Mercury retrograde in Virgo 2024 has already arrived: this is what the experts say about the phenomenon

As Mercury begins to turn retrograde on August 5, prepare for astrologers to blame the planets and stars for a host of communication issues over the next few weeks.

For 400 years, astronomers have believed it is a basic fact of the universe that Mercury “enters into apparent retrograde motion,” according to VoiceBut in astrology, Mercury retrograde is a quasi-religious holiday that is generally predicted to bring dislocation for everyone under the sun.

While the astrological phenomenon has become a popular topic on the Internet in recent years, The Atlantic He says that “the idea that planets can influence people’s lives” has been around for over a millennium. This belief system has had numerous interpretations over the centuries, with its most recent incarnation being New Age astrology, which is often presented in the form of relatable memes and lists.

Astrology accounts on social media have amassed hundreds and thousands of followers over the past few years, drawing in users with retrograde jokes and categorizing memes that include anything from cats to Strange things characters. Meanwhile, horoscopes and astrology-focused lists have also gained popularity online.

Astrologer Chani Nicolas said The Atlantic in 2018: “There’s something that’s happened in the last five years that’s given it an innovative edge, a relevance to this time and place, that it hasn’t had for a good 35 years.”

Since 2018, astrology has become more popular among millennials and Gen Z, and the idea of ​​Mercury retrograde has become more ubiquitous in pop culture. Some astrologers credit Taylor Swift with the phenomenon's “sudden leap into the mainstream.” In a 2014 article MTV News In the clip, Swift explained to viewers: “Everything is going to go wrong, messy and miscommunicated. Your phone is going to break or you're going to send a text and it's not going to go to the person it's supposed to go to.”

The idea that Mercury retrograde can wreak havoc is a fairly recent idea that independent researcher Joanna Martin has traced back to the late 20th century, even as far back as the 1970s. Martin, who studied under historian of astrology and cultural astronomy Nicholas Campion, said she discovered some of the earliest mentions of Mercury retrograde while conducting research for her 2018 master’s dissertation on the cultural history of Mercury retrograde. Harper's Bazaar He wrote that Martin had noticed “an increase in mentions of Mercury retrograde coinciding with the development of computers in the 1980s.”

Martin also discovered that astrologer Edith Custer had printed a newsletter in 1974 that functioned as a modern-day online forum where astrologers “wrote their troubles” and complained about the effects of Mercury retrograde.

Although the idea that communication problems are a consequence of planetary movements may be recent, astrologers are not wrong in stating that something is going on in the sky. In reality, what is happening in the sky is mainly due to the way Mercury appears to human beings. In short, Mercury retrograde is an optical illusion.

Because Mercury orbits closer to the Sun than Earth, the planet ultimately travels faster: it makes its trip around the Sun in 88 days, compared to Earth's 365 days. A planetary scientist named David Rothery explained to The Atlantic that the planet was essentially “overtaking us on the inner path.” When that happens, on Earth it appears as if Mercury is going retrograde. Eventually, Earth catches up and Mercury appears to “prograde.” The astrological phenomenon usually occurs for about three weeks, three or four times a year.

Asked whether Mercury retrograde affected humans, Rothery said: “As far as I’m concerned, the only relationship this has to events on Earth is that most of the time when Mercury is ‘retrograde,’ it is so close to the sun in the sky that radio communication with a spacecraft on Mercury is compromised by interference with the signal.”