Starting on August 5th, Mercury enters retrograde 3/4 of 2024. The retrograde runs from 04° Virgo to 21° Leo and makes thrice repeating trines with our Wounded Healer Chiron in Aries and squares to Uranus in Taurus. Retrograde Mercury will also conjunct the Sun and Venus once (as it does most retrograde cycles) and sextile Mars in Gemini once, as well.
The Basics
Mercury, our planet of communication, technology, and travel, is the fastest-moving planet in our solar system and retrogrades 3 to 4 times every year. This means that Mercury’s retrograde cycle is “business as usual” and isn’t something that should be feared but it is a change in the energy signature of one of our personal planets, so it’s worth paying attention and making adjustments where necessary.
Retrogrades don’t mean that the planet ACTUALLY is moving backward, of course. It is a perspective shift in our perception of the planetary movement through our skies. In this way, our perspectives and perceptions can get a bit twisted during these times and it is easy to miss key details or communicate ineffectively.
During Mercury’s retrograde, Mercury traces its path backward in our skies and it is considered better to go over your work rather than start something new. Mercury passes over these degrees in the sky thrice: the first time during its pre-retrograde shadow, the second time while it moves backward during its retrograde, and again a third time while it moves forward in its post-retrograde shadow. Because of this, we all get the cosmic opportunity to relearn and refocus on certain things that are going awry in our lives.
By looking at the degrees of Mercury’s retrograde and comparing it to your birth chart, you can understand how Mercury’s retrograde cycle might affect you. If you don’t want to do this yourself, you can always purchase a Mercury retrograde transit chart from me on Kofi.
Mercury retrogrades affect some people more than others. By order of significance, these people are most likely to be affected by a Mercury retrograde:
- If you have Sun, Moon, Ascendant in Gemini and Virgo, or Mercury closely conjunct (within 2°) to your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant
- If your natal Mercury was in retrograde or out of bounds
- If the current retrograde crosses over your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant (in conjunction) or makes a square or opposition
- If the current retrograde crosses over your Mercury, Venus, or Mars or makes a square or opposition with them
- If the current retrograde makes a trine with one of your personal planets or a sextile to your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant
- If you work in a job that involves technology, communication, or travel or are currently undergoing a task that involves one of these domains during this retrograde cycle
- If you live with, are in a relationship with, or closely work with a person who meets the above criteria
One can assume that the more of these factors in play, the stronger you may experience the effects of a Mercury retrograde cycle. This isn’t to say that what you experience will be bad or wrong – some people experience a lot of freedom from Mercury’s journey. The more open you are willing to give up control and stay open to the ever-changing landscape of a Mercury cycle, the easier it will be.
The Nitty Gritty
Now that we’ve gone over the basics let’s take a look at the specifics of THIS Mercury retrograde cycle. Mercury will retrograde backward from 04° Virgo to 21° Leo. This puts the stressors of this retrograde on the early mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) and late fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). The switchover from Fixed to Mutable signs can be viewed as the energy of relaxation, both of effort and intent. It’s important that we need both types of energy in our lives (both fixed/controlled and mutable/relaxed); this retrograde cycle is likely to bring up issues of imbalance between these two differing energy signatures. You may find yourself stuck on one side of this equation (all relaxed and unable to accomplish anything or all fixed and unable to stand down).
Mercury will interact with all of our other personal planets (the Sun, Moon, and Venus through conjunction and Mars in sextiles), which shows that this retrograde will take on a more personal nature. Although we experience Mercury’s retrogrades 3-4 times a year, not all of them pack as much punch as others. This Mercury cycle will be inside our homes and likely impact our daily lives and our interactions with our Others.
Additionally, Mercury will make three trines to Chiron in Aries (sitting on top of that touchy point from our total solar eclipse back in April) and three squares to Uranus in Taurus. Unlike our personal planet aspects, these don’t influence our personal lives as directly, but they will impact the general energy of the world at large, which sometimes can trickle into our personal lives. [Note here that if you have personal planets that interact in aspect with these Mercury-Uranus and Mercury-Chiron moments, this may impact you personally.]
Let’s start with Chiron because it’s the energy we’ve already stewed in. Chiron isn’t one of the planets but an asteroid that has caught the interest of many astrologers in recent years. Often called the Wounded Healer, it represents a pain point or an unhealed wound. Back in April, we experienced a Mercury retrograde that coincided with our eclipse season, and during the total solar eclipse, the Sun was conjunct with both Mercury and Chiron. This was a whopper of a day that many people are still reeling from. Although Chiron has kept moving, it is still only 4° from this fate-filled spot. That means that, to a greater or lesser degree, each connection between Mercury and Chiron is another chance for us to revisit this energy.
“Revisit,” being one of the big re’s, is one of the keywords to understanding Mercury retrograde lessons. We are being given a chance to revisit, revise, rework, and reimagine. With Chiron involved, it’s likely to hurt (at least at first). It may feel like too much. But its worth remembering that Chiron isn’t something that happens TO you, it is considered to be a force of strong healing energy working FOR you.
It’s also worth remembering that Mercury will pass over this point with Chiron three times: once in forward motion during its pre-retrograde shadow, a second while moving backward in retrograde, and a third time in forward motion during its post-retrograde shadow.
Newsflash: you don’t have to get it right the first time through.
A common metaphor for imagining retrograde cycles is as a lesson or “hole” in the ground with which we must fall in/pass over/encounter trice to gain the full experience of the situation.
The story unfolds something like this:
- Oh, there’s a hole in the ground! I fell into it because I didn’t know that it was there. It’s not my fault. (pre-retrograde shadow phase)
- Oh, there’s a hole in the ground. I fell into it again. I did know it was there…maybe I should learn to avoid this hole? (retrograde phase)
- And, if all goes well: Oh hey, that’s a hole in the ground! It’s the same hole I fell into before. I know how to walk around this now. (post-retrograde phase)
If the solar eclipse in April passed by uneventfully, you may find that this Mercury-Chiron set of trines also does. If the eclipse was especially difficult, consider this a chance to gain better insight into what happened and why. We can re-frame these transits to be for our own good by being open to the experiences of Mercury’s underworld journeys.
Lastly, we should discuss Mercury square Uranus. Mercury and Uranus have a lot in common—they both involve and control our brain processes to a certain point. If Mercury is the thinking brain, Uranus can be viewed as pure inspiration. Mercury is quick-moving and changeable; Uranus is slow-moving but enacts drastic and lasting change. Many modern astrologers view Uranus as the higher octave of Mercurial energy; it is Mercury’s energy infused with the beyond.
For the most part, Uranus’s energy simply happens to us. It is the lightning bolt in the Tower card, the hurricane that washes away a whole floodplain, or the volcano that awakens to bring destruction and rebirth. What I mean by this is that it is so far beyond us that it can often feel catastrophic, but – like the eclipses – Uranus has a way of blowing open opportunities that we couldn’t even have imagined. We are all stuck little humans who don’t like to change our own lives and sometimes something beyond us seems to reach down and make that change FOR us so that we are forced to move.
We don’t get a choice in what happens to us in situations like this, but we do get a choice in how we respond.
Two out of these three Mercury square Uranus days are full moons, which puts extra emphasis on their energy signatures. On one of these two days (8/19), the Sun in Leo will be conjunct to Mercury and also square to Uranus in Taurus, making a fixed t-square in the sky. Of the three days, this is the one to watch out for and potentially lie low through. The other two dates are days to encourage divine inspiration if that is your thing.
Watch out for how you speak during these rough squares, as misunderstandings will run rampant, and tempers may be at an all-time low. Uranus is never a patient planet, but in Taurus, it can become a raging bull in about six seconds flat. Give yourself and your others as much grace as you can during this time. Shut your mouth entirely, perhaps, and work on listening (something Mercury in egoic Leo definitely can have a problem with at times).
Any time a retrograde bridges the cusp between signs, you can guess that we will need to dig deep into the differences between the two signs somehow. Virgo is our mutable earth sign, often concerned with work, perfectionism, and effort. Leo is our fixed fire sign, more likely to be the lazy lion basking in the sun while the gruntlings do the work. Remember here, there is no judgment on these energies: there is a time to do the work and a time to bask in the Sun. The problem comes into play when you only do one and not the other.
Standard Mercury retrograde warnings apply:
Technology tends to go a bit wonky, so save your work often and proofread twice before you hit send on an important document. Mercury retrograde is considered the ideal time to edit: reread, rewrite, rework. Travel will take twice as long and almost inevitably involve detours—pack your patience and determination to enjoy the ride. If a person from your past shows up again, look into the unfinished business, but don’t expect it to last past Mercury stations direct. Mercury is a trickster: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
All that glitters is never gold during Mercury’s retrograde cycles, but Fool’s Gold can be its own reward.
The Details
7/16 – Mercury enters its pre-retrograde shadow 21° Leo
7/18 – Mercury in Leo trine Chiron in Aries
7/21 – Full Moon 29° Capricorn, Mercury in Aries square Uranus in Taurus
7/25 – Mercury enters Virgo
8/5 – Mercury retrogrades 04° Virgo
8/8 – Retrograde Mercury conjunct Venus 03° Virgo
8/14 – Mercury enters Leo
8/18 – Sun conjunct retrograde Mercury 26° Leo, Retrograde Mercury in Leo square Uranus in Taurus
8/19 – Full moon 27° Aquarius , Sun conjunct Mercury 27° Aquarius
8/22 – Sun enters Virgo
8/23 – Retrograde Mercury in Leo trine Chiron in Aries
8/24 – Retrograde Mercury in Leo sextile Mars in Gemini
8/28 – Mercury stations direct 21°Leo
9/2 – New moon 11° Virgo, Mercury in Leo trine Chiron in Aries
9/7 – Mercury in Leo square Uranus in Taurus
9/9 – Mercury enters Virgo
9/11 – Mercury exits its post-retrograde shadow 04° Virgo