Mercury goes into retrograde 3-4 times per calendar year. The dates for 2019 are March 5th to March 28th; July 7th to August 2nd; and October 31st to November 20th. It seems that everyone and everything are influenced by Mercury in retrograde. Earth’s orbit interacts with Mercury giving the impression that planets are moving backwards. This is, of course, only an illusion. When Mercury is in retrograde, life seems to be full of confusion, delays, and chaos.