The Messenger’s Moonwalk: A Mercury Retrograde Field Guide
When the Trickster Turns His Heels
There’s a moment when Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods, slows to a stop in the sky. And then, in a cosmic sleight of hand, he appears to walk backward.
Of course, he’s not really reversing. But from where we stand on Earth, it sure feels like it. Conversations glitch. Flights delay. Emails vanish. Old flames reappear. It's as if the universe dropped a handful of marbles and told us to retrace our steps to pick them up, slowly, carefully, barefoot.
Welcome to Mercury retrograde: the infamous, misunderstood cycle when the planet of communication, thought, travel, and technology appears to moonwalk across the zodiac. While pop culture loves to paint it as pure chaos, this cycle is a regular part of the recalibration rhythm of the cosmos. It’s the moment in the myth when the trickster pauses, smirks, and invites us into a story we’ve heard before, but this time, with new ears.
This article is your guide to decoding the moonwalk: what Mercury retrograde really is, how it works in the sky and in your psyche, and how to move with its rhythm rather than resisting the rewind.
What the Heck Is Mercury Retrograde, Actually?
Let’s clear up a few things: Mercury doesn’t really go backward.
In the grand ballet of our solar system, Mercury’s retrograde is an optical illusion. The planet doesn’t physically reverse its orbit; instead, it appears to move backward from our vantage point on Earth. Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, zips around in its orbit much faster than Earth. About three times a year, Mercury passes us, and as it does, it creates that temporary "backwards" effect. This is what we call the retrograde period, and it usually lasts for about three weeks.
But wait; there’s more! Pre-shadow and post-shadow phases. Think of these as the lead-up and aftermath of Mercury’s retrograde season, when the energy starts building (pre-shadow) and when the dust settles (post-shadow). These phases can actually stretch out the influence to about six weeks, so there’s plenty of time for Mercury’s trickster ways to mess with our heads.
Understanding the Full Cycle: Pre-Shadow, Retrograde, and Post-Shadow
Mercury retrograde is a three-act play that unfolds over several weeks, moving through a specific part of your chart (defined by degrees in a single sign, or sometimes two).
To understand how it’s working for you, it helps to track the entire arc:
Pre-Shadow Phase
This is when Mercury is still moving forward through the degrees he will eventually retrograde back over. It’s the first pass, and it sets the stage.
You may begin to notice the themes of the retrograde starting to show up.
Mercury reaches the degree he will later retrograde back to. This is the starting point of the shadow.
This is a great time to start paying attention to what you’re saying, signing, scheduling, or initiating because you’ll likely revisit it.
Example: This Mercury will retrograde from 15° Leo back to 4° Leo, then the pre-shadow begins when Mercury first hits 4° Leo. That was on June 30.
Retrograde Proper (The Moonwalk)
This is the official backspin when Mercury stations retrograde and begins retracing his steps.
This is when things often feel confusing, delayed, glitchy, or introspective.
It’s the second pass over the same degrees: the review phase.
This is the best time to revise, renegotiate, and reconnect.
Post-Shadow Phase
Mercury stations direct and begins moving forward again over the same ground. This is the third pass, known as the integration.
During post-shadow, Mercury moves from the degree where he stationed direct back toward the degree where he first turned around, and ultimately passes it.
Things start to gain clarity and traction again, but with the benefit of hindsight.
It’s the time to apply what you learned, finalize decisions, and move forward with more awareness.
In our example, the post-shadow starts when Mercury reaches 4° Leo again and stations direct, then it ends when Mercury moves past 15° Leo, the degree where he first went retrograde.
Why This Matters for Your Chart:
The degrees Mercury moves through from pre-shadow-start to post-shadow-end mark a specific zone in your natal chart. That zone is getting a three-pass activation:
First pass: unconscious themes start stirring.
Second pass: things break down, reveal themselves, or return for review.
Third pass: you synthesize, edit, and move forward wiser.
This is an invitation to deepen your clarity in one or two areas of life.
The Cazimi: Mercury’s Moment in the Heart of the Sun
Right in the middle of every Mercury retrograde, there’s a moment of clarity, a brief opening in the storm.
This moment is called a cazimi, which means “in the heart of the Sun.” It’s when Mercury aligns exactly with the Sun at the same zodiac degree (often within 17 arc minutes). It becomes infused with the Sun’s light. Mercury is blessed and renewed.
Symbolically:
The cazimi is the turning point of the retrograde, the moment Mercury moves from being the psychopomp (traveling through the underworld) to being reborn as the morning star.
It’s a transmission point. We see a spark of truth. There is an aha in the midst of confusion.
What It Offers:
A flash of insight or intuitive knowing
A moment of crystal clarity in the area Mercury is retrograding in your chart
An energetic reset
The cazimi is the eye of the storm, a moment beckoning us to sit still, listen deeply, and receive the message that’s trying to come through.
How to Work with the Cazimi:
Take time to journal, reflect, meditate: don’t force output, but make space for downloads
Track dreams or sudden inner shifts
If you must take action during the retrograde, the cazimi window is one of the most supported times to do so
How to Find It:
The cazimi occurs when Mercury and the Sun meet at the same degree and minute.
In July 2025, the Mercury cazimi will occur at 7:41 PM ET, July 31, 2025, at 9° Leo. Mark your calendar!
Pro tip: The few hours before and after the exact cazimi are considered the most potent.
If Mercury retrograde is a descent into meaning, the cazimi is the message from the center of the flame.
The Key Dates to Keep in Mind:
Pre-Shadow: About two weeks before the retrograde. Watch for the first hints of miscommunication, missed connections, or travel delays.
Start of Retrograde: When Mercury starts appearing to move backward.
Mercury Cazimi: Halfway through the retrograde Mercury meets the Sun and receives a blessing. Expect insights.
End of Retrograde: When Mercury resumes its normal forward motion.
Post-Shadow: About two weeks after the retrograde. This is when things still feel like they’re “catching up” as Mercury returns to its regular pace.
Mercury retrograde offers us the space to reflect, recalibrate, and reconnect, so we can come out of it wiser and more aligned with our true path.
The Mythic Messenger: Mercury’s Many Faces
Before Mercury became the reason your texts won’t send, he was a god with wings on his feet and mischief in his bones.
In Roman mythology, Mercury (the Roman version of the Greek Hermes) was the Messenger of the Gods, a divine intermediary who moved freely between the realms of heaven, earth, and the underworld. No other deity had this passport. He was fast, clever, and uncatchable, patron of merchants, thieves, storytellers, travelers, and those on the margins.
But Mercury was offering more than delivering news; he was also shaping meaning. He carried the caduceus, a staff entwined with two snakes, symbolizing paradox, negotiation, and duality. He ruled over crossroads, transitions, and thresholds, the liminal spaces where possibility lay.
Hermes was also a psychopomp, a guide of souls. He didn’t fear the dark. He moved through it with grace, helping the lost find their way. In this role, Mercury retrograde makes more sense: it’s a descent into deeper insight.
So when Mercury “moonwalks,” he’s stirring the pot, but also he’s inviting you back across the threshold into a conversation, a memory, a decision, or a truth that needs one more look.
What Mercury Rules and Why It’s a Big Deal
Mercury is the cosmic courier, ruler of information, movement, and meaning-making. In astrology, he governs all the things we use to connect the dots and bridge the gaps between thoughts and words, places and people, intention and expression.
So when Mercury goes retrograde, those connections get… weird.
Let’s break it down:
Communication
Texts get misread. Emails disappear. Words come out sideways. The unsaid becomes louder than what’s spoken. Mercury governs language, speech, and expression, so during his retrograde, messages can morph, misfire, or arrive late but exactly on time for your soul’s curriculum.
Thought + Perception
Mercury also rules how we think, process, and interpret. During the retrograde, your inner narrator might replay old stories, question your clarity, or pull up memories for editing. Sometimes this looks like overthinking. Other times, like seeing a pattern you missed the first time around.
Technology
Tech gremlins thrive during Mercury retrograde: apps crash, passwords glitch, backups vanish, and Zoom decides to freeze at just the wrong moment. It’s a good time to double-save everything and resist the urge to throw your laptop across the room.
Travel + Logistics
Mercury is also the patron of movement including travel, short-distance trips, cars, bikes, buses, schedules, and deliveries. When retrograde, Mercury tends to stir up delays, detours, and the classic “wait… what gate did they say?” airport confusion.
Contracts + Agreements
Mercury governs contracts, negotiations, and fine print, which is why astrologers often advise caution around signing big deals during the retrograde. It’s not that you can’t; just make sure you’ve read everything three times, ideally with a second set of eyes.
In short, Mercury retrograde bends things to show us what we weren’t seeing. It’s the universe’s way of saying, “Wait. Go back. You missed something important.”
What Mercury Retrograde Actually Looks Like
Here’s how Mercury’s mischief might show up in your daily life:
You send an important email… to the wrong person.
A missed train leads you to a coffee shop where you run into someone from your past.
You accidentally delete a document, and when recreating it, you realize you had a better idea all along.
An ex texts you out of nowhere… right when you were starting to move on.
You reread an old journal and suddenly understand something you missed before.
You try to express how you feel, and it comes out completely wrong.
Mercury retrograde isn’t a one-size-fits-all chaos parade. Sometimes it’s hilarious. Sometimes it’s humbling. But almost always, it holds a mirror up to how we move, speak, think, and connect. It asks: Do you want to do that differently now?
Mercury Curriculum
We’ve been trained to fear Mercury retrograde like it’s a cosmic boogeyman, but that’s just lazy astrology. This isn’t a time of random destruction. It’s a time of revealing, reworking, and reclaiming.
Mercury retrograde is a cycle of reflection, and like any good teacher, it tests what we’ve learned. The trickster’s job is to sharpen your awareness. To ask, Are you paying attention? Did you really hear what was said? Are you sure you’re clear on what you meant?
This is the sacred skill Mercury teaches: discernment.
The Trickster + The Scribe
Mercury carries two archetypes:
The Trickster, who trips us up so we stop walking on autopilot.
The Scribe, who keeps the record and asks us to review what’s been written and what still needs to be edited.
Together, they turn the retrograde into a place to pick up lost threads, repair miscommunications, or reimagine the story you’ve been telling.
The Power of the “Re” Prefix
Retrogrades always carry the prefix “re” because they pull us back to what we’ve bypassed:
Revisit old ideas
Repair broken conversations
Reread the fine print
Reclaim your voice
Remember what you forgot you knew
It’s a chance to do it differently. To slow down and re-align with what actually matters.
Mercury Retrograde by Element: Fire, Earth, Air, Water
While every Mercury retrograde has a flavor, the element it occurs in gives us the emotional terrain. Is the retrograde expressive or internal? Mental or emotional? Sensual or fiery?
Here’s how the energy tends to move through each element:
Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
When Mercury retrogrades through fire, your voice is loud, but your message may burn too fast.
Reactions over responses
Flashes of insight... or ego
Rethinking identity, confidence, and creative expression
This retrograde teaches you to temper the blaze so your fire can illuminate, not incinerate.
Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
Retrogrades in earth signs slow the pace and focus on the tangible.
Money, time, systems, the body
Revising habits, plans, and practical frameworks
Asking: Is this sustainable? Does this nourish me?
This retrograde teaches patience and presence, the wisdom of the long game.
Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
Mercury’s home turf. Expect lots of thinking about thinking.
Miscommunications fly faster
Mental loops, overanalysis, or ghosted texts
Revisiting relationships, networks, ideas, and contracts
This retrograde teaches clarity through stillness and the art of saying less.
Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)
Retrogrades in water signs draw us into the emotional archives.
Old wounds, family stories, intuitive hits
Dreams speak louder than emails
Relearning emotional fluency
This retrograde teaches emotional literacy, reading between the lines of your own heart.
Mercury Retrograde in Leo (Current Cycle)
The Messenger’s Moonwalk is currently happening in Leo, a fire sign ruled by the Sun, bringing themes of visibility, expression, and creative ego into the spotlight.
During Mercury retrograde in Leo, you might:
Revisit past creative projects or performances
Reconsider how you express your truth: is it pride, or is it protection?
Reflect on leadership, attention, and what it means to be truly seen
Rewrite a love letter (to someone else, or yourself)
This is not a time to suppress your voice, but it is a time to refine it. Leo teaches us to roar on purpose.
The Mercury Retrograde Survival Kit
Mercury retrograde asks for a different rhythm. Think less “plow ahead” and more “retrace your steps with intention.” Here’s your cosmic carry-on for moving through it with grace (and maybe even a little humor).
What to Do During Mercury Retrograde:
Back it up: your files, your phone, your plans.
Slow it down: triple-check the text before hitting send.
Reread, rewrite, revisit: give old work and conversations a second look.
Expect delays, and build in buffers.
Reflect rather than react, especially in sensitive convos.
Journal your thoughts: the wisdom is in what resurfaces.
Tie up loose ends: finish what you started.
Make space for reconnection: old friends and old ideas may return for a reason.
What Not to Do (If You Can Help It):
Don’t launch brand-new projects without a solid plan (or triple-checking the details).
Don’t sign contracts in a rush: read the fine print or wait, if possible.
Don’t ghost your intuition: the “off” feeling is probably a real signal.
Don’t pick a fight in the group chat just because autocorrect betrayed you.
Don’t panic when something breaks: ask what it’s trying to tell you.
Mercury Rx Ritual Ideas:
Create a "Re" Altar: symbols of what you’re reclaiming or releasing (letters, keys, mirrors, old journals)
Offer something to Mercury: lavender, coins, or a clever poem (he loves wit)
Take a screen break and go analog for a bit. The messages will still find you.
Reframe the Chaos:
It’s time to edit. Mercury is saying: “If it’s built well, it’ll hold. If not, let’s fix it.”
You don’t need to avoid life, you just need to move through it with more curiosity, care, and consciousness.
The Medicine of the Moonwalk
If Mercury direct is the forward story, the linear, logical plot, then Mercury retrograde is the notes scribbled in the margins.
In the storyline, it’s the pause between sentences..
This cycle slows us down in order to wake us up. Mercury’s moonwalk helps us find what we’ve dropped: threads of conversation, ideas abandoned too soon, truths we couldn’t yet say out loud.
Mercury retrograde reminds us that learning is spiralic, that progress is not always forward. Sometimes, it’s backwards, sideways, and then inward.
Sometimes we must return to certain places to extract new meaning, understanding, and information we had previously missed. And these returns set us on newer and more aligned trajectories.
What Mercury Retrograde Heals:
Clarity: In slowing down, we actually see what was foggy before.
Communication: By reviewing the past, we sharpen how we express in the future.
Connection: Old stories resurface, but this time, we respond differently.
Control: When plans glitch, we find presence. We soften into what is.
You Can’t Re-Write What You Won’t Re-Read
The retrograde is your editing window.
It says: go back, look again, there’s something there.
It asks: who were you when you first made this choice? And who are you now?
The medicine is often the exact thing we didn’t know we needed until the moment everything paused.
Where Is Mercury Moonwalking in Your Chart?
Every Mercury retrograde happens in a zodiac sign, but its deepest messages are delivered through the house it’s moving through in your natal chart. That’s the “where” of the retrograde story: the life territory being revisited, revised, or rewritten.
If the sign is the costume, the house is the stage.
To find out, look up your birth chart and locate which house(s) Mercury is currently retrograding through (at this time he is retrograding from 4-15 degrees of Leo).
Here’s your guide to what Mercury might be working on behind the scenes:
🏠 House-by-House Retrograde Themes:
1st House: Identity, self-expression, how you speak and show up. A time to rewrite the “about me” of your life.
2nd House: Money, self-worth, possessions. Are your values and your spending in alignment?
3rd House: Communication, siblings, learning, short trips. Speak, listen, relearn, especially close to home.
4th House: Home, family, roots. Emotional echoes and ancestral stories may rise again.
5th House: Creativity, romance, play. Reclaim your joy. Re-edit your creative voice.
6th House: Health, habits, service. Rethink routines. Repair systems. Rest.
7th House: Partnerships, contracts, mirrors. Relationship stories may circle back for renegotiation.
8th House: Intimacy, shared resources, power dynamics. Unearth hidden motives. Speak truth with tenderness.
9th House: Beliefs, travel, wisdom, publishing. Rethink your philosophy. Edit the manuscript. Return to the sacred texts.
10th House: Career, legacy, reputation. Your public voice is being rewired.
11th House: Friends, community, vision for the future. Who are your people? What dream are you ready to revise?
12th House: The subconscious, dreams, endings. This is deep inner work, a spiritual systems update.
Pro tip: If Mercury stations retrograde across two houses, you may feel like you’re editing two chapters of the story at once; pay attention to the transition point.
Reflection: What part of your life is being gently (or not so gently) asked to pause, rework, and listen again?
When Mercury Is Your Ruler: Gemini & Virgo Risings, This One Hits Different
If you’re a Gemini or Virgo rising, Mercury is a major player in your astrology, as he’s your chart ruler. That means he governs the way you move through the world, how you make decisions, communicate, and orient yourself toward life. So when Mercury stations retrograde, you feel it more deeply. It impacts your sense of self.
It’s an opportunity for an identity recalibration.
Reminder: What’s a Chart Ruler?
Your chart ruler is the planet that rules your Ascendant sign; it acts as a kind of ambassador between you and the world.
Gemini Rising → Mercury rules your 1st house
Virgo Rising → Mercury rules your 1st house
When your chart ruler is retrograde, it often feels like you are being rerouted: your energy, clarity, and rhythm all move differently. This is why Mercury retrogrades can feel especially existential for Gemini and Virgo rising folks.
Gemini Rising
Mercury rules your 1st house, the house of personality, instinct, and embodiment. During retrograde, you may feel:
Less clear or confident about how you're being received
Like your voice isn’t landing the way it usually does
A pull to revisit personal ideas, plans, or goals you thought were settled
This is a time to pause, reflect, and re-align your message with your truth. Your natural curiosity is your compass.
Virgo Rising
Mercury also rules your 1st house, and by extension, the entire way you manage your inner and outer world. Retrogrades can stir up:
Questions around self-worth, health, and daily systems
Disruption in routines you usually rely on to feel safe and steady
A deeper inquiry into what is actually working
Mercury is offering you a systems update.
What It Means When Your Chart Ruler Goes Retrograde
The chart ruler acts like the narrator of your story, and when they go retrograde, the entire tone shifts. Life may feel:
Slower
More inward
Strangely dreamlike or out-of-sync
Mercury retrograde for Gemini and Virgo risings is a sacred invitation to pause the forward motion and listen inward, to let your mind, your words, and your choices reconnect with your body and your purpose.
Need a Map Through the Maze? Let’s Walk It Together.
Mercury retrograde doesn’t come with a manual, but it does come with meaning. And you don’t have to decode it alone.
Whether you’re tangled in tech snafus, revisiting relationship patterns, or just feeling like life is speaking in riddles, I’m here to help you translate the message behind the moonwalk.
15-Minute Mercury Retrograde Mini-Readings
In this focused session, we’ll look at:
Where Mercury is retrograding in your chart
What’s coming up for review, repair, or release
Simple, personalized guidance for how to work with the energy (not against it)
Book your mini-reading here → MINI READING
Mercury Retrograde Class: Learn the Magic, Not the Myth
Want to go deeper? I’m teaching a live class that includes:
The why behind Mercury retrograde (astronomy + astrology)
How to track Mercury through your own chart
Q & A
Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM EDT. 60 minutes on Zoom. $25.
Recordings will be made available, if you can’t attend live.
Reserve your spot here → CLASS WAITLIST
