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Mercury Retrograde 2025
Mercury is retrograde 3 times in 2025, beginning 15 March 2025. Mercury governs how information moves — speech, writing, contracts, short journeys, the small mechanics of getting a message from one head to another. When it appears to reverse, the tradition reads it as those channels becoming unreliable: the email that reads wrong, the detail nobody checked, the conversation you thought you had finished.
Right now
No — Mercury is moving direct.
The next Mercury retrograde begins 24 October 2026 in Scorpio, 33 days from now, and ends 13 November 2026.
Every 2025 date
| Begins | Ends | Length | Signs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 March 2025 | 7 April 2025 | 23 days | Aries → Pisces |
| 18 July 2025 | 11 August 2025 | 24 days | Leo |
| 9 November 2025 | 29 November 2025 | 20 days | Sagittarius → Scorpio |
First retrograde: 15 March 2025 – 7 April 2025
Mercury stations retrograde on 15 March 2025 at Aries, retreats into Pisces, and turns direct on 7 April 2025 — 23 days in total. Re-read before sending. Confirm times rather than assuming them. Leave more margin around travel than you think you need. None of this is superstition — it is just the ordinary care that busy weeks erode, applied deliberately for three weeks.
Second retrograde: 18 July 2025 – 11 August 2025
Mercury stations retrograde on 18 July 2025 at Leo, and turns direct 24 days later on 11 August 2025. Re-read before sending. Confirm times rather than assuming them. Leave more margin around travel than you think you need. None of this is superstition — it is just the ordinary care that busy weeks erode, applied deliberately for three weeks.
Third retrograde: 9 November 2025 – 29 November 2025
Mercury stations retrograde on 9 November 2025 at Sagittarius, retreats into Scorpio, and turns direct on 29 November 2025 — 20 days in total. Re-read before sending. Confirm times rather than assuming them. Leave more margin around travel than you think you need. None of this is superstition — it is just the ordinary care that busy weeks erode, applied deliberately for three weeks.
What to actually do with it
Anything with 're' in front of it: revising, revisiting, reworking, reconnecting. Unfinished drafts and unanswered messages surface now, and finishing them is what the period is actually for.
It is not a reason to postpone your life. Signing a contract during Mercury retrograde does not void it, and the planet is not moving backwards — Earth is simply passing it, the way a faster train makes a slower one seem to slide back.
The mechanism
No planet actually reverses. Retrograde motion is a trick of perspective: Earth and the other planet orbit at different speeds, and when the geometry lines up the other body appears to slide backwards against the fixed stars — the same way a slower train seems to move backwards when yours overtakes it. Astrology reads meaning into that apparent reversal; the astronomy underneath is ordinary.
Related
The full picture for this planet sits on the Mercury retrograde page, and what is retrograde right now covers every body at once. To see where Mercury falls in your own chart, use the birth chart calculator.
Common questions
- When is Mercury retrograde in 2025?
- 15 March 2025 to 7 April 2025 (Aries → Pisces); 18 July 2025 to 11 August 2025 (Leo); 9 November 2025 to 29 November 2025 (Sagittarius → Scorpio)
- How many times is Mercury retrograde in 2025?
- 3 times, totalling about 67 days.
- Does Mercury actually move backwards?
- No planet actually reverses. Retrograde motion is a trick of perspective: Earth and the other planet orbit at different speeds, and when the geometry lines up the other body appears to slide backwards against the fixed stars — the same way a slower train seems to move backwards when yours overtakes it. Astrology reads meaning into that apparent reversal; the astronomy underneath is ordinary.