2026 Retrogrades
MERCURY RETROGRADES IN 2026
All three Mercury retrogrades in 2026 take place in water signs, which is notable. This is not a year of purely logistical or technical misfires. It is a year where communication issues are rooted in emotion, memory, intuition, and subconscious material.
Mercury Retrograde in Pisces - February 26 – March 20, 2026
This retrograde blurs mental clarity in order to expose where intuition has been ignored. Old beliefs, spiritual narratives, and assumptions resurface for reconsideration. Communication may feel vague or confusing, but the purpose is to dissolve illusions rather than provide immediate answers. This is a recalibration of faith, trust, and inner guidance.
Mercury Retrograde in Cancer -June 29 – July 23, 2026
This retrograde turns attention inward toward emotional security, memory, and the past. Conversations around family dynamics, belonging, and safety resurface. Decisions are filtered through emotional truth rather than logic. This period highlights how past experiences still influence present communication and choices.
Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio -October 24 – November 13, 2026
This is the most psychologically intense of the three. Information buried beneath the surface comes back for examination. Secrets, power dynamics, and unspoken truths rise into awareness. This retrograde favors honesty, depth, and confronting what has been avoided rather than maintaining appearances.
Venus Retrograde in Scorpio/Libra - October 3 – November 13, 2026
Venus retrograde in late 2026 initiates a deep reassessment of relationships, values, finances, and emotional investments. Beginning in Scorpio, this cycle exposes power dynamics, attachment patterns, and unspoken emotional debts. Desire intensifies, but clarity does not come easily. What is hidden surfaces. What has been tolerated without honesty becomes impossible to ignore.
As Venus moves back into Libra, the focus shifts from intensity to balance. Questions of fairness, reciprocity, and mutual respect take center stage. This retrograde asks not just what you want, but whether your relationships and financial choices are aligned with your values rather than habit, fear, or compromise.
This is not a time for impulsive commitments or aesthetic reinvention. It is a recalibration period, where true alignment is restored by stripping away what no longer reflects genuine desire.
OUTER PLANET RETROGRADES OF 2026
Outer planet retrogrades do not function like Mercury or Venus retrogrades. These are not short-term disruptions. They represent long, slow periods of internal restructuring, review, and recalibration at both a collective and generational level. In 2026, several outer planets retrograde in newly entered signs, amplifying the sense that we are learning how to operate within unfamiliar territory.
Jupiter Retrograde
January – March 10, 2026 (Cancer)
December 12, 2026 onward (Leo)
Jupiter retrograde begins the year in Cancer, slowing expansion around security, emotional safety, home, and belonging. Growth during this period is internal rather than visible. Collective optimism turns reflective, forcing questions around what actually provides nourishment and stability rather than symbolic success.
When Jupiter stations retrograde again in Leo at the end of the year, themes of leadership, visibility, and creative authority turn inward. This is a review of ego, purpose, and the desire to be seen. It challenges inflated confidence and asks whether expansion is rooted in authenticity or performance.
Jupiter retrograde does not deny growth. It refines it.
Saturn Retrograde
July 26 – December 10, 2026 (Aries)
Saturn retrograde in Aries is a significant internal reckoning around authority, discipline, and self-directed leadership. With Saturn already in its fall in Aries, the retrograde intensifies questions around impulse versus responsibility.
During this period, structures built too quickly or without foresight are tested. Leadership roles feel heavier. Consequences of rushed decisions become clearer. This is a time when authority is questioned not externally, but internally.
Saturn retrograde in Aries asks whether action is strategic or reactive, and whether responsibility is being claimed or avoided.
Uranus Retrograde
September 10, 2026 onward (Gemini)
Uranus retrograde in Gemini turns the disruption of communication, technology, and information inward. After months of rapid mental and social acceleration, this retrograde period forces integration.
Collectively, this can look like second-guessing narratives, revisiting technological shifts, and reassessing how information spreads. Innovation does not stop, but it becomes more reflective. The pace slows enough for people to recognize the psychological and social impact of constant stimulation.
This is a recalibration of thought patterns, media consumption, and nervous system strain.
Neptune Retrograde
July 7 – December 12, 2026 (Aries)
Neptune retrograde in Aries intensifies confusion around direction, belief, and motivation. Ideals that initially inspired action may begin to feel hollow, unrealistic, or misaligned.
This retrograde dissolves false conviction. It exposes where belief has been driven by urgency rather than truth. Faith becomes quieter, more internal, and less performative.
Collectively, Neptune retrograde in Aries reveals where inspiration has outpaced clarity, forcing a reassessment of what is actually worth fighting for.
Pluto Retrograde
May 6 – October 15, 2026 (Aquarius)
Pluto retrograde in Aquarius is a deep internal review of power, systems, and collective identity. This is not a visible collapse phase. It is a subterranean one.
During this period, corruption, imbalance, and structural weaknesses are examined beneath the surface. Control mechanisms are exposed quietly rather than dramatically. The retrograde turns attention toward how power operates within communities, technology, and ideological systems.
This is where the real transformation work happens before visible change resumes once Pluto stations direct.
Get your What in the Retrograde!?! 2026 Survival Guide here!
