Retrogrades 2026: Mercury Round Two

Merry Meet and Welcome to you magickal souls!!!!

Retrograde season is about to start, with four planetary bodies going retrograde before the end of July. In order, they are: Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Chiron. I'm going to focus on Mercury today.

Mercury technically started this particular retrograde on 29th June and won't go direct again until 23rd July.

Mercury is the planet associated with communication, which is why during the next few weeks a lot of people blame Mercury being retrograde for messages being misunderstood and misinterpreted, but especially for any kind of communication issues (like social media glitches and bugs). The reason for this connection is that the Roman messenger god is called Mercury, and he is similar to the Greek god Hermes who has a similar role within Greek mythology.

I can understand why this has happened but at the same time, there's so much more to Mercury. This planet is also associated with travel, since messages have to move from one place to their intended destination, but also because Mercury wasn't just any old messenger - he was the messenger of the gods, taking messages between the gods, humans and the Underworld.

This is why a lot of travel issues, especially delays and cancellations, are blamed on Mercury being retrograde. While it is true that I would not recommend travelling while Mercury appears retrograde, if it is carefully planned, it should be a good experience. Just keep all written plans and communication clear.

Mercury will be retrograde in the sign of Cancer, which adds an element of protectiveness, possibly being overly defensive of my emotions, and moving in a different way to convention. This is due to the symbol of Cancer is a crab which can have huge claws for use when defending themselves, have an outer shell that is also defensive, but they move fastest when going sideways because their legs and joints bend outwards and aren't as flexible.

So I am needing to be more aware of how I communicate, especially when it comes to my emotions. It could also be that I need to be careful about how I react to what others are communicating to me.

Because of this, I did a reading for myself for this retrograde to help me to navigate the next few weeks. I created the spread myself and used the Celtic Dragon Tarot deck by D J Conway & Lisa Hunt.

What is my theme for this retrograde?

Knight of Swords & King of Pentacles

With the Knight of Swords, it seems as if I need to be more assertive, more willing to embody the energy of Cancer with being defensive. I also get the feeling that I need to be ready to defend my truth based on how the dragon is ready to move forward and the woman is holding a sword but holding the dragon back. Perhaps this is what I need to do: be ready to make a move but hold back unless it is absolutely necessary for me to do (more likely, say) something. This dragon is also straddling two rocks, where their back legs are not visible and one of their front legs appears to be grasping part of the rock formation they (the dragon and woman) are climbing. So it could be that the theme is me bridging my past with my future, defending my truth of what happened so that I could scale the mountain of my future.

With the King of Pentacles, this card could be indicating that I might need to be communicative about my finances. This King is in charge of his finances but he's not seated so he can move and be flexible, much like how I'd like my finances to be. He is grounded as the roots of the tree are around his feet and entwined within the throne. These are all things I could do with being more like or aving in my life more. I struggle to talk about my finances, especially when it comes to the details and intricacies of what I pay for but it is something that I am honest about. The golden dragon is resting, which could be indicating that I need to let my finances rest this retrograde. However, this dragon also appears to be a juvenile so it could be saying that I'm still learning how to be more like this King, that I need to rest in order to grow.

Where do I need to be more honest with myself?

Five of Wands

With this card, perhaps it seems as if I'm being told to be more honest about the various feelings and emotions, especially when they converge on one event or person from my past.

Emotions can be complicated but rather than fighting within myself, perhaps I need to be honest about these conflicting emotions. They don't need to fight for recognition or awareness - I just need to hold space for them without trying to cram them into a space that is too small, meaning that at least one emotion will be forced to burst out and cause further issues because I am not communicating that emotion as effectively.

This is definitely an interesting card for this retrograde.

What can I do to be more in alignment with my personal truth?

The Sun

With this card, I get the feeling that I need to stop hiding. I need to be seen, witnessed, and maybe even acknowledged for what I went through.

This is something I have been less inclined to do because I know of others who had similar experiences to me, as well as those who are published authors.

I don't need to be famous but I can certainly stand tall and allow my truth to be seen.

It could just be that I need to express my truth, to allow it to burn and flow from me so that it doesn't become an internal destructive force. This would make sense and I could do this so that others can witness me by reading my words. This is something I have been working on.

How can I implement this after the retrograde?

Page of Wands

With this card, I'm drawn towards the scroll being held by this Page as well as how contented and peaceful the dragon seems.

The scroll could show the finished work from the Sun, where I carry it but it is not a burden. It is something that I can easily hand over to be read and seen by others.

The blue dragon seems to be embodying the peace and contentment that I could experience from expressing my truth. It could show that there is hope for me to know these things, even if I don't currently and I definitely don't expect to be well-received by everyone who may read my future work. However, I could know that I'm not alone with my truth, and that would be more valuable to me.

It appears that this Mercury retrograde could be quite interesting but very successful in a personal way. I'll definitely be keeping these ideas in mind until Mercury turns direct again.

I hope this has given you an idea of how I approach Mercury retrogrades. If you'd like your own personal look at Mercury retrograde, my diary and inbox are open.

Peace and love to all!!!!