment is cooking in the cosmic kitchen.
The second cycle starts June 29th at 7:36am at 26º Cancer and stations direct on July 23rd at 12:59pm at 16º Cancer.
Mercury’s second retrograde cycle swims backstroke thru Cancer turning our thoughts to our ancestral inheritance, our familial patterns, and our homes. Because Cancer is ruled by the Moon which rules our emotions, we’re likely to feel moodier than usual, as our thoughts bathe in our emotional states. This retrograde begins with a conjunction to Jupiter at the anaretic degree of Cancer emphasizing the importance of taking new paths to re-examine old matters. Jupiter, an expansive planet, has our inner thoughts exploring their outer bounds. What mental boundaries are you ready to dissolve?
The third cycle starts October 23rd at 9:12pm at 20º Scorpio and stations direct on November 13th at 5:55am at 5º Scorpio.
Mercury’s final retrograde of the year treks across Scorpio’s glacial landscape, eroding inherited mental patterns that keep us circling the underworld of our minds. The mental landscape here is vast and unpredictable; the terrain demands respect, revealing how we seek to control the narrative, piercing falsehoods with ease, and mining old stories for transformative fuel. Mercury forms squares to Jupiter and Mars in Leo and a trine to Ceres in Cancer. Jupiter and Mars in Leo are creatively supercharged for a performance of the lifetime, but Mercury in Scorpio prefers to operate in the unseen network below. The tension is palpable, we’ll navigate the unstable ice caverns seeking ancient answers to our modern ailments. Confidence swells alongside an unwavering belief in the heroic value of the self; be cautious of the slippery terrain—its depths are easier to enter than leave.
