When a planet appears to go back.
Nothing in the sky reverses. From here, a planet passing us looks like it is moving backwards for a few weeks. Traditionally that stretch is used for review rather than launch — and that is the whole of it.
Coming up
- venus
3 October 2026 — 14 November 2026
42 daysVenus turns back for six weeks. Old relationships, old tastes and old spending habits come up for a second look — that is the whole point of it.
- mercury
24 October 2026 — 14 November 2026
21 daysMercury slows and turns back for about three weeks. Messages get crossed, plans get revised, devices act up — not a curse, a review period.
- mercury
10 February 2027 — 4 March 2027
22 daysMercury turns inward — plans, messages and devices ask for double-checking rather than speed.
- mercury
11 June 2027 — 5 July 2027
24 daysMercury turns inward — plans, messages and devices ask for double-checking rather than speed.
- mercury
8 October 2027 — 29 October 2027
21 daysMercury turns inward — plans, messages and devices ask for double-checking rather than speed.
- mercury
24 January 2028 — 15 February 2028
22 daysMercury turns inward — plans, messages and devices ask for double-checking rather than speed.
- venus
11 May 2028 — 23 June 2028
43 daysVenus turns back for six weeks. Old relationships, old tastes and old spending habits come up for a second look — that is the whole point of it.
- mercury
21 May 2028 — 14 June 2028
24 daysMercury turns inward — plans, messages and devices ask for double-checking rather than speed.
- mercury
20 September 2028 — 11 October 2028
21 daysMercury turns inward — plans, messages and devices ask for double-checking rather than speed.
What a retrograde is good for
Use the period the way you would use a second draft. Re-read the contract before you sign it, finish the thing you abandoned in the spring, call the person you keep meaning to call. It is a fine time to revise and a poor time to buy something you have not researched.
It is not a reason to postpone your life. Planes fly, contracts hold, relationships survive. Anyone selling you protection from a retrograde is selling you something.
Where a retrograde actually lands for you.
The same three weeks touch a different part of life depending on your chart. Celestine reads it there.