Look down the Signs column and a pattern shows: the retrogrades slide backwards through the zodiac by element. In 2025 they began in fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), and two of them slipped back into water. In 2026 all three are in water signs. In 2027 they start in water and back into air, and in 2028 all three sit in air signs.
| Stations retrograde | Stations direct | Signs | Shadow | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ||||
9° Aries | 26° Pisces | Aries → Pisces | 1 Mar 2025 – 26 Apr 2025 | 23 |
15° Leo | 4° Leo | Leo | 30 Jun 2025 – 25 Aug 2025 | 24 |
6° Sagittarius | 20° Scorpio | Sagittarius → Scorpio | 21 Oct 2025 – 17 Dec 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | ||||
22° Pisces | 8° Pisces | Pisces | 11 Feb 2026 – 9 Apr 2026 | 23 |
26° Cancer | 16° Cancer | Cancer | 13 Jun 2026 – 7 Aug 2026 | 24 |
20° Scorpio | 5° Scorpio | Scorpio | 4 Oct 2026 – 30 Nov 2026 | 20 |
| 2027 | ||||
5° Pisces | 20° Aquarius | Pisces → Aquarius | 25 Jan 2027 – 23 Mar 2027 | 22 |
6° Cancer | 27° Gemini | Cancer → Gemini | 26 May 2027 – 19 Jul 2027 | 24 |
4° Scorpio | 19° Libra | Scorpio → Libra | 17 Sept 2027 – 13 Nov 2027 | 21 |
| 2028 | ||||
19° Aquarius | 3° Aquarius | Aquarius | 8 Jan 2028 – 5 Mar 2028 | 21 |
16° Gemini | 7° Gemini | Gemini | 6 May 2028 – 29 Jun 2028 | 24 |
18° Libra | 3° Libra | Libra | 30 Aug 2028 – 26 Oct 2028 | 22 |
All times are UTC (Universal Time, the same as GMT outside daylight-saving time). Add your time-zone offset for local time. An event late in the UTC day can fall on the next date in Asia and Australia, and one early in the UTC day on the previous date in the Americas.
Computed by Lunonis with our own ephemeris code (built on astronomy-engine, tested against Swiss Ephemeris): geocentric, tropical zodiac, true equinox of date. Lunation and eclipse times match NASA’s published tables to about a minute. Station times are good to within an hour or so: a planet barely moves at its station, so the exact minute is soft in any ephemeris.
Why Mercury turns back
Retrograde motion is an optical effect. Earth overtakes Mercury on the inside track, and for about three weeks Mercury appears to drift backwards against the stars. The planet itself never reverses.
In astrology Mercury stands for thinking, talking, travel and paperwork, and its retrograde is read as a time to review rather than launch: re-read the contract, back up the files, revisit an old idea. That’s a useful habit in any month. The retrograde is a prompt to slow down and reflect, nothing more.
The shadow is the stretch of zodiac Mercury covers three times: forwards before the retrograde, backwards during it, forwards again after. Astrologers often treat the pre-shadow as the time the retrograde’s themes first come up, and the post-shadow as the time they settle.
More from the sky calendar
- Mercury retrograde 2026Three times a year Mercury appears to move backwards. Station dates, signs and shadow periods.
- Full moons 2026Twelve or thirteen full moons a year, with their traditional names, signs and lunar eclipses.
- New moons 2026Each new moon’s exact time and degree, the start of every lunar month, with the solar eclipses marked.
- Planetary retrogrades 2026Every retrograde from Mercury to Pluto in the year, with the signs each planet moves back through.
- Eclipses 2026Solar and lunar eclipses: total, annular, partial or penumbral, with the sign of each.
- Sky calendarCalendars by year
How this sky meets your chart
These dates are the same for everyone. A personal forecast reads them against your own natal chart: which planets the transits touch, in which houses, by topic. Symbolic guidance for reflection, never predictions about health or money.