There is One Planet in Retrograde Right Now. Here's What That Means For You.

We find ourselves past retrograde season at the current moment, with several planets having recently completed a retrograde cycle. At present, there is one planet in retrograde, or an apparent backward spin. Although it numberes just one, the retrograde can be considered a prelude for becoming more of who we are meant to be.

What Does It Mean When Planets Are In Retrograde?

In ancient astrology, it was understood that planets in retrograde are journeying through the underworld and gathering insights, perspectives, and information from the unseen world. This was used as a metaphor for what happens within our inner worlds when a planet is in retrograde.

No matter what humans think life should look like, retrogrades remind us that our paths are not linear. Although many of us may feel more comfortable during experiences that are direct and straightforward, are we forgetting the rest of the picture?

As the planets in our cosmos take a moment to retrace their steps, they take us on a journey through our past actions, selves, experiences, desires, and expressions. It is a retracing and reliving of what is still awaiting our presence, awareness, understanding, and compassion.

Throughout a retrograde, we experience what needs to be witnessed so that it may be worked through. The endings that never truly ended and are in need of reviving or final closure. The old ideas that entered our consciousness before we were ready and require us to understand or release them. And the stories that need the kind of reframe that comes from looking at them anew from a more recently acquired perspective.

As much as planets in retrograde can feel like a step backward, they are a necessary and sacred part of our way forward. They are the gift of reflection that allows for insight, the introspection that allows for self-awareness, the spaciousness required for the assimilation of steps already taken, and the sacred pause needed to build the inner capacity to take any leap forward.

During retrograde, beyond the light of our awareness, there are aspects of us, each represented by a planet, that journey downward and backward into our shadows. Far beneath the surface, these aspects await being acknowledged, witnessed, claimed, and reintegrated into our consciousness.

Once we emerge from this descent, we do so with these newly reclaimed parts of ourselves. We emerge as more of who we are. We emerge with greater clarity on our next season, the direction of our forward movement, our most aligned desires, and our enhanced understanding of, quite simply, who we are. This is why astrologers caution not to begin anything new or make any sudden changes or big decisions prior to retrograde drawing to a close.

What Planet Is in Retrograde Right Now?

Retrogrades can feel like a step backward, but are a necessary part of our way forward. The following planets find themselves in apparent backward motion in the months to come:

Jupiter Retrograde in Cancer | November 11, 2025 – March 11, 2026
Mercury Retrograde in Pisces | February 25 or 26, 2026 – March 20, 2026

How to Navigate Planets in Retrograde Right Now

When planets are in retrograde, the world around us continues to move forward even as we are invited to bring space into our days wherever possible. An extra few breaths before we begin our day, a quiet contemplation in between meetings, a few minutes of quiet as we settle into bed.

We are asked to clear away the unnecessary, the noise, the extra and instead create pockets of space. Space for the inner journeying that is taking place within you to reach your consciousness. Space for emotion to move through your body and release itself where it can. Space for reflection. Space for you to surprise yourself as to who you now are, and all the ways in which you have changed. There are new perspectives waiting to be seen.

In astrology, the inner planets of Venus and Mars are referred to as “personal planets.” These retrogrades are generally felt more within our individual experience, compared to the outer planets, which operate less within our seen and felt everyday reality and more behind the scenes at a slower pace. Despite our long line-up of outer planets still in their backward spin, there is the experience of finding our clarity and our way forward once again.

Our journey within this human experience is not only non-linear, but our directions shift. The speed at which we move seems to ebb and flow. The desires that call our name take different forms. We experience cycles of immense transformation and movement, cycles of sinking into a routine and setting down roots and simply being, and cycles of excitement, adventure, and outward exploring.

And so, how do we continue with our forward movement, the direction that is so expected of us in today’s world, when so much of us is instead invited to mimic the planets in retrograde and go on our own retrograde exploration?  What does this mean for us as we sink into stillness, reflection, and inward contemplation?

Planets in retrograde afford us an opportunity to catch up with who we have become, the experiences we have moved through, and the insights we have learned along the way. It is as if the changes and growth we have been experiencing are granted an opportunity to seep deep into our bodies, integrate into our identities, and become available for us to live. We move through so much in this world and are changed by all of it. This retrograde season, can you allow yourself to get to know yourself?

Many astrologers caution us not to begin anything new or make any sudden changes or big decisions when there are planets in retrograde right now. When we emerge with these newly reclaimed parts of ourselves, we emerge with greater clarity around our most aligned desires, and our enhanced understanding of, quite simply, who we are.

The invitation of any transit in astrology is to continue to honor our experiences and bring appreciation and respect for the inward as much as the outward, the reflection as much as the forward thinking, and the stillness as much as the action.

This article has been updated to reflect recent retrogrades.

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