Mercury’s progress through mid-Scorpio enters the echo (or ‘shadow’) phase of its retrograde cycle Thursday at 8:45 am EDT. That means Mercury will be in direct motion over the furthest point to which November’s apparent reversal will return it. It also means you should begin listening for echoes of what has not yet to come to pass, so that you can better pass through what is to come.
What will never come to pass is any planet actually reversing course. November’s period of apparent backwards motion, as well as its echo, is a product of how we perceive Mercury from Earth as it catches up to pass between Earth and the Sun.
As Mercury approaches to catch up and pass us, it appears to first slow down, then go backwards, then gradually regain full speed in forward motion. The whole cycle takes between seven and eight weeks and can be broken down into three phases, corresponding to the first, second and third passes over the same crescent of zodiac pie crust. The first pass frequently echoes actual events to follow, thus awarding awareness and anticipation.
Since awareness requires information, what follows are crucial dates after Thursday’s start of the first pass. To begin with, Mercury makes sluggish ingress to Sagittarius on Oct. 29. The second phase begins on Nov. 6, election day in the United States, when Mercury shifts into reverse from early Sagittarius. Mercury then backs out of Sagittarius, returning to Scorpio Nov. 14, before conjoining with, or passing in front of, the Sun on Nov. 17.