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 1873· 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 27 Mar – 19 Apr (3 weeks), 21°05' Aries back to 9°31' Aries; shadow from 13 Mar to 07 May. Stations at 03:20 and 15:59 UT.
Retrograde 30 Jul – 23 Aug (3 weeks), 27°53' Leo back to 15°27' Leo; shadow from 11 Jul to 06 Sep. Stations at 10:09 and 05:06 UT.
Retrograde 20 Nov – 10 Dec (3 weeks), 16°59' Sagittarius back to 0°43' Sagittarius; shadow from 01 Nov to 28 Dec. Stations at 16:05 and 10:45 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1873· once this year
Retrograde 14 Apr – 27 May (6 weeks), 23°30' Taurus back to 7°02' Taurus; shadow from 12 Mar to 29 Jun. Stations at 09:23 and 02:41 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1873· once this year
Retrograde 21 Mar – 06 Jun (11 weeks), 15°17' Scorpio back to 27°51' Libra; shadow from 17 Jan to 04 Aug. Stations at 22:24 and 18:02 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 1873· once this year
Retrograde 17 Dec 1872 – 17 Apr (17 weeks), 1°29' Virgo back to 21°27' Leo; shadow from 21 Sep 1872 to 15 Jul. Stations at 02:22 and 10:58 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1873· once this year
Retrograde 12 May – 30 Sep (20 weeks), 2°43' Aquarius back to 26°05' Capricorn; shadow from 03 Feb to 05 Jan 1874. Stations at 08:46 and 09:05 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1873· twice this year
Retrograde 10 Nov 1872 – 08 Apr (21 weeks), 5°52' Leo back to 1°45' Leo; shadow from 28 Jul 1872 to 24 Jul. Stations at 19:57 and 21:11 UT.
Retrograde 15 Nov – 13 Apr 1874 (21 weeks), 10°33' Leo back to 6°25' Leo; shadow from 02 Aug to 29 Jul 1874. Stations at 19:40 and 21:09 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1873· twice this year
Retrograde 29 Jul 1872 – 03 Jan (23 weeks), 26°19' Aries back to 23°31' Aries; shadow from 07 Apr 1872 to 24 Apr. Stations at 20:33 and 11:45 UT.
Retrograde 01 Aug – 05 Jan 1874 (23 weeks), 28°34' Aries back to 25°45' Aries; shadow from 09 Apr to 27 Apr 1874. Stations at 07:45 and 23:22 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1873· twice this year
Retrograde 20 Aug 1872 – 01 Feb (24 weeks), 20°49' Taurus back to 18°51' Taurus; shadow from 17 Apr 1872 to 04 Jun. Stations at 07:34 and 09:41 UT.
Retrograde 21 Aug – 02 Feb 1874 (24 weeks), 21°46' Taurus back to 19°48' Taurus; shadow from 19 Apr to 05 Jun 1874. Stations at 14:16 and 13:11 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.