Mercury retrograde 24 October – 13 November 2026
Mercury stations retrograde at 20°58′ Scorpio on 24 October 2026 and direct at 5°02′ Scorpio on 13 November. Exact times, the shadow from 4 October to 30 November, and what it means for each sign.
The dates, degrees and times
| Moment | When (UTC) | Where |
|---|---|---|
Pre-shadow begins | 5°02′ Scorpio | |
Mercury conjunct Venus | Scorpio | |
Mercury stations retrograde | 20°58′ Scorpio | |
Mercury square Mars | Scorpio · Leo | |
Mercury passes between Earth and Sun | Scorpio | |
Mercury stations direct | 5°02′ Scorpio | |
Post-shadow ends | 20°58′ Scorpio | |
Length | 20 days retrograde · 57 days including the shadow | — |
Also retrograde | Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus | — |
Computed with the Lunonis ephemeris (geocentric, tropical zodiac, true equinox of date). Times are UTC and good to about a minute; for stations, where the planet barely moves, to a few minutes.
Mercury retrograde, Oct–Nov 2026
This is Mercury’s last retrograde of 2026, and it never leaves Scorpio: it turns at 20°58′ and walks back to 5°02′ of the same sign. Scorpio rules what is shared, hidden and owed, so the review this time is less about delayed trains than about the conversations people have been putting off: contracts, debts, joint accounts, the thing that was never quite said.
Two details make this one unusual. Venus is retrograde too, from 3 October, so for three weeks both personal planets move backwards at once, and Venus turns direct only about eight hours after Mercury. And on 4 November Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, the inferior conjunction that astrologers treat as the reset point of the cycle: the old version of a plan ends there and the new one starts to form.
What it means for each sign
Houses are whole-sign solar houses counted from each Sun sign. If you know your birth time, count from your Rising sign instead: that house is the one that applies to you.
| Sun sign | House | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
Aries | 8th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around shared money, debts, intimacy and what you owe. |
Taurus | 7th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around partners, contracts and one-to-one ties. |
Gemini | 6th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around daily work, routines and health habits. |
Cancer | 5th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around romance, creativity, children and play. |
Leo | 4th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around home, family and roots. |
Virgo | 3rd house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around everyday talk, siblings, short trips and learning. |
Libra | 2nd house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around money, possessions and self-worth. |
Scorpio | 1st house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around yourself, your body and how you come across. |
Sagittarius | 12th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around rest, solitude, the hidden and the unfinished. |
Capricorn | 11th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around friends, groups, networks and hopes. |
Aquarius | 10th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around career, reputation and public direction. |
Pisces | 9th house | Re-read, renegotiate and recover what slipped around travel, study, beliefs and the bigger picture. |
Your Rising sign decides which house this lands in
A Sun-sign reading is one twelfth of the picture. Your free birth chart shows your Rising sign and every planet, so you can see where this event really falls for you; the monthly forecast then reads the transits against your own chart.
Asked and answered
When is Mercury retrograde?
Mercury stations retrograde on 24 October 2026 at 20°58′ Scorpio and stations direct on 13 November 2026 at 5°02′ Scorpio: 20 days. Counting the shadow, the whole cycle runs from 4 October 2026 to 30 November 2026. Exact UTC times, with your local time, are in the table above.
Should I avoid signing contracts while Mercury is retrograde?
Tradition says wait, and the practical version is reasonable: if a deal can wait until after 13 November, or better after the shadow ends on 30 November, let it. If it can’t, sign, but read every clause twice, keep copies and confirm dates in writing. The retrograde is a time for revisions, not a ban.
Which signs feel it most?
It falls in Scorpio, so for those Sun signs it is in the 1st house, the most personal one. Every sign meets it somewhere: the table shows the house for each. More precise is your own chart: if you have planets or your Rising sign near 5°02′ Scorpio – 20°58′ Scorpio, it is a bigger event for you.