Mercury retrograde by house: where it will hit you

That is why a general forecast only gets you so far. To see where this retrograde lands for you, the Mercury retrograde page places the current retrograde in your own chart, using your birth time and place. Then come back and read your house below.

Mercury rules thinking, talking, writing, travel, paperwork, contracts and every small exchange that keeps a day moving. Three or four times a year, for about three weeks, it appears to stop and drift backwards against the stars. The planet is not really reversing. Earth is overtaking it, and from where we stand it seems to loop back on itself.

In a chart, that loop is a review period. Mercury's business goes back over old ground. Plans get revised, old conversations resurface, messages go astray and things you thought were settled come up again. The trick is to work with the loop instead of against it: the prefix to remember is "re". Rethink, rewrite, repair, reconnect.

The sign Mercury retrogrades in sets the tone for everyone. A retrograde in an air sign is noisy and chatty; one in an earth sign trips over practical details. But the house is where it reaches you personally.

The houses are measured from your rising sign, so they depend on the exact minute and place you were born. That is why the page asks for both. Without them it will not guess a house for you, because a guessed house would point you at the wrong part of your life. The planet positions themselves are worked out from real astronomical data, so the date and degree of each retrograde are exact.

• First house. You are the subject under review. People misread your tone, and you may feel unsure how you come across. Good for rethinking your image, your style or how you introduce yourself. Avoid the dramatic haircut until it ends.
• Second house. Money and possessions. Check bank statements, cancel the subscription you forgot, and keep receipts. Refunds and money owed to you tend to come back now. Big purchases can wait.
• Third house. Mercury's own territory, so you feel it most. Texts go to the wrong person, trains are cancelled, siblings and neighbours need a proper conversation. Read everything twice before you send it.
• Fourth house. Home and family. Old family stories return, the boiler sulks, and a move or renovation hits a delay. A good time to sort the loft, call a relative you have drifted from, or finally fix the thing you keep stepping over.
• Fifth house. Romance, play and creativity. Old flames reappear, and an abandoned creative project calls you back. Finishing that project is the best use of the time. Read the ex's message carefully before you answer.
• Sixth house. The working week. Systems glitch, colleagues misunderstand each other and the to-do list multiplies. Back up your files, tidy your routines, and rebook the appointment you keep putting off.
• Seventh house. Partners and close relationships. Agreements need revisiting and old misunderstandings come up for a second look. Talk things through slowly. Hold off signing a partnership or contract if you can.
• Eighth house. Shared money and intimacy. Joint accounts, loans, taxes and paperwork need checking. Old feelings you thought were finished surface for a final look. Honest conversations go deeper than usual.
• Ninth house. Travel, study and belief. Journeys get rerouted, so leave extra time and check bookings. Brilliant for revisiting a course, finishing a dissertation, or rethinking a view you have held for years.
• Tenth house. Career and reputation. A misread email reaches the boss, or an old job offer comes back round. Polish your CV, follow up on old leads, and wait for the retrograde to end before you resign.
• Eleventh house. Friends and groups. The group chat gets tangled, plans with friends shift, and someone from years ago gets back in touch. Rejoin a group you miss, and rethink what you hope for in the year ahead.
• Twelfth house. The quiet, hidden house. Dreams get vivid, old worries come back to be dealt with, and you need more rest than usual. Journal, sleep, and finish things in private. It is the gentlest placement, and often the most useful.

The effect starts before the retrograde and lasts after it. In the weeks leading in, called the pre-shadow, Mercury moves over the stretch of sky it will later go back over. Whatever comes up then is usually what you will be revising. In the post-shadow, after Mercury turns direct, it covers that ground a third time, and the loose ends get tied up.

So a retrograde is a story in three parts. Something is introduced, it is reworked, then it is resolved. If you notice a theme in the pre-shadow, you have a head start.

• Start nothing, finish everything. New launches stumble. Old projects get the push they need.
• Read before you sign. Contracts, terms, tenancy agreements. Ask the extra question.
• Back up. Phones, laptops, photos. Mercury rules devices.
• Leave early. Travel delays are classic retrograde fare, especially in the third and ninth houses.
• Say it twice. Confirm plans in plain words. Assume the first message was misread.
• Reply to the old message. The person who comes back now often has something worth hearing.

If Mercury retrograde is falling in a house where you have planets of your own, expect it to be louder. A retrograde moving over your Sun or Moon is personal and memorable. One passing through an empty house still touches that part of life, but more lightly.

Enter your birth date, time and place, and the Mercury retrograde page shows which house the current retrograde falls in for you. If you do not know your time, read what your chart can tell you without a birth time, and see the full picture in your birth chart.