Retrograde Calendar
About Retrograde Calendar
Station times, degrees, durations, and shadow periods for every retrograde of the year — computed astronomy, not folklore.
No planet ever backs up; the loop is a trick of parallax as Earth laps a slower world or is lapped by a faster one. The tradition reads it accordingly. A changes a planet's gear, not its meaning; matters under its sponsorship come round again for review, revision, repair. The days that carry real weight are the , when a planet stands still to turn. Mark those dates, not the whole stretch.
☿︎Mercury retrograde 1859· four times this year
The classic season of crossed wires; three or four short spells a year. Re-read, re-confirm, back up the files; let the signature wait for the turning day if it can.
Retrograde 21 Dec 1858 – 10 Jan (3 weeks), 16°05' Capricorn back to 29°49' Sagittarius; shadow from 03 Dec 1858 to 29 Jan. Stations at 04:49 and 05:22 UT.
Retrograde 12 Apr – 05 May (3 weeks), 6°21' Taurus back to 26°04' Aries; shadow from 29 Mar to 23 May. Stations at 05:16 and 23:26 UT.
Retrograde 15 Aug – 07 Sep (3 weeks), 12°58' Virgo back to 29°31' Leo; shadow from 26 Jul to 21 Sep. Stations at 02:35 and 09:34 UT.
Retrograde 05 Dec – 24 Dec (3 weeks), 0°14' Capricorn back to 13°56' Sagittarius; shadow from 17 Nov to 12 Jan 1860. Stations at 01:50 and 20:37 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1859· once this year
Retrograde 23 Nov 1858 – 03 Jan (6 weeks), 29°36' Sagittarius back to 14°19' Sagittarius; shadow from 22 Oct 1858 to 03 Feb. Stations at 15:04 and 12:36 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1859· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1859; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
The slow planets
Jupiter outward, a planet spends four to five months of every year retrograde; that is ordinary weather, not an event. The slower the planet, the longer the spell and the less it asks of any single day. Mark the stations; the rest is season.
♃︎Jupiter retrograde 1859· twice this year
Retrograde 10 Oct 1858 – 05 Feb (17 weeks), 21°36' Gemini back to 11°32' Gemini; shadow from 16 Jul 1858 to 02 May. Stations at 06:32 and 11:31 UT.
Retrograde 12 Nov – 11 Mar 1860 (17 weeks), 25°16' Cancer back to 15°12' Cancer; shadow from 18 Aug to 06 Jun 1860. Stations at 12:21 and 01:31 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1859· twice this year
Retrograde 23 Nov 1858 – 06 Apr (19 weeks), 12°19' Leo back to 5°24' Leo; shadow from 21 Aug 1858 to 11 Jul. Stations at 18:09 and 22:53 UT.
Retrograde 07 Dec – 20 Apr 1860 (19 weeks), 26°04' Leo back to 19°10' Leo; shadow from 04 Sep to 25 Jul 1860. Stations at 11:22 and 08:27 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1859· twice this year
Retrograde 08 Sep 1858 – 06 Feb (22 weeks), 3°27' Gemini back to 29°26' Taurus; shadow from 23 May 1858 to 24 May. Stations at 19:59 and 12:33 UT.
Retrograde 13 Sep – 11 Feb 1860 (22 weeks), 7°43' Gemini back to 3°42' Gemini; shadow from 28 May to 27 May 1860. Stations at 11:27 and 00:11 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1859· once this year
Retrograde 30 Jun – 06 Dec (23 weeks), 27°10' Pisces back to 24°21' Pisces; shadow from 09 Mar to 26 Mar 1860. Stations at 15:36 and 05:35 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1859· twice this year
Retrograde 07 Aug 1858 – 19 Jan (24 weeks), 7°35' Taurus back to 5°36' Taurus; shadow from 05 Apr 1858 to 21 May. Stations at 13:30 and 14:06 UT.
Retrograde 08 Aug – 20 Jan 1860 (24 weeks), 8°32' Taurus back to 6°34' Taurus; shadow from 06 Apr to 22 May 1860. Stations at 17:57 and 18:30 UT.
All times Universal Time (UT), from the same engine as the sky. Spells that open or close beyond the calendar year are listed with their own year on the date; the window belongs to both years and appears on both pages. On doctrine: a retrograde conditions a planet's expression; it does not doom it. The working tradition keeps no list of forbidden days, a spell that repeats a is one process rather than three misfortunes, and the shadow is context, not an extension of the sentence. The stations are the moments that matter; what a planet touches while standing still, it means.