This year, Mercury is going to moonwalk three times in the sky. The planet of communication will be retrograde in the water signs of Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio in that exact order. As you may know, this is a moment when exes resurface, the past comes back to haunt us, misinformation is endless, and travel delays occur. However, it’s not all bad. With the occasional miscommunication and reactive responses it prompts, this astrological transit unfortunately receives a lot of negative attention, when essentially the planet Mercury is slowing down—and so should we. Swim with the calming tides and gently embrace the celestial vibes.
Now that we survived the first retrograde back in February, we are chartering unique territory during the current moonwalk in the cardinal sign Cancer. Mercury retrograde in Cancer commences on June 29 at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time (the same day as the full moon in Capricorn, which gives us emotional insight and guidance for the planetary backward spin). It ends on July 23 at 6:57 p.m. Eastern Time. The nearly 25-day journey asks us to reflect and celebrate the rhythms of the universe. Meditating on what brings us satisfaction, security, and sanctuary in our lives is a wonderful way to harness the story that began on June 13, when Mercury entered the pre-retrograde zone.
At this point in the year, summer is in full gear in the Northern Hemisphere, aligning us with old and new friends, as well as our brood. Gary D’Andre, spiritual consultant and author of Tarot for You and Me, explains, “This retrograde in Cancer is bringing up a lot of opportunities to mend old family ties, review childhood patterns, as well as walking down memory lane to allow yourself the opportunity to see how far you’ve come. Our day-to-day has the opportunity to shift in the concept of love and vulnerability if you allow yourself to think about who we truly are in the grand scheme of life and how we may have been complicit in doubting or diminishing our light.”
It’s a perfect moment for contemplating how relationship dynamics contribute to our happiness. If we feel unseen and undervalued for who we are, we may slither back into our cocoons and remain there until after the retrograde to protect our hearts and energy. As D’Andre notes, “The relationships that we have been surrounding ourselves with are actually not the ones that are aligned to the world that we are dreaming of living in.” Toning down external noise and being present are vital to our well-being. There will always be chaos around us, but we must be instrumental in preventing it from affecting us. Others can bring on the theatrics, but we don’t have to join them.
Michelle Tea, author of Little F and tarot reader, tells Vogue, “I really appreciate the tendency, during Mercury retrograde, for unfinished business to come back around, allowing us second chances. With Mercury retrograde in Cancer, I imagine opportunities to regain closeness with people we’ve let slip away, perhaps resolving some hurt feelings or misunderstood vibes.”
Instead of fueling anxiety, Mercury retrograde asks us to examine what this period is actually useful for: slowing down, revisiting partnerships, renegotiating boundaries, stating repressed sentiments, and paying attention to patterns that repeat for a reason. Mercury retrograde as a moment of mindful interruption rather than collective hysteria. We’ll reimagine the phenomenon on July 12, from the “cazimi” connection between the Sun and Mercury retrograde that urges us to sing the tune of our own song and avoid conflict.
The retroshade cycle, which lasts from July 23 to August 6, gives us a third go-around, allowing us to glow up and evolve from the lessons of the previous weeks. Mercury is gaining speed but moving through the same degrees and points in the sky as it did during the pre-retroshade and actual retrograde, enriching our lives with certainty and radical change.
