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 1885· 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 25 Dec 1884 – 14 Jan (3 weeks), 21°14' Capricorn back to 5°00' Capricorn; shadow from 08 Dec 1884 to 03 Feb. Stations at 18:38 and 21:46 UT.
Retrograde 17 Apr – 11 May (3 weeks), 12°18' Taurus back to 2°26' Taurus; shadow from 03 Apr to 28 May. Stations at 13:27 and 08:16 UT.
Retrograde 20 Aug – 12 Sep (3 weeks), 18°36' Virgo back to 4°49' Virgo; shadow from 31 Jul to 26 Sep. Stations at 02:47 and 04:22 UT.
Retrograde 09 Dec – 29 Dec (3 weeks), 5°21' Capricorn back to 19°03' Sagittarius; shadow from 21 Nov to 17 Jan 1886. Stations at 16:08 and 11:56 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1885· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1885; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1885· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1885; 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 1885· once this year
Retrograde 21 Dec 1884 – 21 Apr (17 weeks), 5°50' Virgo back to 25°50' Leo; shadow from 25 Sep 1884 to 20 Jul. Stations at 05:19 and 20:18 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1885· twice this year
Retrograde 06 Oct 1884 – 16 Feb (19 weeks), 24°14' Gemini back to 17°17' Gemini; shadow from 02 Jul 1884 to 22 May. Stations at 01:41 and 20:43 UT.
Retrograde 20 Oct – 03 Mar 1886 (19 weeks), 8°23' Cancer back to 1°26' Cancer; shadow from 17 Jul to 05 Jun 1886. Stations at 12:35 and 05:47 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1885· once this year
Retrograde 06 Jan – 05 Jun (21 weeks), 2°56' Libra back to 28°47' Virgo; shadow from 25 Sep 1884 to 19 Sep. Stations at 20:40 and 20:14 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1885· twice this year
Retrograde 26 Aug 1884 – 30 Jan (22 weeks), 23°20' Taurus back to 20°31' Taurus; shadow from 04 May 1884 to 22 May. Stations at 08:31 and 07:11 UT.
Retrograde 28 Aug – 01 Feb 1886 (22 weeks), 25°35' Taurus back to 22°46' Taurus; shadow from 07 May to 24 May 1886. Stations at 21:36 and 19:13 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1885· twice this year
Retrograde 31 Aug 1884 – 12 Feb (24 weeks), 2°10' Gemini back to 0°11' Gemini; shadow from 29 Apr 1884 to 15 Jun. Stations at 22:40 and 12:52 UT.
Retrograde 02 Sep – 13 Feb 1886 (23 weeks), 3°07' Gemini back to 1°08' Gemini; shadow from 30 Apr to 16 Jun 1886. Stations at 04:50 and 16:04 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.