Reclaiming overlooked wisdom.
Welcome to your Mercury retrograde guide, sweet babe! 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
It’s that time of the year again, Mercury retrograde time. I hope by now you’re a seasoned pro and you know not to believe the hype about this being an event that dooms us all. We know that retrogrades are a time when the energy of a planet turns inward on itself and works in a way that we traditionally wouldn’t see. When we assess the conditions of a retrograde planet, in this case Mercury, we want to look at a few key things— sign, house placement, aspects, and the ruler of the sign the planet is in. Typically this is pretty clear-cut. The last Mercury Rx we had was in Virgo, the ruling planet of Virgo is Mercury, so really only had to focus on Mercury. This time around Mercury is starting out in Capricorn and ending in Sagittarius. That means we need to assess Mercury as whole, but as keep the ruling planets of Jupiter and Saturn in mind as well.
This can sound like a lot, but it’s not so bad once we break it down. Mercury is starting its Rx by stationing in the sign of Capricorn. When Mercury is in Capricorn, a Saturn-ruled sign, we see the realm of our mind and communication take on a serious tone. We’re able to put our head down and get things done with efficiency and general ease. We also might be more bold in our communication, but not in a bad way, just more direct and to the point. The retrograde energy of Mercury while it’s in Capricorn will feel like you’re having to resubmit a work proposal or like you’ve been handed a list of things that need done before you can move to the next phase. Mercury will be retrograding Capricorn energy for the first 10 days of the transit, and then it’s going to slip back into Sagittarius. It’s splitting the retrograde evenly between these two signs. We get 10 days of Saturn-ruled Mercury Rx and 10 days of Jupiter-ruled Rx, and then Mercury stations direct.
Now, Sagittarius is where Mercury experiences its detriment. This Jupiter-ruled sign doesn’t have the tact that Mercury is accustomed to. So while our retrograde is starting out as more of a task-oriented revision, it ends up becoming more loose, wild, and freewheeling. The first half of the retrograde is going to inspire us to get our shit together and make sure we’re checking all the boxes in whatever area of our lives Capricorn rules. The second half is going to push us to not be so rigid, break the rules, and shake ourselves loose in the area that Sagittarius rules. This Mercury Rx feels very business in the front, party in the back. It could feel like whiplash as we bounce between the energy of Saturn and Jupiter, as these two titans have very different agendas. One wants to expand and be free, the other wants to restrict and impose rules. Where they meet in the middle is on the subject of wisdom. Both Capricorn and Sagittarius are wise signs in their own right. A major theme for this Mercury Rx is going to be retracing your steps in order to obtain any forgotten or overlooked wisdom.
Below are both charts for when Mercury stations Rx and Dx: