Mercury is currently in Scorpio located at 06 Sco 44' 36"

Planetary Aspects

(out 5 Days)

Mercury is Trine Saturn

   Starts on Sunday, 20 October, 2024
   Peaks on Tuesday, 22 October, 2024, orb 1° 14' 17"

Upcoming Retrogrades

PlanetStationary (retrograde)Stationary (direct)In Sign
mercury2024-11-26 02:43:00 UTC2024-12-15 20:57:00 UTCSagittarius
mercury2025-03-15 06:47:00 UTC2025-04-07 11:08:00 UTCAries
mercury2025-07-18 04:45:00 UTC2025-08-11 07:30:00 UTCLeo
mercury2025-11-09 19:02:00 UTC2025-11-29 17:39:00 UTCSagittarius
mercury2026-02-26 06:49:00 UTC2026-03-20 19:33:00 UTCPisces
mercury2026-06-29 17:36:00 UTC2026-07-23 22:58:00 UTCCancer

Even people who aren’t even remotely familiar with astrology have heard of this one.  Mercury is also Hermes, considered the emissary of the Gods but also, something of a trickster. Ruling Virgo and Gemini, this planetary influence usually denotes something of an adaptable nature but also, a very curious, very chatty sort of feel.

Mercury is also a quick little booger. Because this is one of the inner planets, it moves around the sun much more quickly than other planets - which is, incidentally, why you’ll hear about Mercury's retrograde cycles much more frequently. They happen more frequently! (But wait, there’s more!) The best way to think about what Mercury does in astrology is that it rules your mind and your mouth but also, the way you move: communication, technology, travel, speech and thinking - and everything that ties in there.

The Retrograde

Mercury retrograde is a well known, regular cycle that happens three to four times every year and it lasts around 24 days. You’d think the frequency would kind of hint that maybe the things that occur during it can be prevented with a little foresight - and yet, though most people associate technological breakdowns and communications issues with this cycle, the truth is this is also one of those times an ex might pop up either in your thoughts or in reality. You know that’s a bad idea even without astrological influence, but there you have it. Instead of reaching out, just write this one off to Mercury Retrograde and you’ll be good to go!

This particular retrograde cycle has been known about for a long time. Between the mid-18th and early 19th centuries, the only people who really cared a whole lot about Mercury in Retrograde were farmers. This is because it was usually associated more frequently with heavy rains and bad things happening in that respect, but not very much. If you really want somebody to blame for the rise in this particular scapegoat: blame Baltimore. I blame Baltimore for a lot of things but it was really their horoscopes where you begin to see the big thrust of this as the reason everyone’s life goes to shit or they’re more or less having a time of it. It was April of 1979 when the Baltimore Sun let everyone know, “Hey, this is why this crap keeps happening!” and it just took off from there. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, of course, if you look at the developing technologies and their use gaining popularity - it would make sense that, well, here you have a ready made gremlin that impacts all those things. There are also quite a few people who blame Taylor Swift for this bigger recent uptick in it in terms of pop culture because well, Tay Tay did an interview where she talked about it. With that, hundreds of thousands of teen girls suddenly had a great intangible boogieman beyond their control to blame their bullshit on three or four times a year. It might kind-of explain those breakup songs, if you ask me, but, well, there you go.

Regardless, it’s become so popular, I am not sure I really need to tell you - but if you wanted to really milk it for all its worth, basically don’t do anything that requires communicating, sealing the deal, travel or otherwise during this cycle. I’m sure that’s going to be acceptable when you call into work. Or, you could take the more rational approach and recognize that if you do notice a lot of things really wonking up, maybe those things could stand being corrected inasmuch as you can from your end of things. Is it happening that often because of the speed in which Mercury moves around the Sun or, is it more like problems that go unresolved tend to pop up again and again?

I don’t know. It’s all a mystery of the cosmos!

Planetary Positions

18.10.2024 at 01:44:58 UTC

chart wheel
PlanetLongitude
The Sun25 Lib 10' 32"
The Moon03 Tau 38' 07"
Mercury06 Sco 44' 36"
Venus00 Sag 18' 58"
Mars23 Can 11' 11"
Jupiter21 Gem 12' 31" R
Saturn13 Pis 22' 57" R
Uranus26 Tau 24' 46" R
Neptune27 Pis 48' 04" R
Pluto29 Cap 39' 02"

Solar Status

BZ Status:7
Proton Density:8.25
Proton Speed:391.0 k/sec
KP Status:2.00
TypeOct 18Oct 19Oct 20
Active45%45%40%
Minor10%10%5%
Moderate1%1%1%
Strong1%1%1%
Kp Index Prediction
00-03UT2.674.003.67
03-06UT3.003.673.33
06-09UT2.003.333.00
09-12UT2.002.673.00
12-15UT3.002.002.00
15-18UT3.332.002.00
18-21UT3.672.671.67
21-00UT4.003.001.67
Solar Activity
Solar activity was at moderate levels with M-class (R1-Minor) flare activity observed from two separate regions. Region 3852 (S13W65, Cao/beta) produced an M2.4 flare at 17/0505UTC, while Region 3856 (N10W19, Dac/beta-gamma-delta) produced an M1.0 flare at 17/0222 UTC. This region also produced numerous C-class flares. Region 3852 indicated little change, while Region 3856 showed some intermediate spot growth. Region 3857 (S07E25, Dao/beta-gamma) showed growth in its leader spots. New Region 3860 (S07E15, Dai/beta) emerged this period and produced C-class flare activity.
Solar Wind
Solar wind parameters were slightly enhanced due to CH HSS effects. Total magnetic field reached 7 nT while the Bz component remained variable between +/- 6 nT. Wind speeds slowly decreased through the period from a high near 450 km/s to a low of about 360 km/s. The phi angle was steady in a positive sector.
Energetic Particle
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux was at normal to moderate levels. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux remained near background levels. .Forecast... The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is expected to be at normal to moderate levels through 18 Oct with a potential to increase to high levels on 19-20 Oct due to influence from a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). The greater than 10 MeV proton flux is expected to remain at background levels with a slight chance for a solar radiation storm event through 20 Oct as Regions 3852 and 3854 transit the western limb.