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 1888· 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 23 Feb – 17 Mar (3 weeks), 19°23' Pisces back to 5°14' Pisces; shadow from 09 Feb to 05 Apr. Stations at 15:00 and 02:51 UT.
Retrograde 25 Jun – 20 Jul (3 weeks), 22°51' Cancer back to 13°00' Cancer; shadow from 09 Jun to 03 Aug. Stations at 22:40 and 03:53 UT.
Retrograde 20 Oct – 10 Nov (3 weeks), 17°48' Scorpio back to 1°53' Scorpio; shadow from 30 Sep to 26 Nov. Stations at 15:28 and 00:59 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1888· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1888; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1888· once this year
Retrograde 04 Mar – 22 May (11 weeks), 0°12' Scorpio back to 11°56' Libra; shadow from 30 Dec 1887 to 22 Jul. Stations at 11:14 and 04:39 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 1888· once this year
Retrograde 22 Mar – 23 Jul (18 weeks), 6°21' Sagittarius back to 26°30' Scorpio; shadow from 26 Dec 1887 to 19 Oct. Stations at 06:42 and 14:39 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1888· twice this year
Retrograde 17 Nov 1887 – 31 Mar (19 weeks), 6°32' Leo back to 29°35' Cancer; shadow from 15 Aug 1887 to 04 Jul. Stations at 23:55 and 03:19 UT.
Retrograde 30 Nov – 14 Apr 1889 (19 weeks), 20°20' Leo back to 13°25' Leo; shadow from 28 Aug to 19 Jul 1889. Stations at 20:39 and 12:11 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1888· once this year
Retrograde 21 Jan – 20 Jun (21 weeks), 17°14' Libra back to 13°07' Libra; shadow from 10 Oct 1887 to 04 Oct. Stations at 19:23 and 06:56 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1888· twice this year
Retrograde 02 Sep 1887 – 06 Feb (22 weeks), 0°05' Gemini back to 27°15' Taurus; shadow from 12 May 1887 to 29 May. Stations at 22:29 and 19:07 UT.
Retrograde 04 Sep – 08 Feb 1889 (22 weeks), 2°19' Gemini back to 29°30' Taurus; shadow from 13 May to 31 May 1889. Stations at 11:51 and 06:17 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1888· twice this year
Retrograde 04 Sep 1887 – 16 Feb (24 weeks), 5°01' Gemini back to 3°02' Gemini; shadow from 03 May 1887 to 18 Jun. Stations at 11:04 and 04:59 UT.
Retrograde 04 Sep – 16 Feb 1889 (24 weeks), 5°58' Gemini back to 3°59' Gemini; shadow from 03 May to 19 Jun 1889. Stations at 17:28 and 09:31 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.