Can Your Business Afford to Pause for Every Retrograde?

You’ve finally agreed on a project with a new client. They’re ready to get started. Then you see that Mercury is about to go retrograde.

So, now what? You tell them you’ll get back to them in three weeks?

If you follow enough astrology on social media, you’ve seen some of these retrograde warnings. Don’t launch. Don’t sign. Don’t make the decision.

And that’s before anyone brings up the shadow periods. Add the weeks before and after the retrograde, and some astrologers would have you holding off from early October right through to the end of November.

I think these blanket warnings deserve a closer look.

Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio from October 24 to November 13, 2026. That’s three weeks. If you’re trying to build something and keep momentum going, three weeks is a long time to stall out, and two months is even longer.

As a practical astrologer, I see retrogrades as an opportunity to review how I’m working with that planet’s energy and to question my habitual patterns. The business keeps moving while I do this.

When Mercury is retrograde

Mercury is associated with communication, commerce and negotiation. You can see why its retrograde periods get so much attention from entrepreneurs.

The symbolism of reviewing and resetting mercurial topics has lots of practical applications in our businesses.

Perhaps you’ve been selling a service for six months and keep answering the same questions about what’s included. You thought your write-up was clear, but it may need another look.

Or a previous client enquires about working with you again. The last project went OK, but you both learned something about how you’d handle the next one differently.

If we’re looking at Mercury retrograde in a reading, I’d start by asking what it is you’re committing to, what you’re still questioning, and how much breathing room you have to make adjustments as you go.

There is more to Mercury than just its direction

Direction is one of the things we can look at. The sign and house Mercury is in matter too, and so do the aspects it makes to other planets.

The upcoming Mercury retrograde is in Scorpio, which brings its own themes around power, control, secrecy and honesty. Those are general indicators, but your chart shows which part of your life this Mercury retrograde is likely to stir up. For this, we will want to check your birth chart and note which house Scorpio falls in.

More specific predictive work will require us to pay attention to any natal planets you have around 5 to 21 degrees of Scorpio, Taurus, Leo or Aquarius. Mercury will conjunct, oppose or square those planets during this retrograde cycle.

These astrological techniques are more useful than a blanket warning to back up your laptop or sit on your hands for three weeks. And I’d still want to look at what else is going on in the rest of your birth chart before drawing any significant conclusions about your current timing. Mercury is just one of the planets in motion.

When the opportunity is already here

Choosing when to begin a major undertaking is a different task from deciding how to respond to an opportunity that is already underway.

A new client wants an answer this week. A supplier’s price is only good until the end of the month. You agreed to a deadline months ago, and it isn’t going to move just because Mercury is retrograde.

I’d weigh the realities of business alongside the astrology. Knowing a retrograde is coming lets us take extra precautions while we continue to make progress. Sometimes it even spares us from learning a lesson the hard way.

What needs another look?

Scorpio likes to probe and uncover the very truth of the matter. Taking that approach can be useful during this retrograde. Maybe a plan sounded great on the surface and then fell apart once you crunched the numbers. Or there may be a question you haven’t asked your business partner because you’re not sure you want to hear the answer.

I wouldn’t assume during this Mercury retrograde in Scorpio that everyone you deal with is hiding some sinister secret, or that someone is about to drop a truth bomb that will change your life. But if something needs a deeper and more honest look, give yourself room to slow down and do it properly.

You can use the retrograde period to return to a decision with better questions this time around. You can also keep signing up clients, responding to enquiries and doing the work your business relies on week to week.

Before you put something off until Mercury goes direct on November 13, ask yourself what benefit you will actually get from waiting. More information? Better timing? Or would you be left with the same doubts, and maybe even an opportunity that’s been completely missed?

First published in Cristina Dolores Astrology, my newsletter for entrepreneurs.