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 1868· three 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 28 Feb – 21 Mar (3 weeks), 23°43' Pisces back to 9°54' Pisces; shadow from 13 Feb to 10 Apr. Stations at 04:28 and 20:41 UT.
Retrograde 01 Jul – 25 Jul (3 weeks), 27°59' Cancer back to 17°45' Cancer; shadow from 14 Jun to 08 Aug. Stations at 00:42 and 05:58 UT.
Retrograde 25 Oct – 14 Nov (3 weeks), 21°55' Scorpio back to 5°55' Scorpio; shadow from 05 Oct to 01 Dec. Stations at 03:34 and 09:29 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1868· once this year
Retrograde 25 Jun – 07 Aug (6 weeks), 2°34' Leo back to 16°04' Cancer; shadow from 22 May to 10 Sep. Stations at 06:21 and 09:26 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1868· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1868; 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 1868· once this year
Retrograde 03 Aug – 29 Nov (17 weeks), 14°13' Aries back to 4°17' Aries; shadow from 10 May to 19 Feb 1869. Stations at 06:49 and 02:44 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1868· once this year
Retrograde 14 Mar – 02 Aug (20 weeks), 5°42' Sagittarius back to 29°03' Scorpio; shadow from 09 Dec 1867 to 08 Nov. Stations at 18:57 and 11:34 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1868· twice this year
Retrograde 19 Oct 1867 – 16 Mar (21 weeks), 12°53' Cancer back to 8°47' Cancer; shadow from 04 Jul 1867 to 01 Jul. Stations at 09:29 and 17:39 UT.
Retrograde 23 Oct – 21 Mar 1869 (21 weeks), 17°25' Cancer back to 13°19' Cancer; shadow from 08 Jul to 06 Jul 1869. Stations at 04:44 and 10:25 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1868· once this year
Retrograde 20 Jul – 25 Dec (23 weeks), 17°19' Aries back to 14°31' Aries; shadow from 29 Mar to 15 Apr 1869. Stations at 14:21 and 11:37 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1868· twice this year
Retrograde 16 Aug 1867 – 28 Jan (24 weeks), 16°06' Taurus back to 14°08' Taurus; shadow from 13 Apr 1867 to 30 May. Stations at 06:25 and 11:11 UT.
Retrograde 16 Aug – 28 Jan 1869 (24 weeks), 17°03' Taurus back to 15°05' Taurus; shadow from 14 Apr to 31 May 1869. Stations at 13:58 and 14:02 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.