Mercury Retrograde Calendar

2011 and 2012

Mercury Retrograde is a period of time when Mercury appears to be going backwards against the sky.

This calendar shows the Mercury Retrograde process as 5 distinct periods: The 2 stations and the 3 phases. It also indicates more intense times within each phase, as Mercury slows down. For a detailed explanation of the Mercury Retrograde process go here.

 How to Use the Mercury Retrograde Calendar:

The calendar shows the stage of the Mercury Retrograde process for a given date. Note that because of time zones differences, the actual day may vary as indicated when needed at the bottom of each month. The different phases of Mercury Retrograde are color coded in the calendar and shown in the accompanying diagram, along with a simplified description of each phase on the right. A more detailed explanation of each phase and how Mercury Retrograde can affect you and what to do about it is located here.

There are 5 distinct periods that are related to the Mercury retrograde phenomena:

Mercury begins to slow down and passes over the same path in the sky where it will later stop and return to go backwards or retrograde. Much of the difficulty that is encountered later with the Mercury Retrograde period itself is set up in the Pre-Shadow. The Mercury Retrograde pre-shadow is indicated in blue in the calendar and in violet as it intensifies.

Mercury Retrograde Station

The effect of the Pre-Shadow strengthens as Mercury slows down before it retrogrades. In the calendar, this is shown in violet. It then becomes stationary and seems to hang in the sky for a while. Often this coincides with a peaking in the Mercury retrograde phenomena, and is indicated in red.

Mercury Retrograde Phase

After the Retrograde Station, Mercury appears to go backwards in the sky. Those experiences in life normally associated with Mercury, such as sharing information, emails, schedules, communication, short travel, learning, distribution of information, computers and computer programs, details and accuracy tend to become more challenging or reveal more errors.

The Mercury retrograde phase is shown in a tan color, with the more intense times, when Mercury is moving more slowly indicated in a darker color.

Mercury Direct Station

Mercury’s backward motion slows down until it appears to hang in the sky again, and this second station also tends to coincide with a second peaking of the retrograde phenomena. This time is indicated in the calendar as a dark shade of brown, marking the end of the Mercury Retrograde Phase, and the beginning of the Post-Shadow.

Post-Shadow Phase

Mercury moves forward, and in doing so it passes over the path in the sky in which it earlier went backwards.

The Calendar for Mercury Retrograde

The three periods for Mercury Retrograde are shown as different colors. The darker color represents more intense days when the retrograde effect is stronger. Note that because of time zones, the actual dates may vary by a day as indicated.

For a detailed explanation of the Mercury Retrograde process and ways of working with it, go here.