A few times a year a planet appears to stop and drift backwards. That’s a retrograde, and despite the panic around “Mercury retrograde”, it’s gentler and stranger than its reputation.
Nothing actually reverses. Retrograde is an optical illusion: as Earth overtakes a slower planet, or is overtaken by a faster one, that planet seems to loop backwards against the stars, the way a slower car beside you can look like it’s rolling back.
What it means in a reading
Astrologically, a retrograde turns a planet’s energy inward and asks you to re-do, re-think and re-visit. Mercury retrograde, the famous one, is a nudge to slow down with messages, plans and tech, not a curse on your week.
- Mercury retrograde: revisit conversations, double-check details, back up your files.
- Venus retrograde: old feelings and old flames resurface; reconsider what you truly value.
- Mars retrograde: rethink how, and whether, you’re going after what you want.