Surviving Mercury Retrograde in 2026
I am posting this feature two years in advance, to give you plenty of time to plan ahead. Mercury Retrograde affects the internet, the travel industry, the mail, public transport and commuting – most of all. What happens when the messenger of the gods is pointing the wrong way? When he’s reversing? The messages go backwards, too.
People go back on their word. Paperwork may contain mistakes or be held up. In general, as my friend Lynda Hill once said, ‘People swear more on Mercury Retrograde.’ But – you can skip it.
In this feature I will look at the dates for all signs, world forecasts and also specific information for your personal birth chart. (Image: Picryl).
Mercury Retrograde in Pisces
This brings muddle for the Vatican, the Church of England and other religions. Pisces rules faith. Mercury will backtrack over 8-22 degrees of Pisces from the 12th of February to the 24th of March, 2026.
If you have anything in your chart at 8-22 Pisces then expect rescheduling with your church (for example), but also psychics, the Tarot, self-help, therapy, counselling, meditation, hypnosis. A retreat may be postponed, say. As Mercury Retrograde rules the ‘re’ prefix with words, if you see a psychic now, you may find the reading is rescheduled or she makes a statement which is later retracted.
Housing and Real-Estate Alert
Mercury Retrograde in Cancer goes through the sign of housing, real-estate, families, apartments, citizenship, residency and all matters affecting your home town and homeland. If you start tracing your family tree now you could find classic Mercury muddles.
As I wrote this, my entire copy vanished when I tried to give you the dates. Mercury Retrograde has a sense of humour. (Image: Rawpixel).
Basically, if you have anything at Cancer 16-26 you will be affected. Fluctuating house prices and mortgage interest rate variables are very likely. Check your natal chart. If Mercury backtracks over anything in Cancer in your Fourth House of property, choose another time.
Builders, tradespeople, decorators and the like may not turn up on time. Check paperwork. Get insurance. I recently had a reader who had some very bad builders indeed and she was not insured and was paying them cash.
This particular Mercury Retrograde coincides with an end to the housing boom which is coming with Jupiter in Cancer in so many countries. That finishes on 30th June.
The actual Mercury Retrograde in Cancer runs from 16-26 degrees, backwards, from June 13th to July 27th. People go back on their word on this transit. A flatmate may say he is moving in, then change his mind. A family reunion could be rescheduled. Applications for citizenship may be held up or changed. The astrology is on that level. Be prepared, as the Boy Scouts say.
Financial, Property, Business Muddle Ahead
Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio, the sign of joint finance and shared property agreements, is another muddle to skip. I am posting this two years before it happens, in 2024, to give you plenty of time to prepare.
Mercury is backwards in Scorpio at 5-20 degrees. Do you have anything in your chart at 5-20 Scorpio? Try to avoid paperwork or handshake agreements with sexual partners, or family members.
The details may alter, or it is possible that it all comes to nothing. Making a will now means you may have to change it later. Or – a mortgage application may be held up. The dates are October 5 to November 17.
Be extremely careful if you move in with a boyfriend, say, and don’t have an agreement in writing about your shared possessions. Scorpio is the sign of ‘sex, death and money’ as they say. It is extremely common for there to be a contested will when Mercury Retrograde is in Scorpio.
There will be chaos on world sharemarkets from October 5 to November 17 2026. This is because Mercury Retrograde will hit the charts of billions who were born with the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in Scorpio.
What’s Good About Mercury Retrograde?
People can and do manipulate Mercury Retrograde in quite a cunning way. Not that any of my readers would do that of course…Yet, if you want something to fail, you will start it on Mercury Retrograde.
Clever politicians coax their rivals into making big announcements and starting grand plans on Mercury Retrograde because they know that nothing will happen. Or it will be delayed for years.
Mercury Retrograde is very good for creative projects which require a first, second and third draft. It is useful for beta testing and trials.
It’s not world-changing or game-changing unless it falls in the same sign as an outer planet transit. Or if it hits the same sign which billions have, prominent, in their charts. (Image: Dreamstime).
Modern life is so frenetic that Mercury Retrograde can be helpful if you want to do nothing. People who don’t use astrology come a cropper on it, because they book their holidays, or buy cars, or launch products and so on. The ‘re’ prefix applies to all matters of communication, information and transportation now.
So people retract statements and reschedule diaries. There is product recall. Plan ahead and use Mercury Retrograde to help with rehearsals, but forget about fixed, firm, finished and final. Even if doesn’t hit your chart, it will hit somebody else’s and that’s the weak link in the chain.
Images: Rawpixels/Dreamstime/Picryl.
16 Responses
Hi Jessica,
Looks like I will be affected with Venus at 22 Cancer and my North Node at 18 Scorpio. Would you be able to advise how the North Node would affect me as Im worried it’s to do with inheritance. Venus in cancer would be my home/farm, I’m presuming?
Would appreciate your help.
Regards,
Marie
Marie, inheritance is indeed Scorpio and the Eighth House, but there are no particular issues here; Uranus has long since gone from opposition at 18 Taurus to your North Node. You do have decisions to make in December, January, February about property and finance and a compromise and carve-up over control seems most likely.
Oh dear it’s lining up wth the date of possession of an apartment under construction, end of 2026. The deal is already signed and work underway. I have both Pisces and cancer placements. Could you please advise on how I can work with these energies?
There are no energies, just timing. Your issue will be Mars Retrograde in Cancer in your Fourth House of building work. This does end well with Jupiter in Cancer from June 2025 but during the retrograde (I recently filed a feature about this) the astrology suggests stop-start or perhaps some cancellation depending on the terms you agreed to.
Hi Jessica,
I run my own property business Airbnb / room lets etc, do you foresee any concerns with this based on my natal chart as im looking to scale quite big by the time 2026 comes and hopefully partner with some over sea investors?
You have that Virgo/Sagittarius/Gemini combination (mutable signs) which is about your workload, foreigners and foreign countries and also local tourism. You are going to hit the North Node in Pisces, South Node in Virgo and Uranus in Gemini in a tense, tight, taut formation starting in January 2025. Uranus rules the last thing anybody ever expected to happen and it is usually a shock. So you are on quite unstable ground with this plan, mainly because of factors beyond your control. Your government may raise the taxes on Air BnB for example or you may find your body corporate votes to ban it. There may also be issues with your main marketplace – that country may have new restrictions on travel or it may become more expensive – affecting the traffic coming in. Have a look at your Tarot to see what it says here too.
Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much for all your guidance. I drew the Hanged man when I drew the tarot for the Mercury Retrograde 2026. What does this mean for me?
XX
The Hanged Man is very common on Mercury Retrograde. Expect a long delay; a state of suspended animation. The dangling comes from Mercury, stuck. A man who should be acting, is not doing anything except twisting in the breeze. You will likely know who he is, closer to the time.
omg Jessica apart from being on a 7 day ban on X my health has been horrific my birthday is tomorrow and i need to go away on my own to heal myself. Is there any good news on the horizon for me i am already waiting on brain scan results and these last two years have been traumatic is so many ways that I am just lost
Happy Birthday despite everything. I am sorry you have to wait for your brain scan results. Apollo at 28 Virgo is behind all this. It is in your Sixth House of health, paid work, daily routine, unpaid work, study and wellbeing. You are a natural leader, much imitated, with your profession, but also in terms of your approach to food, drink, fitness, complementary medicine or conventional medicine. This is lifelong. However, Pluto at 29 Capricorn, just one degree away, is asking you to completely transform. It is intense and it takes September, October, November to happen. Change is required – there is no way around it. When Jupiter goes to Cancer in 2025, 2026, a stunning series of sextiles to your Virgo factors will help you come up with a new, better lifestyle with far less effort than you imagined.
Hi Jessica, Hope you are good. Many thanks for this post blog. I will be due to re-mortgage in 2027. Could you please advise if it would be better to re-mortgage early 2026 before all is going to change?
Chiron at 19 Taurus and the North Node at 19 Cancer suggest that when Jupiter goes to 19 Cancer, you will have a stunning, rare opportunity to get away with the so-called impossible, financially, or the apparently ‘beyond the pale’ with property. You will begin to see new possibilities for your bank account and real estate from June 2025 and by June 2026 will have found one opportunity very hard to resist. So this is much sooner than 2027. This may be the bank or council, government or big business setting a new direction for home owners or renters, which offers you great options.
Hello Jessica,
Thank you for the heads up! I will be retiring in mid 2026- it is mandated by law at age 65 in my profession. Retirement is such a huge transition and will impact so many areas of my life. I am preparing myself, my life diligently. Over the years, I have learned to pay close attention to Mercury retrogrades. So, could you please take a look? I have nothing in Pisces in the range you point out, but I do have my DSC at 20 Cancer and, respectively, OPs at 7, Neptune 8, MC 9, and Diana 20 degrees in Scorpio. Thank you!
Retirement is a Virgo matter in the Sixth House. Mars at 28 Virgo and Jupiter at 29 Capricorn form a trine of stunning proportions in your chart. Transiting Uranus will come along at 28, 29 Taurus and offer you freedom (a revolution actually) in 2026, not possible in your lifetime. So your chart is aligned with the law on retirement. Mercury Retrograde is worth paying attention to, in terms of finding another time to sign up for new activities or new ways of running your lifestyle, but the over-arching transit is liberating, exhilarating and suggests a new role, paid or unpaid, which elevates you. An honorary position, perhaps, or life as a trustee or prestigious volunteer.
Hello Jessica,
Thank you for yet another heads up article on future planetary movement’s..this time Mercury retrograde in 2026 through Cancer. Please advise, as I have Vesta at 4degrees, Jupiter at 22 and Uranus at 23, all in Cancer. I have real estate investments in the USA and New Zealand. Homes in both countries. In 2026 I will be well into my retirement, would appreciate any guidance you might have.
All Blessing Jessica…your work is truly a gift!
Susu
Thank you Susu. The Jupiter-Uranus conjunction you have in Cancer in the Fourth House of real estate has resulted in your being lucky enough (Jupiter) and free enough (Uranus) to invent a way to own property in the US and New Zealand. You will gain enormously from transiting Jupiter in Cancer (your Jupiter Return) by mid 2026 at the very latest with a bigger, broader, better outlook for your property portfolio starting in June 2025. What you decide to do will help you expand.