The sky on Sunday, May 9, 2027
| Sun in | Taurus |
|---|---|
| Moon in | Gemini |
| Moon phase | Waxing Crescent |
| Illumination | 12% |
| Ingresses | Moon enters Cancer Mercury enters Gemini |
| Exact aspects | Sun square Jupiter |
| Mercury retrograde | No |
Mercury enters Gemini today and begins a new chapter of its cycle there. Sun and Jupiter stand about ninety degrees apart today, a square, which astrologers read as friction between two ways of moving. The Moon is in Gemini, a young crescent growing in the evening sky.
What does Mercury mean in astrology?
Mercury is the planet of thinking, speaking and exchange, and it never strays more than about twenty eight degrees from the Sun.
That closeness is why you only ever see it low in the sky near sunrise or sunset, and why it is never more than one sign away from the Sun in a chart. It spends a few weeks in a sign, and rather longer when it turns retrograde.
Astrologically it covers language, learning, trade, travel and anything that moves between two parties, including messages and money. It rules both Gemini and Virgo, the talking half and the sorting half of the same skill.
Mercury turns retrograde about three times a year. That is a matter of orbital geometry rather than a curse, and it is described on its own page here.