Mercury Retrograde Explained

Whew! Mercury just moved out of its retrograde shadow, and I think it left most of us wondering, what the hell was that??

What is Mercury retrograde and it has a shadow? Why is everyone so anxious about it? What can I expect from these transits?

Let's start at the top. Astrology is always based on our perspective of the sky. It's one of the three pieces of information we need to draw a birth chart: date, time, and location.

Astrologically, Mercury rules your communication style, your thought process, as well as transportation and commerce.

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and from our perspective on Earth, Mercury is never more than 28 degrees, or one sign away, from the sun. For example, today the sun just moved into Virgo - HAPPY B'DAY VIRGOS - so Mercury has to be in either Leo, Virgo, or Libra.

I'm gonna nerd out a little and walk you through a timeline of our most recent Mercury retrograde.

June 30, 2025	Pre-retrograde shadow starts	4* Leo
July 18, 2025	Retrograde! dun dun	15* Leo
July 31, 2025	Cazimi - halfway there!!	9* Leo
August 11, 2025	Retrograde over... almost	4* Leo
August 25, 2025	Post-retrograde shadow ends	15* Leo

So to break that down, Mercury stationed retrograde on July 18th at 15 degrees of Leo, but it will back track to 4 degrees (which is where is was June 30th), making June 30th- July 18th the pre-retrograde shadow. This period of time is like a trailer or a teaser for the main event.

Up next: the retrograde! So from our perspective on Earth, Mercury is as far away from the sun as it can get. You'll be able to see a twinkling little "star" on the eastern horizon right before dawn if it's a morning star, or on the western horizon at dusk if it's an evening star. So pretty! Because the planet is as far away as it can get, at this point it's going to look like Mercury is throwing it in reverse and that's when shit tends to hit the fan.

Cazimi!! (everyone take a deep breath with me here) A cazimi is when any planet is "in the heart of the sun", a perfect conjunction. If you have to do something important during a retrograde, this is the best time to do it. It's a quick, short-lived, breath of fresh air in the midst of the chaos.

The direct station is the next bit, most people will consider the end. Merc is moving forward again and things start to settle down a little bit. However, Mercury is still not in new territory until it clears 15 degrees of Leo (that will be the end of the shadow August 25th).

cue applause and maybe a dance party

Alrighty, that was the astronomical portion of the post. Next we'll get into the symbolism - why is everyone freaking out?

Like I said earlier, Mercury essentially rules the mind. The way you think and speak. When it is moving backwards, things can get frustrating. There's not a hard and fast rule about the effects. But if you look around, you'll hear things like:

• My car is messing up

• I'm running so late, the traffic is worse than usual

• My flight/bus got delayed

• My phone/computer is glitching

• I'm feeling so anxious and I don't know why

• I spilled my coffee all over myself this morning (that one was me)

It's like Murphy's Law, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Now that's not everyone every time. As with any transit, it will depend on how it impacts your natal chart. But just perk your ears up a bit, it's incredible how many different ways it can play out with those around you when you're listening for it!

My advice? Try to avoid signing contracts and if you can't avoid it, be very diligent when reading it over. Don't speed when you drive, and try to give yourself some extra travel time. Make sure your alarms are set before bed. And don't over think it.

Mercury stations retrograde 3-4 times a year, it's very common. Smash Mouth said it best, "the years start coming and they don't stop coming", and neither do the transits. Being aware of the types of events likely to occur just help you to prepare. Astrology is so cool. Now that we're out of that transit, please leave a comment with the most spot on Mercury retrograde thing that happened to or around you in the last 8 weeks!

Thank you for reading Astrological Insights with Ashleigh!