EYE ON THE SKY: MERCURY RETROGRADE IN AQUARIUS

Feb. 26 – March 20, 2026

Mercury Goes Retrograde Feb. 26th at 28 Degrees Aquarius

Everyone dreads Mercury retrograde, and it gets far more bad press than it deserves. Let me say it plainly: this transit is not bad for everyone. But this particular retrograde has a unique and complex sky picture worth understanding carefully — because Mercury is not traveling through Aquarius alone.

First, the basics. If you were born with Mercury retrograde in your natal chart, you are naturally more intuitive than analytical, more pattern-oriented than linear. Watch whether this period actually feels somewhat natural to you — that inward, reflective quality may be more familiar than foreign. For everyone else, the flow of Mercury’s normal energy gets disrupted. Communications, technology, contracts, and logistics become areas requiring extra patience and redundancy. Back up your computers now, handle important business dealings before Feb. 26th, don’t assume your messages arrived or were understood, and give yourself and others extra room for misunderstanding.

The Sign: Aquarius and Its Karmic Weight

Aquarius is an air sign — and I want to be precise here, because this matters. In Vedic astrology, Aquarius is not the watery, flowing sign that some descriptions suggest. It is fixed air: structured, internalized, and driven by intense mental focus. Its co-rulers are Saturn and Rahu, and that combination gives Aquarius a quality of deep karmic pressure — a sign that is working through old debts, old patterns, old obligations that demand resolution.

When Mercury moves retrograde through Aquarius, it actually gains what we call Cheshta Bala — a kind of strength that comes from the retrograde motion itself, because the planet is closer to Earth and moving with greater intensity. So Mercury here is not weakened or vague. It is stronger, but erratic — like a powerful engine running in reverse. The mind becomes highly internalized, churning through unresolved questions, karmic debts in communication and relationship, things left unsaid or unfinished. This is not a period for creative wandering or spiritual openness in the dreamy sense. It is a period for reckoning — for resolving what Mercury governs that has been left incomplete. Friends, relatives, communications, agreements, mental patterns that keep recycling. Aquarius will hold you to that work with Saturn’s discipline and Rahu’s relentless pressure until it is done.

Purvabhadrapada: Where Mercury Begins

Mercury stations retrograde at 28 degrees Aquarius, placing it in the nakshatra Purvabhadrapada at the start of this transit. This is a nakshatra of deep intensity — connected to great scientists, probing philosophical minds, and transformational insight. There is a burning, piercing quality here. When Mercury begins its retrograde journey in this nakshatra, the mind is being asked to go deep rather than wide, to investigate rather than conclude. It is not a comfortable place for surface-level thinking, but it can be extraordinarily productive for research, inner work, and penetrating questions you’ve been avoiding.

The Conjunctions: March 14th and March 16th

Here is where this retrograde becomes particularly significant. Mercury does not travel through Aquarius alone — both Mars and Rahu are also in Aquarius during this entire retrograde period.

Mars and Mercury are bitter enemies in Vedic astrology. When they cross over each other on March 14th, the friction between them becomes acute. Mars wants to act; Mercury wants to think. Mars pushes forward; Mercury retrograde pulls backward. This combination can generate intense mental agitation, disputes that escalate quickly, and the classic Mercury/Mars accident pattern — being so caught in an argument in your mind that you lose focus on what’s directly in front of you. Extra care on the roads and in sharp communications is genuinely warranted around March 14th.

Then on March 16th, Mercury crosses over Rahu. Rahu amplifies, obsesses, and obscures. When Mercury meets Rahu, the mind can become overwhelmed — too many thoughts, too many directions, confusion about what is real versus what is projection. Rahu/Mercury combinations intensify mental restlessness and can create a fog around clear decision-making. This is not the moment to sign contracts, make major commitments, or trust that you’re seeing a situation clearly. If you want to understand Rahu’s deeper nature and how to work with it rather than be consumed by it, my Rahu and Ketu: Understanding and Healing the Karmic Axis course goes into this in full depth — 21 classes covering exactly how to navigate Rahu’s energy in your chart and your life.

Mercury Stations Direct Conjunct Rahu: March 20th

This is the most striking feature of this retrograde. When Mercury stations direct on March 20th, it does so at less than one degree from Rahu. A planet stationing — pausing before changing direction — is already at its most powerful and most concentrated. Mercury stationing directly on top of Rahu intensifies everything both planets signify: communication, information, the thinking mind on Mercury’s side; obsession, illusion, and karmic amplification on Rahu’s side. The fog may actually feel thickest right as the retrograde ends. Give yourself a few extra days before assuming the waters have fully cleared.

The Grace Note: Jupiter’s Aspect

I do not want to leave you with only the challenges, because there is genuine support in this sky. Jupiter in Gemini is casting its 5th house aspect to Aquarius throughout this entire retrograde period. Jupiter’s influence here is like a wise elder watching over a turbulent river — it doesn’t stop the current, but it brings a quality of grace, perspective, and protection that softens what could otherwise feel overwhelming. For those doing sincere spiritual practice during this period, Jupiter’s aspect can help you find the teaching inside the turbulence rather than just being tossed around by it.

Remedies

Meditation is your most powerful tool during any Mercury retrograde, and especially this one. The combination of Mars, Rahu, and a retrograde Mercury in Aquarius creates conditions for significant mental agitation — the kind that meditation is specifically designed to address. Consistent daily practice creates the inner distance to observe the mental churn without being consumed by it.

Beyond meditation: slow, grounding yoga to counter the Rahu/Aquarius scatter; physical exercise to channel Mars’s compressed energy constructively; and conscious communication practices — listen more than you speak, write important things down, confirm receipt of key messages. If old disputes resurface with friends or community members (Mercury governs friends and relatives), resist the pull to escalate. These conversations are almost certainly being colored by the retrograde fog.

The planets are not punishing you. They are teaching you. Mercury retrograde, at its core, asks you to reflect before you react, to trust your deeper knowing over surface logic, and to let some things remain unresolved a little longer. March 20th will arrive. The waters will settle. And you may find that what felt like confusion was actually necessary preparation.

GO DEEPER

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Rahu’s energy is one of the trickiest to navigate — and this retrograde puts it front and center. In my 21-class Rahu and Ketu course, we go into the full depth of how to understand and heal the karmic axis: past life patterns, how Rahu operates in your specific chart, and practical tools for working with its amplifying, obsessive energy rather than being swept away by it.

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Secrets of the Moon, the Mind, and Emotions

Mercury governs the thinking mind — and when it’s retrograde and under Rahu’s influence, understanding the relationship between your mind, your emotions, and your chart becomes more important than ever. In my Secrets of the Moon course, we go deeply into how the nakshatra of the Moon shapes the entire emotional architecture of the chart, and how to work with mental and emotional patterns rather than be ruled by them.

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About the Author

Barry Rosen has been practicing Vedic astrology since 1987. He has visited and studied in India on four occasions and has spoken numerous times at the Sedona Vedic Astrology Conference since 1999 and also the British Association of Vedic Astrologers in London since 2006. He has been involved in Vedic culture since 1973 and is a longtime meditation and yoga teacher and a published poet.

Recently, he has been pioneering research in other areas of Vedic astrology including Vedic Astro-locality, the effects your current physical location have on your chart, connecting astrology to hatha yoga for therapeutic purposes and developing transformational healing work to move through karma and the spiritual dimensions of Vedic astrology. He is a Neo-Vedic astrologer and uses the outer planets. He is particularly interested in Jaimini astrology and the soul’s journey through the physical world and its karma and purpose and has taken live seminars in London with Sanjay Rath.

For questions, please contact Barry by email at: [email protected] or call Fortucast at 800-788-2796.