On August 4, 2023, we will begin our third Mercury retrograde cycle of the year. This time Mercury will retrograde from 21° Virgo back to 08° Virgo which puts all mutable signs and all earth signs in the hot seat.
Mercury retrogrades is business as usual – because Mercury is so close to the Sun, it retrogrades 3-4 times every year. That means that about a third of every year is spent in a Mercury retrograde cycle. Mercury’s retrograde energy isn’t something to fear but it does require adaptation to work with rather than against Mercury’s retrograde motion. Mercury is often referred to as the Traveller because they move so fast and retrograde so often. When Mercury is in direct motion, Mercury travels the High Road which is sometimes referred to as the Heavens. When Mercury retrogrades, they travel the Low Road which is sometimes referred to as the Underworld. This is represented in mythology as Hermes/Mercury was one of the only gods able to walk into the Underworld and leave again.
Mercury is our first personal planet and rules the two mutable signs of Gemini and Virgo. Their domains include communication, technology, and travel. These are where we can expect the slowdowns and detours of its retrograde cycle to show itself. Mercury retrograde is associated with many of the words that start with the prefix “re”, it can be seen as a return, a time to rework, a chance to rethink, or the moment to reconsider. Because Mercury moves so fast through the horoscope wheel, situations that fall with the Mercurial domains sometimes happen too fast and aren’t as thoroughly explored as is necessary. In this way, Mercury retrogrades backtrack through our lives – they tend to highlight places where we didn’t stop to think things through.
From this perspective, Mercury retrograde is a second chance to get something right.
Because Mercury rules the planets of Gemini and Virgo, all people with a personal planet placement in the two signs (here considered to be Ascendant, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars) are strongly affected by Mercury’s retrograde cycles as are anybody who was born with Mercury in retrograde.
The Set Up (Because Nothing Happens in a Vacuum*)
Mercury will be in retrograde from 8/4 to 9/30 which will transverse some of Leo season, all of Virgo season, and the first part of Libra season. When it begins, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto will also be in retrograde. When it ends, all but Venus and Mars will be retrograde. We are deep in retrograde season right now so all of this – all of these power outages and rerootings – they are right on time. It is worth noting here that through the entirety of Mercury’s retrograde, it only makes aspects to the Sun (that one is a guarantee), Jupiter (thrice), and Uranus.
The Nitty Gritty
All eyes are on Virgo firstly and Taurus secondly as we are in for a very earthy retrograde this time around as Mercury in Virgo, Jupiter in Taurus, and Uranus in Taurus all retrograde within eleven days of each other. Notice the interplay here between all three planets: Mercury retrogrades at 21° Virgo in trine to Uranus (though not exact) and Uranus retrogrades five days later. Mercury trines Jupiter in Taurus first on 8/9 while they both are direct, again on 9/4 on the day that Jupiter retrogrades, and then a third time after Mercury has gone direct but while Jupiter is in retrograde on 9/25. And then Mercury finally leaves their shadow on the same day that they are in direct trine with retrograde Uranus.
Mercury, as the Messenger, is often the bearer of news. Retrograde Venus has been out here tearing things up all month but without any communication, we can’t do anything about it. The end of July and the beginning of August feels like being caught in a standstill. Who is going to draw first? Are we fighting? This sure hurts a lot (that’s Chiron in Aries reminding us that we still feel). But Mercury can’t really help us now because Venus is in retrograde and on her own widdershins journey.
In this way, we can see this Mercury retrograde as a blessing because finally the doors to communications have been opened up in the underground. You can walk backward all you want but without words, did you even bro?
(that’s a message for somebody)
Mercury is an intrical part of every retrograde season and there they are, showing up fashionably late to the party. With Mercury tipping their toe into retrograde season in its home sign of Virgo, we are getting a chance to make something right. Virgo is a meticulous sign who is always working towards betterment. Virgo should be working on personal betterment but in its more immature form, Virgo can get super critical of others. True, Virgo does do this with the thought to better the others that they criticize, but it is not often perceived this way. This will be a major pitfall of this retrograde season, so stay aware and in your own lane, if you can.
Throughout the retrograde, we have Jupiter in Taurus playing as Mercury’s wingman. Jupiter is at its most opulent in Taurus and can be a bit prone to overindulgence to the point that it becomes problematic. Though the two planets will be in trine with one another, Virgo is much more austere and may be adverse to the Jupiter in Taurus gluttony. There may be some adjustments that need to be made between work (Virgo) and enjoyment (Taurus). Jupiter always goes big (there is no going home as an option involved) so the trines between Mercury and Jupiter may be time of excess that need adjustments.
It is worth the reminder here of the standard analogy for retrogrades which pass aspects three times:
Pass 1 – oh look, a hole. I fell into it because I didn’t know that it was there.
Pass 2 – oh look, a hole. I knew it was there but still didn’t see it coming. I should do better next time.
Pass 3 – oh look, a hole! I see it there. I will try to avoid it this time.
Life is, in many ways, just a sequence of mistakes that we (hopefully) learn from. Life seems to move fast when all of our planets are in direct motion and it’s often only when they slow down in retrograde season that we get the chance to stop and contemplate what is going wrong.
There’s always something that you can do better, says Virgo. You just need to analyze the situation, identify the problem, and then fix it.
The Details
8/4 – Mercury enters their pre-shadow phase at 08° Virgo
8/9 – Mercury in Virgo trine Jupiter in Taurus
8/23 – Mercury retrogrades 21° Virgo, Sun enters Virgo
8/28 – Uranus retrogrades 23° Taurus
8/30 – Full moon 07° Pisces
9/3 – Venus stations direct 12° Leo
9/4 – Retrograde Mercury in Virgo trine retrograde Jupiter in Taurus, Jupiter retrogrades 15° Taurus
9/6 – Sun conjunct retrograde Mercury 13° Virgo
9/14 – New moon 21° Virgo
9/15 – Mercury stations direct 08° Virgo
9/25 – Mercury in Virgo trine retrograde Jupiter in Taurus
9/26 – Full moon 06° Aries
9/30 – Mercury exits its shadow 21° Virgo, Mercury in Virgo trine retrograde Uranus in Taurus
*not counting the vacuum of space, of course, because then everything happens in a vacuum