What this period actually is
Between November 9, 2025 and November 29, 2025 Mercury moves back through 16.2 degrees of the zodiac, from 6°52' Sagittarius to 20°42' Scorpio, without changing its own direction at any point. Mercury is an inner planet, so this happens as it swings between Earth and the Sun; the loop it appears to trace from 6°52' Sagittarius back to 20°42' Scorpio is Earth's own motion showing up in the line of sight.
The mechanism behind the Mercury station of November 9, 2025 is the same one described in what retrograde motion is. Read astrologically, the convention is that Mercury — thinking, wording, contracts and short journeys — turns inward between November 9, 2025 and November 29, 2025, which is a habit of reading rather than a claim about the sky.
The dates in full
Station retrograde: November 9, 2025 at 6°52' Sagittarius, 19:02 UTC. Station direct: November 29, 2025 at 20°42' Scorpio, 17:39 UTC. It begins in Sagittarius and backs into Scorpio, crossing the boundary between 6°52' Sagittarius and 20°42' Scorpio rather than working one stretch of a single sign.
Mercury first reaches 20°42' Scorpio — the degree it will retrograde back to — on October 21, 2025, and does not clear 6°52' Sagittarius, the degree it stationed at, until December 17, 2025, so counting both shadows the passage runs 56 days rather than 20.
What the period is good for
For the 20 days between November 9, 2025 and November 29, 2025 the workable version of the advice is narrow: re-read anything before signing it, back up what you cannot replace, and expect arrangements to need confirming twice.
If one thing is worth timing around the stretch that ends November 29, 2025, it is launching a product, signing a lease or buying the device you will depend on for three years — not because the sky forbids it, but because a marked period is a reasonable prompt to check work you would otherwise wave through. Treating the whole of November 9, 2025 to November 29, 2025 as a general curse is the version worth ignoring.
Which house it falls in for your sign
Counted from each sign as the first house, this Mercury retrograde, stationing at 6°52' Sagittarius falls here:
| Sign | House | What that house covers |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | 9th house | distance, study, belief, travel and the long view |
| Taurus | 8th house | shared money, debt, intimacy and what is not said out loud |
| Gemini | 7th house | partners, opponents and anyone you deal with one to one |
| Cancer | 6th house | work, routine, health and the small maintenance of a life |
| Leo | 5th house | play, romance, children and anything you make for its own sake |
| Virgo | 4th house | home, family, roots and private ground |
| Libra | 3rd house | conversation, short trips, siblings and daily information |
| Scorpio | 2nd house | money, possessions and what you consider yours |
| Sagittarius | 1st house | your own bearing, appearance and the first move |
| Capricorn | 12th house | rest, solitude, what is behind you and what runs unattended |
| Aquarius | 11th house | friends, groups, networks and what you are aiming at |
| Pisces | 10th house | career, public standing and what you are known for |
The cycle either side of this one
The previous Mercury retrograde ended 90 days before this one began, and the next station comes 89 days after November 29, 2025.
- Previous: July 18, 2025 to August 11, 2025
- Next: February 26, 2026 to March 20, 2026
- All Mercury retrograde periods: the full list
Questions people ask about this
When does Mercury go retrograde in 2025?
On November 9, 2025 at 19:02 UTC, at 6°52' Sagittarius.
When does it end?
The direct station falls on November 29, 2025 at 20°42' Scorpio, 20 days after the turn.
What is the shadow period?
For this passage it runs October 21, 2025 to December 17, 2025: the stretch in which Mercury crosses the same degrees it covers three times in all.
Does Mercury retrograde break things?
No. Between November 9, 2025 and November 29, 2025 the planet only appears to reverse, and the tradition reads that as a stretch better suited to review than to launch.