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 1887· 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 12 Mar – 04 Apr (3 weeks), 6°22' Aries back to 23°31' Pisces; shadow from 26 Feb to 23 Apr. Stations at 14:15 and 17:45 UT.
Retrograde 15 Jul – 08 Aug (3 weeks), 12°13' Leo back to 0°59' Leo; shadow from 27 Jun to 22 Aug. Stations at 10:32 and 13:42 UT.
Retrograde 07 Nov – 27 Nov (3 weeks), 3°43' Sagittarius back to 17°34' Scorpio; shadow from 18 Oct to 14 Dec. Stations at 03:36 and 02:45 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1887· once this year
Retrograde 31 Aug – 12 Oct (6 weeks), 6°14' Libra back to 20°13' Virgo; shadow from 29 Jul to 14 Nov. Stations at 12:20 and 20:59 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1887· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1887; 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 1887· once this year
Retrograde 19 Feb – 23 Jun (18 weeks), 5°52' Scorpio back to 25°58' Libra; shadow from 24 Nov 1886 to 20 Sep. Stations at 17:06 and 05:26 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1887· twice this year
Retrograde 03 Nov 1886 – 17 Mar (19 weeks), 22°31' Cancer back to 15°34' Cancer; shadow from 01 Aug 1886 to 20 Jun. Stations at 20:41 and 16:31 UT.
Retrograde 17 Nov – 31 Mar 1888 (19 weeks), 6°32' Leo back to 29°35' Cancer; shadow from 15 Aug to 04 Jul 1888. Stations at 23:55 and 03:19 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1887· once this year
Retrograde 16 Jan – 16 Jun (21 weeks), 12°29' Libra back to 8°21' Libra; shadow from 05 Oct 1886 to 30 Sep. Stations at 20:53 and 04:22 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1887· twice this year
Retrograde 31 Aug 1886 – 04 Feb (22 weeks), 27°50' Taurus back to 25°01' Taurus; shadow from 09 May 1886 to 27 May. Stations at 09:08 and 06:04 UT.
Retrograde 02 Sep – 06 Feb 1888 (22 weeks), 0°05' Gemini back to 27°15' Taurus; shadow from 12 May to 29 May 1888. Stations at 22:29 and 19:07 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1887· twice this year
Retrograde 03 Sep 1886 – 14 Feb (24 weeks), 4°04' Gemini back to 2°05' Gemini; shadow from 01 May 1886 to 18 Jun. Stations at 06:30 and 23:29 UT.
Retrograde 04 Sep – 16 Feb 1888 (24 weeks), 5°01' Gemini back to 3°02' Gemini; shadow from 03 May to 18 Jun 1888. Stations at 11:04 and 04:59 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.