Astrology CalendarMercury Retrograde 2027: The Exact Dates
Three windows in 2027, with stations to the minute and the degrees each one covers. Computed from an ephemeris, not copied, and dated so you can tell.
Retrogrades
Mars Retrograde: Real Dates and the Evidence
Mars goes retrograde about every two years, for two to three months, read as a review of drive, anger, momentum and anything you are pushing. The computed dates, what retrograde motion physically is, and an honest account of the evidence.
The short answerMars goes retrograde about every two years, for two to three months, and the period is read as a review of drive, anger, momentum and anything you are pushing. The next one runs January 10, 2027 to April 1, 2027. Mars is retrograde about 9 per cent of the time, and it is the one most consistently described as frustrating rather than merely confusing.
Mars retrograde dates
Computed from the ephemeris: these are the moments Mars's apparent motion changes direction, which is the actual definition of a station rather than an approximation of one.
| Retrograde from | Direct on | Length | Degrees covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 10, 2027 | April 1, 2027 | 81 days | 10°26' Virgo back to 20°56' Leo |
| February 14, 2029 | May 5, 2029 | 80 days | 13°55' Libra back to 24°56' Virgo |
| March 28, 2031 | June 13, 2031 | 76 days | 21°38' Scorpio back to 4°26' Scorpio |
| May 26, 2033 | August 1, 2033 | 67 days | 12°30' Capricorn back to 29°48' Sagittarius |
| August 15, 2035 | October 15, 2035 | 61 days | 28°26' Pisces back to 17°46' Pisces |
| October 12, 2037 | December 23, 2037 | 71 days | 6°16' Gemini back to 20°08' Taurus |
To the hour: Mars turns retrograde January 10, 2027, 8:00 AM ET and turns direct April 1, 2027, 10:10 AM ET.
What retrograde motion actually is
No planet goes backwards. Retrograde is an appearance, and it is the appearance that gave astronomy one of its hardest problems for two thousand years. A planet looks like it reverses because we are watching it from another moving planet: when the Earth overtakes an outer planet on the inside of its orbit, or an inner planet overtakes us, the line of sight swings the other way for a while.
The same thing happens on a motorway. Overtake a slower car and, against the distant hills, it appears to slide backwards for a few seconds. Nothing about the other car changed. Your position did.
Explaining those loops is what Ptolemy's epicycles were for, and getting rid of them is a large part of why heliocentric astronomy won. So retrograde motion is completely real, completely understood, and entirely a matter of where you are standing.
What Mars retrograde is read as
Mars retrograde is traditionally read as a review of drive, anger, momentum and anything you are pushing. The reasoning is straightforward once you know what the motion is: the planet covers the same stretch of zodiac three times, forward, back, and forward again, so anything it touches gets touched three times. Revisiting is a description of the geometry before it is an interpretation.
Mars is retrograde about 9 per cent of the time, and it is the one most consistently described as frustrating rather than merely confusing. That figure is worth knowing, because the amount of attention a retrograde gets is almost exactly inverse to how rare it is. Mercury retrograde is famous and common. Venus retrograde is uncommon and barely discussed.
| Planet | Retrograde | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Mercury | about 19% | 3 or 4 times a year, 3 weeks each |
| Venus | about 7% | every 18 months, about 6 weeks |
| Mars | about 9% | every 2 years, 2 to 3 months |
| Jupiter | about 30% | yearly, about 4 months |
| Saturn | about 36% | yearly, about 4 and a half months |
| Uranus | about 41% | yearly, about 5 months |
| Neptune | about 43% | yearly, about 5 months |
| Pluto | about 44% | yearly, about 5 and a half months |
The outer planets are retrograde for so much of the year that treating one as an event makes little sense. What astrologers watch there is the station: the few days the planet appears to stand still before turning, which is when it is moving slowest against the sky and sitting longest on one degree.
What the evidence saysThere is no measured effect of Mercury's apparent motion on electronics, travel, contracts or anything else, and the studies that have looked have found nothing. What is well documented is confirmation bias: once you are told to expect things to go wrong, you notice and remember the ones that do. That does not make the practice worthless, and plenty of people find a scheduled three weeks of reviewing and double-checking genuinely useful. It does mean the honest claim is smaller than the popular one, and anybody telling you not to sign a contract is overstating what this is.
What to actually do with it
- Use it as a prompt, not a prohibition. Mars retrograde is a good three weeks to re-read, revisit and finish things, which is useful advice whether or not the astrology holds.
- Do not postpone something important on account of it. People have lost jobs and houses waiting for a planet, and no reputable astrologer would advise that.
- Back things up and read the email before you send it. That is good practice in any three weeks.
- If you want to test it, write down what happens. Most people who are certain about retrogrades have never kept a record, which is exactly the condition under which bias thrives.
Being born with it retrograde
Mars is retrograde about 9 per cent of the time, and it is the one most consistently described as frustrating rather than merely confusing, so a meaningful share of people have Mars retrograde in their birth chart. The usual reading is that the planet's job gets done inwardly or on a second pass rather than straightforwardly, which is a description rather than a problem. It is not a flaw, it is not rare enough to be special, and a chart with it is not worse than one without.
Whether yours is retrograde needs the chart calculated, although for this one a birth time is less critical than usual: retrograde status does not change through a day.
Questions people ask
When is Mars retrograde?
January 10, 2027 to April 1, 2027. The table on this page lists the next ten periods.
How often does Mars go retrograde?
About every two years, for two to three months.
What does Mars retrograde affect?
It is read as a review of drive, anger, momentum and anything you are pushing.
Does Mars actually move backwards?
No. It is an optical effect of watching one moving planet from another moving planet. The same thing makes a slower car appear to slide backwards as you overtake it.
RubyAstro writes about astrology for reflection and self-understanding. Nothing here is medical, legal or financial advice, and none of it is a prediction of events. Read our full disclaimer.
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