Mercury is currently in Sagittarius located at 20 Sag 47' 56"

Planetary Aspects

(out 5 Days)

Mercury is currently in Opposition Jupiter

   Ends on Saturday, 23 November, 2024

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
mercury2026-10-24 07:13:00 UTC2026-11-13 15:54:00 UTCScorpio

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

20.11.2024 at 22:37:49 UTC

chart wheel
PlanetLongitude
The Sun29 Sco 06' 12"
The Moon04 Leo 45' 11"
Mercury20 Sag 47' 56"
Venus10 Cap 53' 56"
Mars04 Leo 33' 17"
Jupiter18 Gem 29' 06" R
Saturn12 Pis 43' 04"
Uranus25 Tau 04' 55" R
Neptune27 Pis 12' 48" R
Pluto00 Aqu 01' 11"

Solar Status

BZ Status:6
Proton Density:7.62
Proton Speed:373.2 k/sec
KP Status:1.00
TypeNov 21Nov 22Nov 23
Active10%25%25%
Minor5%15%15%
Moderate1%1%1%
Strong1%1%1%
Kp Index Prediction
00-03UT1.672.002.33
03-06UT1.331.671.67
06-09UT1.332.332.00
09-12UT1.331.002.33
12-15UT1.331.332.33
15-18UT1.331.672.33
18-21UT1.673.002.33
21-00UT1.673.002.33
Solar Activity
Solar activity was at low levels with only C-class flares during the period. Region 3897 (S10W82, Dai/beta) underwent notable growth but only produced some infrequent C-class flares. Region 3901 (S08E44, Dao/beta-gamma) was still foreshortened, but appeared to have mixed polarity characteristics and the region was a source of only C-class activity thus far. Region 3898 (S17W18, Cro/beta) experienced minor growth. The remaining regions were mostly stable and underwent little change. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in available coronagraph imagery.
Solar Wind
Solar wind conditions were indicative of an enhanced interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), but rather benign solar wind speeds. The IMF strength increased from 5 - 7nT up to 10nT as the period progressed. The Bz component was primarily southward directed, but turned mainly northward after 19/1620 UTC. Solar wind speed was fairly steady from 350-400 km/s and the phi angle was predominantly in a positive sector.
Energetic Particle
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux was normal to moderate and the greater than 10 MeV proton flux was at background levels.