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 1870· 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 25 Jan – 15 Feb (3 weeks), 20°43' Aquarius back to 5°07' Aquarius; shadow from 09 Jan to 07 Mar. Stations at 05:24 and 10:54 UT.
Retrograde 23 May – 16 Jun (3 weeks), 18°07' Gemini back to 9°34' Gemini; shadow from 09 May to 01 Jul. Stations at 19:44 and 18:13 UT.
Retrograde 21 Sep – 13 Oct (3 weeks), 19°39' Libra back to 4°24' Libra; shadow from 01 Sep to 28 Oct. Stations at 14:55 and 04:59 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1870· once this year
Retrograde 02 Feb – 16 Mar (6 weeks), 12°56' Pisces back to 26°58' Aquarius; shadow from 01 Jan to 18 Apr. Stations at 19:21 and 09:19 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1870· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1870; 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 1870· twice this year
Retrograde 09 Sep 1869 – 05 Jan (17 weeks), 21°00' Taurus back to 10°59' Taurus; shadow from 16 Jun 1869 to 29 Mar. Stations at 15:55 and 04:57 UT.
Retrograde 15 Oct – 10 Feb 1871 (17 weeks), 26°27' Gemini back to 16°23' Gemini; shadow from 21 Jul to 07 May 1871. Stations at 01:08 and 07:36 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1870· once this year
Retrograde 07 Apr – 26 Aug (20 weeks), 28°32' Sagittarius back to 21°55' Sagittarius; shadow from 31 Dec 1869 to 02 Dec. Stations at 08:56 and 18:14 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1870· twice this year
Retrograde 28 Oct 1869 – 26 Mar (21 weeks), 21°59' Cancer back to 17°52' Cancer; shadow from 13 Jul 1869 to 10 Jul. Stations at 02:54 and 06:42 UT.
Retrograde 01 Nov – 31 Mar 1871 (21 weeks), 26°35' Cancer back to 22°28' Cancer; shadow from 18 Jul to 15 Jul 1871. Stations at 23:17 and 01:42 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1870· once this year
Retrograde 25 Jul – 30 Dec (23 weeks), 21°49' Aries back to 19°01' Aries; shadow from 03 Apr to 20 Apr 1871. Stations at 18:32 and 12:15 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1870· twice this year
Retrograde 17 Aug 1869 – 29 Jan (24 weeks), 17°59' Taurus back to 16°01' Taurus; shadow from 15 Apr 1869 to 01 Jun. Stations at 19:46 and 16:57 UT.
Retrograde 19 Aug – 30 Jan 1871 (24 weeks), 18°56' Taurus back to 16°58' Taurus; shadow from 16 Apr to 02 Jun 1871. Stations at 00:25 and 21:08 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.