When: March 14th – April 7th, 2025
What: Mercury retrograde in Aries and Pisces
Takeaway: When Mercury appears to loop backward in the sky, miscommunications and tech glitches tend to surge. This particular retrograde has the potential to be messier than most — but we can learn a lot from our blooper reels, which make our lives more entertaining. Buckle up and prepare to chuckle at yourself.
The trickster planet is making mischief again
Mercury appears to spin in reverse three or four times a year. The planet of communication doesn’t actually backpedal in the sky, but this optical illusion tends to wreak real havoc here on Earth, so get ready to double-check your texts and back up your hard drives. Mercury stations retrograde on March 14th, and this time around, it starts stirring up trouble in Aries.
This fire sign is the instigator, trailblazer, and fighter of the zodiac — courageous, ambitious, and a touch temperamental. When the cosmic messenger is in Aries, communication tends to be candid and straightforward, with little time spent mulling over options. This combo can result in zippy email threads and galvanizing game plans, but it can also lead to needless arguments and overly rash decision-making. While Mercury likes to be analytical and discerning, Mars-ruled Aries is motivated by quick instincts and the thrill of competition.
When Mercury is retrograde in this cardinal sign, it reminds us to strategize carefully rather than rush into action. Instead of implementing your ideas the second they come to you, take time to map them out and weigh the likely consequences of each potential course. And if the first observation on the tip of your tongue is a harsh one, take a deep breath and re-center yourself before sharing it. Our anger is intelligent, and it can teach us where we’ve allowed our boundaries to be crossed — but when acted upon too thoughtlessly, it can also spike ordinary conversations with unnecessary aggression. Pausing a moment to shape your thoughts and opinions with tact can be the difference between a point well taken and a pointless quarrel. Wait a beat, and you might prevent a tiff from breaking out in the comments section or the grocery store line. Patience is a virtue when this chatty planet is in the sign of the ram.
A cazimi in Aries highlights this Mercury retrograde’s lessons
Clarity briefly enters the chat on March 24th, when Mercury cozies up to the Sun in an auspicious event called a cazimi. This is the moment when the messenger planet is close enough to Sol to be bathed in its illuminating rays. The key lessons you’re learning during this retrograde period show up more vividly for you on or around this date, so stay alert to any signs, synchronicities, or resonant advice whirling through the cosmos. Dreams, recommendations from friends, or even attention-grabbing billboards may be conveying crucial insights to you now. Important messages can arrive through many channels, so remain open. Keep a journal or your notes app on deck to jot down any words or phrases that strike a chord. Integrating this knowledge is essential for sharpening the way you think, communicate, organize, brainstorm ideas, and implement them.
When Mercury re-enters Pisces, prepare to get dreamy
This retrograde period isn’t all hasty insults and all-caps rants, though. Get ready for mixed messages, scrambled thoughts, and distracting dreams once Mercury floats back into imaginative Pisces on March 29th. Mercury is traditionally considered to be in detriment in Pisces, which prefers seeking the magical shapes hidden in cloud formations to counting them, and which tends to be vague and expansive rather than precise and detail-oriented. Because of this drifty sign’s loose grip on hard facts, our tech projects and communications may be fuzzier than usual during this stretch of Mercury’s retrograde journey. Figuring out how to reboot your Wi-Fi or read between the lines of someone’s offhand comment may be tricky business. Dates, times, and appointments could easily slip into a different dimension during this hazy transit, so make sure to snap out of your fantasies long enough to double-check your calendar.
The North Node turns up Mercury’s hunger to learn
On April 3rd, Mercury syncs up with the North Node of the Moon. The ancients conceptualized this point in space as the ravenous head of a dragon, and it conjures a sense of hunger and increase wherever it appears in the sky. When the messenger planet buddies up with the North Node, our yearning to learn, teach, and communicate intensifies. But because Mercury will still be retrograde at the time of this celestial meetup, we’ll also be driven to tinker with our ideas and streamline our self-expression. Around this date, if you feel an urge to edit your emails, organize your calendar, or finish your magnum opus, be gentle with yourself. The desire to revise your systems and processes is a healthy one, but you don’t need to do everything all at once. If you find yourself soliciting too much feedback or initiating too many projects, pencil in breathing room. Picking up the pace while allowing yourself time to adjust to any changes you make is the magic recipe for lasting clarity.
When in doubt, laugh it off
Getting your ducks in a row ahead of time can help you navigate this Mercury retrograde period more smoothly. Still, even if all your documents are neat and organized, you can’t entirely avoid confusion — but whenever it arises, you have a superpower on your side: your sense of humor. Laughing off awkward misunderstandings and choppy internet connections is the surest way to get through this potentially bumpy transit. And in case you need more suggestions for these weeks, here’s our official list:
Your Mercury retrograde survival guide
Do…
- Expect delays. Schedule buffer time for everything. When things go smoothly, you’ll have space to relax — and when they don’t, you’ll be grateful to have plans B and C.
- Back up all your files. Documents, emails, photos — everything. Get ahead of potential technology glitches. Your future self will thank you.
- Reflect, review, revise, reorganize, and take note of anything you repeatedly think about. There is meaning in what keeps entering your mind.
- Streamline your life and update your systems, both internal and external.
- Focus on long-term solutions. Off-the-cuff decisions don’t always support your highest self. Commit to making deliberate choices that align with your broader goals.
- Pause, rest, and belly-breathe through mounting frustrations.
- Edit your ideas before you express them. The fiery arguments you’re tempted to start or spicy quips you want to share might not be the most tactful or accurate. If you’re not sure whether it’s the right moment to give an impromptu TED Talk, read the room first.
- Laugh at yourself when you make obvious mistakes. The point of this transit is to keep you humble and open to learning.
- Listen to the Astrology of the Week Ahead podcast for the week of March 10th, 2025, and Your Reading in the “This Week” section of the CHANI app. There, you’ll also find journal prompts and other resources that will help you work with the lessons that Mercury retrograde is bringing you.
- Learn how Mercury retrograde is impacting your natal placements by checking the Transits tab in the CHANI app. You can also read your free Current Sky horoscopes to find out how Mercury in Aries and Mercury in Pisces will affect your rising sign.
Don’t…
- Fear Mercury retrograde. It may be annoying, but remember that worrying is simply fixating on what you don’t want. Instead, treat this period as an opportunity to reassess your strategies.
- Buy tickets, sign contracts, or organize events during this time, if you can avoid it. If you can’t, stay flexible and assume that adjustments may be needed after — or even before — this retrograde cycle is over.
- Plan any big launches or make major life changes, if you can — unless you schedule them around the Mercury cazimi on March 24th. (That said, you may still want to work with an astrologer to pinpoint the most fruitful moment possible.)
- Put your life on hold. If you can postpone some things, great, but if not, just brace yourself for hiccups. Again, you shouldn’t fear this Mercury retrograde — just approach it wisely.
Looking for more intel? Read your daily horoscope:
Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra
Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces
Then download the CHANI app on iOS or Android for additional horoscopes, meditations, affirmations, readings for the current Moon phase and sign, and more.