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As March comes to an end, so do our retrograde-free days. Beginning April 1, 2024, we experience our first full Mercury retrograde of the year. Although we may think we know all about the communication mishaps, travel plans gone awry, and technology woes combusting out of nowhere, are we missing what Mercury retrograde is actually about?
What Does Mercury Retrograde Mean?
In astrology, a retrograde is a time for reframing. As a planet in its seemingly backward spin revisits the path it has just walked, it is an invitation for retracing, reliving, and rewriting. It is a chance for observing things from another perspective, for untangling our thoughts and responses and reorganizing ourselves around an opportunity to revisit what we have just traversed. A retrograde asks us to revisit the person we have been and the experiences we have had from another perspective.
Mercury represents the mind. It is the lens through which we see the world. It shapes how we perceive and understand our experiences. The mind forms our beliefs and our perspectives, and it is during Mercury retrograde that we have an opportunity to peer within and observe the patterns, beliefs, and narratives that through which we operate in life.
Mercury also represents communication, and while in retrograde, it is through observing our habitual responses that insights are gained. And it is through allowing more time and space within our communication that we can begin to question and rewrite our inner scripts.
Take a few steps to one side and more of what you see can be revealed. Turn something over and more unfolds. When we are offered a different vantage, we can witness more of the story. What we once thought made perfect sense, we see with new eyes. What was once assumed to be truth or fact gives way to alternate realities. We are rearranging. We are reorganizing.
We have grown since our narratives were created. Are they still serving us? What we once never thought to question or had space to ponder, Mercury takes us there.
When is Mercury in Retrograde During 2024?
December 13, 2023-January 1, 2024
April 1-April 25, 2024
August 5-August 28, 2024
November 25-December 15, 2024
What Mercury Retrograde Means for You in 2024
This year, every Mercury retrograde takes place in the fire signs of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius with the exception of a brief detour into an earth sign of Virgo. Fire is related to our ambition, creativity, drive, self-expression, and sense of adventure. It is how we take action in our lives and harness our willpower. Fire is our life force, spirit, and courage.
As Mercury moves through these fiery signs of the zodiac, retracing its steps and rewriting its story, we, too, are reconsidering and reframing the ways in which we channel our fire. We are rewriting the narrative of our will, drive, courage, and ambition. We are reconsidering the ways in which we follow inspiration, take actions toward our desires, and express ourselves outwardly in the world. We are trying to better understand how to reframe our perspective and regenerate our life force and continually recreate our lives.
As Chiron in Aries connects with each of these retrogrades, we are bringing wisdom into these spaces relating to our sense of self, confidence, and belonging to ourselves.
April 1 – April 25: Mercury Retrograde in Aries
Our first full Mercury retrograde of the year takes place in Aries.
Aries is the self. It is the spark that makes you you. It is the courage from within to live authentically as only you can.
Aries reminds us that each have our own needs. We each have our own worlds that live within us and dreams that call us toward them. The North Node of purpose, evolution, and growth has been moving through Aries since 2023. Throughout this time, we have all been healing, building, and cultivating our own Aries fires. This will continue into 2025.
As Mercury retrogrades in Aries, we are offered the opportunity to witness and question the inner narratives, experiences, and thought forms that have fed into our selfhood, our identity, and the way we see—and therefore express—ourselves in the world. It is an opportunity to take some space, breathe, and observe how we have been directing our will. Has it gone toward creating a life that is true to us as individuals? Or have we been directing it elsewhere?
We are being invited to rewrite the script on what it means to be clear and direct, to honor our wants and needs and passions, and to self-direct our own path with courage and self-ownership.
August 5-August 28: Mercury Retrograde in Virgo and Leo
Beginning on August 5, Mercury starts its retrograde in Virgo and then quickly shifts into Leo, where it will remain until it completes its backward spin on August 28.
While in Virgo for its short stay, Mercury retrograde brings an analytical and highly discerning inward reflection. Virgo is a sign of self-analysis, deeply aware of its own potential and concerned with the self-actualization of that potential.
While we retrace our steps through this earth sign, the self-analysis takes place from a different vantage. Mercury in its backward spin under the influence of this Mercury-ruled sign helps gather the insights we previously missed and encourages us to reflect on the expectations we hold of ourselves. Are they inspiring, motivating, and enlivening? Or are they inherited, not true to who we are and what we want, and no longer relevant?
As Mercury shifts into Leo for the remainder of its retrograde, we return to fire, self-expression, and inner authority. Leo expresses a beautiful and bold stamp of who it is to the world. It is here to self-validate, create, play, and offer warmth to the world simply by being who it is.
As Mercury retrograde journeys through Leo, it does so for our empowerment. It does so in order to help us reclaim our narratives around self-expression. It does so to help us rewrite our stories of what it means to be seen, to take up space, and to pour validation and love into ourselves. Mercury retrograde in Leo offers us the opportunity to reframe and embody our own Leo—that is, to radiate the authentic magic that we uniquely are.
November 25-December 15: Mercury Retrograde in Sagittarius
Our final Mercury retrograde of the year falls under the influence of our final fire sign, Sagittarius. Beginning November 25 and continuing until December 15, 2024, Mercury retraces its steps through the fires of Sagittarius in a beautiful opportunity to observe the beliefs, philosophies, and cosmologies that frame the way we not only see but interact with life.
Humanity has been trying to make sense of existence since the beginning of time. This Mercury retrograde invites us to look to our inner framework of what it means to be alive. We are asked to observe our experiences and the way in which life seems to share its meaning with us, moment by moment, revealing truths and insights. We are prompted to reflect on what we have been taught about what being a human means. What we did we allow into our minds? Where did it come from? Does it still align with who we currently are or is it time for a rewrite? Was it ever true to who we are?
This Mercury retrograde is also an opportunity to review and renew our beliefs around hope, trust, and faith in ourselves and something beyond us. The more we believe possible for ourselves, the more life seems to meet us in these possibilities. What do you believe is possible for you?