What Sign Is Mercury in Right Now? Is Mercury Retrograde?

Mercury is in Scorpio right now, at 0°52' Scorpio as of October 1, 2026 at 03:37 UTC. Mercury entered Scorpio on September 30, 2026 at 7:44 AM ET (11:44 UTC) and stays until December 6, 2026 at 3:33 AM ET (08:33 UTC), when it moves into Sagittarius. Mercury is direct, not retrograde.

No. Mercury is direct as of October 1, 2026 at 03:37 UTC. Its next retrograde begins on October 24, 2026 at 3:11 AM ET (07:11 UTC) at 20°58' Scorpio and ends on November 13, 2026.

The next Mercury retrograde begins on October 24, 2026 at 3:11 AM ET (07:11 UTC) at 20°58' Scorpio and ends on November 13, 2026 at 10:55 AM ET (15:55 UTC) at 5°02' Scorpio. The shadow period runs from October 4, 2026 to November 30, 2026.

Mercury represents thinking, speech, writing, learning, short trips, and everyday logistics. In Scorpio, those themes take on a intense, private, probing, and all-or-nothing quality. Mercury's sign shapes how people talk, decide, and process information. A retrograde is traditionally a time to review, revise, and double-check rather than launch.

Mercury usually spends 14 to 30 days in a sign, but a retrograde can hold it in one sign for more than two months. It turns retrograde three or occasionally four times a year, for about three weeks each time, and it is never more than 28 degrees from the Sun.

Most astrology sites print a single date without a time zone. An ingress at 10:49 PM in New York is already the next day in London and Sydney, so two correct sources can disagree by a day. Selfgazer gives every time in both US Eastern time and UTC, and the tables switch to your own time zone in the browser.