Wizard Weekly by Daniel Giamario | October 18 2026 |
On the evening of Saturday, October 17, retrograde Venus at 4Scorpio18 closed to within 10degrees of the Sun, the global average of when she disappears into the interior underworld, between Earth and Sun, blinded by the light of the Sun. In this synod, she is pretty much already off the world stage for Northern Hemisphere folks. For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, this weekend would be the time to experience in ceremony this most auspicious time of the metamorphosis of the Pisces Overstory Venus into her next expression, the Libra Overstory.
This is only the second time in over a century that Venus, the primary symbol of the archetypal feminine in women and men, will go through a Libra cycle. The first one was eight years ago.
Venus – Mercury Pattern
The astrological world has been greatly activated by the interesting situation of Mercury and Venus being retrograde simultaneously. This will happen October 24 – November 13. Both planets station direct on November 13, Venus about eight hours after Mercury.
Being curious about patterns, I did some quick research on how often this can happen. As many of my readers will know, my original 1997 research investigated the dance between Mars and Venus, calling its 6.5-year pattern the “Venus-Mars Saga”, with the same saga repeating in the same signs every 32 years. At the 32-year point, the synodic cycles of Venus and Mars align. Check this out for yourself by looking at any date in October 2026 and compare to October 1994 and 1962. It’s rather remarkable!
But is there a pattern to when Mercury and Venus are retrograde at the same time? My preliminary research reveals the following data for 2000-2032. Between 2000 and 2022, overlapping Venus and Mercury retrogrades occurred four times. Astrological analysis from Astrology Booth shows that no simultaneous retrogrades took place between 2000 and 2014. However, starting in late 2015, the overlapping periods began appearing in rough 3-to-4-year intervals:
- July 25 – July 31, 2015: Overlapped in Leo.
- October 5 – October 31, 2018: Overlapped in Scorpio.
- January 14 – January 29, 2022: Overlapped in Capricorn.
- March 5 – March 20, 2022: Overlapped across Aquarius and Capricorn.
- March 15-April 7, 2025: Both planets overlapped in retrograde across Aries and Pisces.
- October 14 – November 13. 2026: Both planets overlap in retrograde (with Mercury turning retrograde on October 24 and both turning direct on November 13, 2026).
Between 2027 and 2032, overlapping Venus and Mercury retrogrades will happen three times. As verified by planetary transit calendars on Astro-Seek, the alignments cluster within the 2028, 2029–2030, and 2031 cycles:
- May 21 – June 14, 2028: An overlap occurs completely in the sign of Gemini. Venus is retrograde from May 10 to June 22, and Mercury tracks backward simultaneously from May 21 to June 14.
- December 22, 2029 – January 11, 2030: A winter overlap takes place primarily in Capricorn. Venus initiates its cycle on December 16, 2029, and Mercury aligns into its own retrograde phase just a few days later on December 22.
- July 29 – August 22, 2031: A summer overlap sets in across Leo and Cancer. Venus reverses course from July 20 to September 1, while Mercury overlaps right in the middle from July 29 to August 22.
- (Note: There are no Venus retrogrades at all during 2027 or 2032, resulting in zero overlaps for those specific years.)
Based on this small sample, it’s not as rare as some may presume! But is there a repeating pattern of any kind? In this 32-year sample, many years had none, and in one year, 2022, it happened twice. Mercury Retrograde happens 3 and sometimes 4 times a year, averaging 21 days retrograde. Venus retrograde happens once every 18 months to two years for 40-41 days. I offer up a challenge to the synodically interested astrological community to see if you can find a long-lasting pattern.
Navigating The 2026 Venus-Mercury Retrograde Alignment
Venus
- Venus stationed retrograde on October 3, 2026 at 8Scorpio29SR
- Venus entered the interior underworld October 17 at 4Scorpio26Rx
- Venus will meet the Sun October 23 at 0Scorpio45Rx
- Venus will heliacally rise October 30 at 27Libra02Rx Libra Overstory Begins
- Venus stations direct on November 13 at 22Libra51
- 41 days retrograde and 13 days within 10degrees of the Sun.
- Venus will be in Scorpio for 78 days and Libra for 73 days.
Mercury
- Mercury Synthesis begins – stations retrograde October 24 at 20Scorpio58SR
- Mercury Metamorphosis begins October 30, entering the interior underworld at 17Scorpio38Rx
- Mercury will meet the Sun on November 4 at 12Scorpio10Rx
- Metamorphosis ends on November 13 upon stationary direct at 5Scorpio02 to begin the Scorpio synodic Overstory.
- Mercury will be in Scorpio an astonishing 67 days!
Stay Out of The Fray
I find it of great interest that the upcoming Israeli and US elections will occur during the time frame when both Venus and Mercury are retrograde (Oct.14 – Nov.13). Both planets are undergoing profound and highly alchemical transformations. Will there even be elections? In any case, the outer world will be extremely turbulent and unpredictable. It is also somewhat well known that coups (for good or ill) can take place during these times. The Mayans were well aware of this and were particularly concerned about Venus’s interior passage. I especially want to call attention to the dates of October 16-17, October 29-30, and November 12-13, when the Moon will be far out-of-bounds, amplifying the existing unpredictability.
It’s best to stay out of the fray, and to go inside and do inner work. Dedicate yourself to your own inner metamorphosis and transformation.
It is the interior underworld journey of Venus that can produce the transit of Venus over the Sun. The 2004 and 2012 Gemini Overstories produced those remarkable events. The next Venus Overstory after Libra will be Gemini, starting June 7, 2028. However the movement of the Venus nodes will not produce another solar transit until 2117!
A Note on Terminology
When I was first researching the Venus, Mars, and Mercury cycles back in the 1990s, I borrowed the term overtone from the writings of Jose Arguelles to describe the sign archetype that provides the larger context of an entire synod. I was never really happy with this term. After reading the magnificent, and highly recommended novel: “The Overstory” by Richard Powers, I decided to borrow this far greater descriptor for what really is a story! For the combined interweavings of two or more synodic cycles I use the term saga. Another term used by others for Venus is metagoddess. While Meta is a higher level word, I dislike it these days since Zuckerberg appropriated it. And while Venus does indeed represent an archetype of the Sacred Feminine, we like to strongly emphasize equally the cycles and archetypes of Mars, as well as emphasizing that Venus applies as much to men as to women.
If this kind of information grabs your interest and imagination, I highly recommend the fully revised and vastly expanded TOTAMS Course 5 on the synodic cycles of the Moon, Venus, Mercury and Mars.
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