Your Guide To Every Single Planetary Retrograde

Even if you don't read your horoscope regularly, you've probably heard it before: Something mild goes wrong (an important call is dropped, a scheduled delivery arrives late), which prompts someone in the astrological know to say, "Mercury must be retrograde."

In other words, the planet Mercury has begun its regular period in which it appears to move backward in the sky, which in astrological circles is received as a time when matters of communication, logistics, and information are thrown into peril. After all, those are the areas of life that Mercury rules, so they're turned topsy-turvy when it seems to move in reverse.

Of course, every planet in our solar system undergoes retrograde periods — we're lucky enough to experience seven of them this past summer alone — and each one affects us a little differently.

We asked astrologer Amy Tripp what we can expect from each planet when it hits its backspin. While some retrogrades may seem like nothing but bad news, each one offers us an opportunity to grow and learn something new about ourselves — once we're done complaining about the retrograde, that is.

Here, with Tripp's help, we'll walk you through every planetary retrograde, from their effects to their (approximate) lengths and frequencies, plus how you can deal the next time they come around.