Mercury Retrogrades from Aries to Pisces: Release and Receive

Mercury from Aries to Pisces: Exploring the Subtleties of Communication

Mercury has been retrograde since March 15: when the planet of communication, logic, and problem-solving appears to move backward in the skies, we have an opportunity to question habitual ways of thinking, challenge existing perceptions, and explore alternative communication styles and channels. 

In Aries, Mercury retrograde invited a revision of our relationship to directness, decisiveness, and speaking our truth. This transit brought our attention to any impulsive speech habits and reactive patterns, and offered us an opportunity to observe the ways in which we assert ourselves and our opinions. Mercury retrograde in Aries invited us to reflect on how we communicate our desires and advocate for ourselves while reminding us of the value of mindful self-assertion.

As Mercury moves back into Pisces, the energy shifts toward introspection, the development of intuition, and nonverbal communication. This transit calls for a reevaluation of our relationship with the unseen and a deepening of our awareness of the subtleties of language. Mercury retrograde in Pisces encourages us to listen more carefully to our inner voice and explore nonlinear, non-rational ways of communicating, learning, gathering data, and processing information.

Mercury retrograde in Pisces: Release and Receive

This second chapter of Mercury’s retrograde journey is an opportunity to tie up loose ends and revisit themes and situations that emerged during Mercury’s previous transit through the late degrees of Pisces. The Messenger was already in Pisces from February 14 to March 3, and issues from that period may resurface to be seen in a new light.

Mercury’s retrograde time in Pisces offers us an opportunity to question distorted perceptions and recognize where we may have believed misleading narratives. Confusion, misunderstandings, and brain fog can be more frequent during this transit: Mercury is traditionally debilitated in Pisces, as it is at home in the opposite sign of Virgo.

Because these energies can be challenging to blend, Mercury retrograde in Pisces can highlight tendencies to escape reality through denial, fantasy, or avoidance. This transit challenges us to discern between intuition and illusion, truth and wishful thinking: it has the potential to help us refine our ability to see things as they are rather than as we hope or fear them to be. The purpose of the Messenger’s retrograde journey through Pisces is to help us break free from deceptive narratives, release illusions, and allow any lingering dysfunctions to reveal to us what is still in need of healing.

These days, we may become more aware of where we might have misinterpreted signals, filled in gaps with our imagination, or held on to ideals that lack a solid foundation. Mercury’s retrograde period in Pisces offers us the opportunity to move beyond confusion and embrace a more intuitive, heart-centered way of thinking while making sure we are staying grounded in reality.

Mercury conjunct Neptune, Venus, the North Node, and Saturn

As the Messenger returns to Pisces, it immediately joins Neptune, Venus, and the North Node in the final degrees of the sign. The Mercury-Neptune conjunction at 29º Pisces can flood our minds with intuitive messages, symbols, insights, and images. 

With Neptune entering Aries on March 30, in just a few hours, this will be the last Mercury-Neptune conjunction in Pisces in our lifetime. This potent, magical alignment, happening in proximity to Venus, the North Node, and Saturn, has the potential to awaken latent psychic abilities, inspire new artistic visions, and catalyze spiritual breakthroughs and eye-opening experiences.

Mercury and Neptune will meet for the third time on April 17, in the sign of Aries, with Mercury now in direct motion. This alignment completes a cycle that started on March 2, with the first Mercury-Neptune conjunction in Pisces, before Mercury began to retrograde. The Mercury-Neptune alignment in Aries will challenge us to speak the truth with courage and take action on our dreams, visions, and ideas. At this point, the purpose of the process we have been undergoing since February is likely to be clearer: a radical shift in perception will take place, allowing the inner changes we have been undergoing to manifest externally.

Neptune sometimes called a generational planet, because it is changing signs only every 14 years, is entering Aries. To help you align with Neptune in Aries energy we wrote an e-book for you. It is a gift that will walk you through Neptune’s shift, evolutionary opportunities, history, important dates, journaling questions, the meaning of Saturn-Neptune conjunction, and the meaning of Neptune’s ingress into Aries in each House of the natal chart. You can find your Neptune in Aries e-book here.