The Best Things to Do During Mercury Retrograde
Mars retrograde in the beginning of the year made us feel the irritation of needing to be patient when action was stalled.
This Venus retrograde is making us reassess our values and our money.
Mercury retrograde? Always gets a bad reputation.
For good reason — it’s frustrating as hell when things don’t go smoothly.
And yes, the ones we’re in right now have thrown things off-kilter — for your emails, your emotions, your tech, your plans.
(If you want to skip ahead to how this retrograde is affecting you personally, scroll down to the rising sign section at the bottom— I’ve broken it down.)
Mercury rules communication, technology, mental processing, timing, and coordination.
Who wants to reread a contract ten times?
Who wants to plan every little detail in case everything that could go wrong somehow does?
Who wants to re-feel or reprocess old baggage from the past?
But this is me telling you:
Get the choppy blunt haircut. (It’ll grow back.)
Sign the contract. (After reading it so many times your vision blurs inward.)
Text the person from the past. (Only if it’ll help you move on.)
I don’t believe in fear-mongering.
I got a tattoo and signed a lease just to prove it.
Life doesn’t stop just because Mercury goes retrograde — or any planet. And we’ve had plenty already this year.
It’s a frustrating inconvenience, yes.
But I still stand by the retrograde.
Even as I type this from a car repair shop with engine issues and an iPhone 13 that stopped charging two days ago.
I also get a text from a nauseating man I went on one date with — a regrettable Frankenstein version of both my exes, morphed into one.
It’s fine.
2025 Retrogrades
Chronological order
Mercury (communication, tech, travel)
• March 14 – April 7 (currently active)
• July 17 – August 11
• November 9 – November 29
Venus (love, money, values)
• March 1 – April 12 (currently active)
Pluto (power, transformation, the subconscious)
• May 4 – October 12
Saturn (boundaries, responsibility, long-term goals)
• June 30 – November 12
Neptune (dreams, illusions, spirituality)
• July 19 – December 15
Uranus (change, rebellion, disruption)
• August 29 – January 26, 2026
Jupiter (growth, expansion, belief systems)
• November 8 – March 8, 2026
Here’s the thing:
Retrogrades aren’t about punishment.
They’re about pause.
When Mercury (the planet of communication and short-term travel) moves backward through the sky, so does the energy around it.
Things get convoluted. Slowed down. Reversed.
You get the sense you’ve been here before — because you have.
Mercury retrograde is a cosmic review.
If you find yourself running in circles on the hamster wheel, maybe accept that this won’t be the most productive period.
Slowing down and reassessing might help you hit the ground running once the planet stations direct.
It’s about reflection.
Taking stock of where you are and where you’ve already been.
What have you learned?
What are you leaving behind?
Questions to ask yourself during Mercury retrograde:
• What’s currently working in my life? What isn’t?
• Can I rewrite a story I’ve been telling myself?
• What old idea, project, or skill might be worth returning to?
• Is there someone from my past I genuinely want to reconnect with?
• How are these delays or miscommunications pushing me to clarify my words, plans, or expectations?
• What lesson is reappearing for my highest integration — and have I actually learned it? - How can I fully move on from the past?
Mercury Retrograde in July: July 17 – August 11
Check by rising sign to see what area of life Mercury is revisiting this summer:
Aries — 5th + 4th house → Romance, self-expression, home, emotional roots
Taurus — 4th + 3rd house → Home, family, communication, tech
Gemini — 3rd + 2nd house → Mindset, money, self-worth
Cancer — 2nd + 1st house → Finances, self-worth, personal identity
Leo — 1st + 12th house → Identity, appearance, inner world, mental health
Virgo — 12th + 11th house → Closure, subconscious habits, friendships
Libra — 11th + 10th house → Community, goals, career, visibility
Scorpio — 10th + 9th house → Career, public life, beliefs, expansion
Sagittarius — 9th + 8th house → Travel, truth, intimacy, shared resources
Capricorn — 8th + 7th house → Boundaries, trust, relationships
Aquarius — 7th + 6th house → Partnerships, commitments, work, routine
Pisces — 6th + 5th house → Health, habits, creativity, joy
2025 is retrograde-heavy.
But that doesn’t mean everything’s falling apart, or that you shouldn’t start anything new.
Look again.
Edit before you send.
Say what you actually mean.
Old pictures thrown away. Boxes unpacked. Mail opened and finally dealt with.
That’s the work.
That’s how change happens. In the clearing. In the deciding what gets to stay.
xx
Alexa
