Mercury retrograde 2020 begins on October 13 at 11° Scorpio and ends on November 3 at 25° Libra.

Mercury in retrograde motion is generally associated with communication and technology breakdowns, nervous anxiety, travel delays, and lost items. Mercury retrograde October 2020 makes your thinking intuitive, original, alternative, and experimental. It makes socializing exciting and enjoyable. Unexpected meetings with people from your past are also possible.

Mercury retrograde 2020 is good for learning occult subjects like astrology. Unexpected changes affecting plans, business deals, and travel may lead to exciting new opportunities. However, great care needs to be taken if involved in legal action, from October 16 new moon to November 15.

More detail about Mercury retrograde October 2020 follows some general information at retrograde Mercury in transit. Information about Mercury retrograde in the natal chart can be found at the end of this article.

Mercury Retrograde Meaning

Transiting Mercury in retrograde is a regular cycle occurring three or four times a year for about 24 days. While this is more frequent than any other planet, Mercury is still only retrograde 19% of the time. This is far less than Jupiter outwards, but more than Venus and Mars.

The retrograde Mercury phase is just one part of the retrograde cycle. The whole cycle includes Mercury going direct, retrograde, and direct again over the same degrees, or the retrograde zone. The two direct phases are called the shadow periods. The illustration below shows the apparent retrograde motion of Mercury as seen from Earth.

Retrograde Motion

Retrograde Mercury brings communication and technology breakdowns, nervous anxiety, travel delays, and lost items. There is a feel of a difficult Mercury–Saturn aspect to Mercury in retrograde. You can also expect to dwell on things, reminisce about the past, or unexpectedly meet up with people from your past. While the retrograde period might be good for flicking through old photo albums, it is generally considered more of a nuisance than a benefit.

Mercury transiting in retrograde motion can play havoc with your thoughts, communications, travels, and electronics. Take extra care with your words and try not to react too quickly in any arguments or if provoked. Take some time out if you start to feel overwhelmed by the hectic pace. Double-check all of your emails and posts on Facebook before hitting the send button.

Business negotiations will be in a state of flux so avoid signing contracts. Some important details will not yet be available, and others may be unreliable or dishonest. If going on a road trip then make sure you get your car serviced beforehand. The riskiest times for decision-making, negotiations, communication, and transport are the few days either side of the exact retrograde and direct stations. However, care should still be taken during the retrograde period.

Mercury Retrograde October 2020

The retrograde phase is just one part of the Mercury retrograde cycle. The whole cycle includes Mercury going direct, retrograde, and direct again over the same degrees, or the retrograde zone (25° Libra to 11° Scorpio). The two direct phases are known as shadow periods. The three phases of Mercury retrograde June 2020:

1. September 23 to October 13 – The first shadow phase from Mercury entering the retrograde zone until Mercury stationary retrograde (25° Libra to 11° Scorpio).
2. October 13 to November 3 – The Retrograde phase lasts from Mercury stationary retrograde until the Mercury direction station (11° Scorpio to 25° Libra).
3. November 3 to 19 – The second shadow phase lasts from Mercury stationary direct until Mercury leaving the retrograde zone (25° Libra to 11° Scorpio).

Mercury Enters Retrograde Zone

Mercury enters the retrograde zone on Wednesday, September 23, 2020, at 25°53′ Libra [see chart]. During the first shadow period, you will get an idea of the thinking, communication, or transport issues that will arise during the retrograde phase.

Mercury Stationary Retrograde

Mercury stationary retrograde on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, at 11°40′ Scorpio. Mercury opposite Uranus is a challenging influence that causes scattered thinking and unexpected, upsetting events.

However, Mercury retrograde is also sextile Moon and Venus which smooths out and calm the erratic, impulsive influence of Uranus. Mercury retrograde October 2020 is also joined by two fortunate fixed stars.

Mercury Retrograde October 2020 Aspects

Mercury opposite Uranus (2°16′) is the major influence on Mercury retrograde October 2020. It is a strong influence in the chart above, and also stays within a 2°30′ orb from October 4 to 22.

Mercury opposite Uranus speeds up your thinking and communications which can leave you feeling tense and scattered. Unexpected news and surprising events can also increase anxiety.

Mercury retrograde can make it harder to perform mental tasks that require patience and self-discipline. Mercury retrograde opposite Uranus makes this even more challenging because of a low concentration span and a tendency to be easily distracted.

This is a better time to free your mind of responsibility and stay open-minded. You could make new discoveries, experience flashes of insight, or meet exciting new people who challenge your way of thinking.

But when socializing, it is important to listen carefully and think twice before speaking. Mercury opposite Uranus gives a tendency to blurt things out that may shock and offend. You may also feel the urge to instinctively take the other side and end up arguing for the sake of it. Teasing and practical jokes could get out of hand.

Mercury opposite Uranus brings unexpected meetings with people or meetings with odd people or those from very different backgrounds than your own. Mercury retrograde means you could meet someone from your past, or even from a past life.

Mercury retrograde October 2020 is a problematic time for negotiating, and making plans and important decisions, especially about business matters, travel, children, siblings, and education.

Remaining flexible and adaptable will help if your plans need changing, or your travels are interrupted. If starting a journey, double-check your booking, or get your car serviced before you leave. You may also experience computer malfunctions or other problems with electronics.

Mercury direct was opposite Uranus on October 7. So, any matters that were left unresolved from them may resurface when Mercury retrograde is opposite Uranus on October 19. Some new information may come to light but final decisions may still have to wait. Yet more information may become available around November 17 when Mercury is again direct opposite Uranus.

Moon sextile Mercury (0°27′) reduces the risk of saying the wrong thing because it gives good intuition. It puts you in touch with your own moods and to the moods of other people. So you should instinctively know what to say and when to say it. It also reduces the risk of arguments because it encourages cooperation.

Mercury retrograde is generally a good time for catching up with old friends, reconnecting with family, and reminiscing about the past. Moon sextile Mercury has a similar effect because it improves your memory and makes you more sensitive and caring.

This aspect makes Mercury retrograde 2020 good for socializing and for talking about family and relationship problems. Others may come to you to share their feelings too. You could be someone’s shoulder to cry on or their relationship counselor. You can put people at ease with your intuitive understanding and genuine interest.

Mercury sextile Venus (1°29′) is another very sociable influence because it helps you express love and affection. And like Moon sextile Mercury, it reduces the anxiety and tension because by Mercury opposite Uranus. This helps you relax and enjoy more harmony and closer bonding in relationships.

This aspect also improves the outlook for business negotiations because it gives a good head for numbers, good social skills, and the ability to find win-win situations.

So the impulsive, erratic, and unpredictable nature of Mercury opposite Uranus is smoothed out by the Mercury sextile Moon and Venus. The unexpected changes to plans, business matters, and travels may now lead to exciting new opportunities.

During Mercury retrograde October 2020, your thinking becomes more intuitive, original, alternative, and experimental than tense, anxious, and scattered. Your words more friendly, soothing, and caring than abrupt and offensive. And socializing more exciting and enjoyable than shocking and upsetting.

Mercury Retrograde October 2020 Stars

• 11 ♏ 40 – Mercury retrograde October 2020
• 12 ♏ 08 – Fixed star Acrux
• 12 ♏ 34 – Fixed Star Alphecca

Fixed star Acrux (0°28′) in the Southern Cross is of the nature of Jupiter. It gives religious beneficence, ceremony, justice, magic, and mystery. This star is frequently prominent in the horoscopes of astrologers and occultists. ¹ It is credited with intuition, a grasp for the inner nature of one’s fellow man, a preference for occult studies, the gift of successful investigation of the hidden side of things, an inventive mind, and a deeply religious nature connected with mystical and theosophical interests. ²

Fixed star Alphecca (0°54′) in the Northern Crown is of the nature of Venus and Mercury. It gives honor, dignity, and poetical and artistic ability.

Mercury conjunct Alphecca: Mind more active than the body, somewhat indolent, benefits from friends, extravagant but saving in small things, loss by enemies. ¹

Mercury Stationary Direct

Mercury stations direct on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, at 25°53′ Libra. The chart below shows Mercury direct in a challenging square aspect to Saturn. This causes sadness, inhibition, and communication problems.

Fortunately Mercury direct is also influenced by the two most fortunate stars used in astrology. However, one of them, Arcturus, when harshly aspected like this, can become troublesome, especially if involved in legal action.

Mercury Direct Aspect

Mercury square Saturn stays within a 2°30′ orb from November 1 to 10. It is exact on September 23, the same day Mercury enters the retrograde zone. Mercury is retrograde square Saturn on November 1, and direct again on November 6

Mercury square Saturn tends to make time slow down, just like Mercury retrograde. So things will certainly seem to drag out for a week or so around Mercury stationing direct.

During this time, communicating your plans and ideas will become more difficult because of negative thinking and misunderstandings. So it is important to pay attention to detail. It would be wiser to avoid important negotiations and seek trusted, professional advice if involved in contracts, business, or legal matters.

Do not rely on the words of others, and be careful with your own. You are likely to say the wrong thing and dig a bigger hole for yourself. There may be some distance or separation in close relationships. This, together with gloomy thoughts, bad news, or loneliness, can have a negative effect on your mental well-being. Just remember, you will probably be seeing the worst side of every matter.

Mercury Direct Stars

• 24 ♎ 07 – Fixed star Spica
• 24 ♎ 30 – Fixed star Arcturus
• 25 ♎ 53 – Mercury Direct November 2020

Fixed star Arcturus (1°23′) on the left knee of Boötes the Herdsman is of the nature of Mars and Jupiter. It gives riches, honors, high renown, self-determination, and prosperity by navigation and voyages. ¹

This star has a reputation for achieving justice through power. It, therefore, makes the native belligerent and quarrelsome. An enterprising spirit is here the rule.

However, if critically aspected (Mercury square Saturn), the good influence will be hampered or made into a real handicap. If involved in legal action, such a native may lose all. ²

Mercury conjunct Arcturus: Sober, industrious, popular, inclined to be religious, somewhat extravagant but well-off, help through friends, holds a position of trust in large company or corporation or receives promotion under direction, favorable for health and domestic affairs. ¹

Fixed star Spica (1°45′) in the ear of wheat of the Maiden Virgo is the most fortunate star used in astrology. It is of the nature of Venus and Mars and gives success, renown, riches, a sweet disposition, love of art and science, unscrupulousness, unfruitfulness, and injustice to innocence. ¹

Spica also gives androgynous, spiritual, and religious qualities, with above-average psychic awareness. To Spica are ascribed honors and fame. Spica is of marked good fortune for scientists, writers, artist-painters, sculptors, and musicians. ²

Spica also gives androgynous, spiritual, and religious qualities, with above-average psychic awareness. ³

Mercury conjunct Spica: Neat, tidy, clever, ingenious, the favor of clergy and people in authority, gain through investment, a responsible position. ¹

Powerful degrees

Mercury retrograde and Mercury direct are both on degrees which are already activated. Mercury stations retrograde at 11°40′ Scorpio. In the Mercury direct chart, you can see the Sun is at 11°46′ Scorpio. This makes the influence of fixed star Acrux (12°08′ Scorpio) more powerful. So the whole Mercury retrograde October 2020 cycle especially good for occult work like astrology.

Mercury direct at 25°53′ Libra is only 2°00′ from the October 16 new moon at 23°53′ Libra. This means both the new moon and Mercury direct are especially powerful. With fixed star Arcturus (24°30′ Libra) in critical aspect both times, great care needs to be taken if involved in legal action, from October 16 to November 15.

Mercury leaves the retrograde zone on Sunday, July 26, 2020, at 11°40′ Scorpio. [see chart].

For more detail on how Mercury retrograde 2020 aspects your birth chart, see Mercury Transits.

Mercury Retrograde 2020 Dates

• June 18 to July 12, 2020 – 14° to 5° Cancer.
• October 13 to November 3, 2020 – 11° Scorpio to 26° Libra.
• January 30 to February 21, 2021 – 26° to 11° Aquarius.

Natal Mercury Retrograde Meaning

Natal Mercury in retrograde motion suggests there may have been a problem with how you thought and communicated in an earlier life. Perhaps you gave someone bad advice that had critical repercussions. Perhaps you were prone to making costly mistakes. Maybe you wrote slanderous material about someone in a book or newspaper, or verbally teased and abused people.

Whatever the circumstances of the previous significant incarnation, you come into this life with those bad memories etched in your soul. You probably don’t recognize them as memories but as déjà vu or unexplained guilt. A repeating theme of challenging events related to your past is likely, especially when young. The aim is to perfect those areas of thought and communication which once let you down. As your communication skills improve with experience, your karmic debt will be repaid and you can get off the roundabout.

Natal retrograde Mercury can show as learning difficulties, especially with reading, writing, and comprehension. You could be a shy, quiet person whose thoughts have turned in. Hesitant to speak up for yourself, you may miss out on many opportunities in life. This difficulty in expressing yourself can make you feel awkward in company, and lead to low self-esteem. You may experience teasing or verbal abuse, be nagged and criticized, or fall victim to slander and lies. Contracts may also cause problems and like so many things, lead to complications further down the track.

Retrograde Mercury only lasts for about three weeks so Mercury is going to turn direct at some stage in your progressed chart (where one day equals one year). After a couple of years, you will notice that your communication style improves and you can express yourself more freely. However, the opposite can also occur and someone with Mercury direct in their natal chart may experience progressed Mercury in retrograde motion later in life. I experienced this from age 13 to 37 and it was very profound. I even stopped reading books.

If you have Mercury retrograde in your natal or progressed chart then you can expect to make more rapid progress during transits of Mercury in retrograde motion. Use this ephemeris to see if Mercury changes direction in your progressed chart.

References

1. Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology, Vivian E. Robson, 1923, p. 116, 234, 235
2. Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation, Elsbeth Ebertin, 1971, p. 45, 59, 63.
3. The Living Stars, Dr. Eric Morse, 1988, p.67.