But, but. . .Mercury retrograde!!!!!!
What the hell does that even mean? (Not criticizing you, just the term.)
When Mercury or Jupiter are in retrograde it means they appear to move “backwards” in the sky. It’s a real astronomy term! Of course, if you are using the stars and planets to make predictions about your individual life that’s astrology.
The stars are in fixed* constellations in the sky but the planets “wander” through the sky through the band called the ecliptic. The planets advance forward through the band in the sky (the constellations that are in the ecliptic are called the zodiac). As the earth passes other planets, the other planet appears to go into “retrograde” and move backwards through the zodiac.
(*constellations are slowly changing because the universe is expanding, but not in a very noticeable way)