Or it could be that Mercury is entering retrograde, and it’s super rude. This time, Mercury is in retrograde from Oct. 13 until Nov. 3 -- that’s right, another election. What’s Mercury in Retrograde even mean? Astronomers refer to this as “apparent retrograde motion,” because it is an optical illusion. Believers in the malevolent power of Mercury retrograde blame the phenomenon for everything from arguments to lost mail or luggage to automobile accidents and warn people to hold back on conducting important business during this time.