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 1871· 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 09 Jan – 29 Jan (3 weeks), 4°36' Aquarius back to 18°34' Capricorn; shadow from 23 Dec 1870 to 18 Feb. Stations at 01:48 and 15:31 UT.
Retrograde 04 May – 28 May (3 weeks), 28°21' Taurus back to 19°26' Taurus; shadow from 20 Apr to 13 Jun. Stations at 09:15 and 05:28 UT.
Retrograde 04 Sep – 26 Sep (3 weeks), 2°59' Libra back to 18°26' Virgo; shadow from 15 Aug to 11 Oct. Stations at 11:55 and 21:49 UT.
Retrograde 23 Dec – 13 Jan 1872 (3 weeks), 18°39' Capricorn back to 2°24' Capricorn; shadow from 06 Dec to 01 Feb 1872. Stations at 23:44 and 01:30 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1871· once this year
Retrograde 05 Sep – 17 Oct (6 weeks), 10°47' Libra back to 24°50' Virgo; shadow from 03 Aug to 18 Nov. Stations at 08:26 and 15:20 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1871· once this year
Retrograde 09 Feb – 30 Apr (11 weeks), 8°09' Libra back to 19°04' Virgo; shadow from 04 Dec 1870 to 04 Jul. Stations at 02:45 and 13:37 UT.
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 1871· twice this year
Retrograde 15 Oct 1870 – 10 Feb (17 weeks), 26°27' Gemini back to 16°23' Gemini; shadow from 21 Jul 1870 to 07 May. Stations at 01:08 and 07:36 UT.
Retrograde 16 Nov – 15 Mar 1872 (17 weeks), 29°54' Cancer back to 19°51' Cancer; shadow from 22 Aug to 11 Jun 1872. Stations at 22:37 and 16:21 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1871· once this year
Retrograde 19 Apr – 07 Sep (20 weeks), 9°53' Capricorn back to 3°16' Capricorn; shadow from 11 Jan to 14 Dec. Stations at 05:28 and 16:17 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1871· twice this year
Retrograde 01 Nov 1870 – 31 Mar (21 weeks), 26°35' Cancer back to 22°28' Cancer; shadow from 18 Jul 1870 to 15 Jul. Stations at 23:17 and 01:42 UT.
Retrograde 06 Nov – 04 Apr 1872 (21 weeks), 1°13' Leo back to 27°06' Cancer; shadow from 23 Jul to 19 Jul 1872. Stations at 22:18 and 00:00 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1871· once this year
Retrograde 28 Jul – 02 Jan 1872 (23 weeks), 24°04' Aries back to 21°16' Aries; shadow from 05 Apr to 22 Apr 1872. Stations at 07:02 and 01:09 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1871· twice this year
Retrograde 19 Aug 1870 – 30 Jan (24 weeks), 18°56' Taurus back to 16°58' Taurus; shadow from 16 Apr 1870 to 02 Jun. Stations at 00:25 and 21:08 UT.
Retrograde 20 Aug – 01 Feb 1872 (24 weeks), 19°52' Taurus back to 17°55' Taurus; shadow from 17 Apr to 03 Jun 1872. Stations at 02:04 and 04:47 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.