posted 12th November 2025
I maybe a bit controversial in saying this, but the planet Mercury, in an optical illusion of heading backwards around the earth (retrograde), doesn’t necessarily mean everything is going to go tits up.
First up, and I will say this again and again, your personal astrology chart reading based on the exact time you were born, will determine how you feel the energy of each planetary movement in the cosmos. I’m still baffled to this day how there are daily collective readings being put out there in the media with 50million likes and follows and yet, I’m very much aware the placement won’t even be felt by even a fifth of those people.
But let’s get the basics straight, mercury is the planet of communication in all forms, that includes buying, selling, reading, listening, speaking and much more. The planet sits under two star signs, those being Gemini and Virgo; these particular signs when in their light are talented with words, negotiation and the voice. So when Mercury is in a harmonious positionin your astrology chart; it shows up as clarity and connection, in detriment; it shows up as confusion and conflict. Somewhere in between is a mix of both. Sextiles and trines to your Mercury placement via other planets are harmonious, but squares and oppositions are not. Conjunctions can be either or, depending on what planet Mercury it is next to, if its a friend or not and how conjunct it is!.....Yes, astrology is complicated! For instance Mercury and the Sun on a wide conjunction (12 degrees or more ideally) creates something quite special in terms of being heard, listened to and understood well. Anything closer could cause what we call a combustion, where ego takes over and its hard to be heard clearly.
So what does Mercury Retrograde actually mean?
Astrologically when Mercury is in retrograde it is slowing down in its orbit around the earth and when its looked at from a third eye perspective, it comes across as if it is moving backwards. However, this is only an illusion because the orbit of the earth round the Sun is longer than that of Mercury.
This does mean that the area of life your Mercury sits in in your birth chart (known as house) and the area of life that relates to communication - Gemini and Virgo placements, tend not to flow as easily. It’s a bit like trying to walk through treacle; you’ve got your goal; you’ve got things you need to do and say but it just doesn’t seem to be flowing or understood. Plus if you have prominent Gemini and Virgo placements, you will feel its effects on these particular areas of your life more. Oh and just to add, if Mercury was in retrograde when you were born, this energetic slow down maybe a bit more enhanced in your life.
There is a “lovely” push pull dynamic of knowing what to do and not being able to get there in enough time within a Mercury Retrograde.
The current retrograde runs from November 9th to November 29th. Mercury starts in Sagittarius and moves into the placement of Scorpio by the end.
So How Can We See A Retrograde as Blessing?
First up, when something slows down it’s a chance for us to see the detail better. When we are rushing through life, we miss the nitty gritty and tend to be running along the surface … almost like taking a short cut. When we slow down, and I have experienced this when I have done a lot of regular meditation, we can see the colours more vibrantly, the dynamic of each situation more poignantly, we have time to ask questions rather than assume. Overall, we enable a sense of organic awakening rather than a fixed agenda that can only seem like a win, if we tick the boxes.
Slowing down means:
- Taking time to be more present with people and situations
- Enabling possibilities rather than sitting in safety nets
- Consideration rather than assumption
- Contemplation rather than fixed ideas
- Creativity rather than rigidness
- Flexibility rather than set in stone
The main problem most people have in a Mercury Retrograde is that they want things to be on their time and their way. But have you ever thought there is a beauty and blessing with accepting a new way that could lead you to something more fruitful? The issue here lies in people resisting what is happening which in turn causes emotional frustrations and outbursts due to the impatience and so called “out of alignment”feeling that is being presented to them … for a reason.
Those with a more rigid mindset, fixed ideas and belief systems will most definitely find a Mercury Retrograde moment more challenging that those who are adaptive and flexible in nature. That being said, as a retrograde isn’t something that happens over a few days and more so a month or two, patience and tolerance is the ultimate weapon here.
Those with higher cardinal and fixed elements in their astrology chart, therefore, will be challenged more so than the mutable star signs. Cardinal signs being ruled by fire and are generally the leaders of the pact, they like to be in charge, so to sit back isn’t something they feel comfortable with naturally. The mutable signs have a benefit that they are resistant to change but they are quite "fixed" and set in their ways, so to be uprooted out of know where and without warning isn’t their idea of comfort.. in which they generally seek.
Time For Reflection
If we take a Mercury Retrograde as time to reflect and get clarity and not a time to go get and fight for what’s right, we can use it’s reversing perspective to uncover what’s lying beneath the surface of our need for speed, schedule and defined ultimatums.
What if our fear of failure is infact stopping us from taking our time to build solid foundations, just in case they crash down on us?
What if our fear of being seenis stopping us from exposing who we are in the workplace and in relations, and then we wonder why we don’t have any “real” friends?
Can we little by little change that in this moment, through our communication?
This can be relative to the communication we have with ourselves and others.
For the fear of failurecan we commit to daily schedules and timeframes?
For the fear of being seen can we show up more for others, share our life more with those closest to us- including the good and the bad, however uncomfortable it may seem?
And what about the personal astrology chart placements?
We let me give you some example.
Mercury in Ariesin the first house at 1 degree, conjunct the Moon and opposition Mars.
This person is self-driven and puts themselves first. They however do this to protect the ego and their volatile emotions, but also the undiplomatic honesty they know they harbour.
For Mercury Retrograde it’s time for this person to think of others, it’s time to open up little by little and not hold it all in then burst. Others are not a dumping ground and it’s not a chance to compete when others share their feelings, it’s a time to discuss, without an agenda.
I like to see retrograde as a time to look at the shadow of planetary placements of each individual chart, especially in regards to MERCURY - the way the person speaks, discusses, exchanges and integrates.
And, most importantly, to notice what is coming up during this time. What communication confusions or chaos is happening/ is being lost, and how can we reframe the dynamic to create harmony/ to build a better bridge.
Here are some prompts to help!
What are you feeling during this time?
- Lost? - What are you not paying attention or giving attention to?
- Angry? - What frustrates you and why?
- Tired? - Where are you giving too much of your energy to others and not enough to yourself.
If we think of a Mercury Retrograde as supposedly going backwards in communication, I like to think of this motion of backwards being a rewind into self-reflection of communication; A time to change what is being lost and unspoken, so that when Mercury comes out of its retrograde, it can zoom forward with a more solid foundation.
