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 1889· 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 06 Feb – 27 Feb (3 weeks), 2°49' Pisces back to 17°42' Aquarius; shadow from 22 Jan to 19 Mar. Stations at 02:18 and 20:16 UT.
Retrograde 06 Jun – 30 Jun (3 weeks), 2°56' Cancer back to 24°05' Gemini; shadow from 22 May to 15 Jul. Stations at 22:29 and 23:40 UT.
Retrograde 03 Oct – 24 Oct (3 weeks), 1°45' Scorpio back to 16°09' Libra; shadow from 13 Sep to 09 Nov. Stations at 22:30 and 23:12 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1889· once this year
Retrograde 09 Apr – 22 May (6 weeks), 19°07' Taurus back to 2°40' Taurus; shadow from 07 Mar to 25 Jun. Stations at 18:55 and 10:09 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1889· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1889; 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 1889· once this year
Retrograde 24 Apr – 25 Aug (17 weeks), 8°16' Capricorn back to 28°26' Sagittarius; shadow from 28 Jan to 18 Nov. Stations at 22:36 and 05:04 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1889· twice this year
Retrograde 30 Nov 1888 – 14 Apr (19 weeks), 20°20' Leo back to 13°25' Leo; shadow from 28 Aug 1888 to 19 Jul. Stations at 20:39 and 12:11 UT.
Retrograde 14 Dec – 28 Apr 1890 (19 weeks), 3°54' Virgo back to 27°00' Leo; shadow from 10 Sep to 03 Aug 1890. Stations at 10:11 and 17:11 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1889· once this year
Retrograde 25 Jan – 25 Jun (22 weeks), 21°59' Libra back to 17°52' Libra; shadow from 14 Oct 1888 to 09 Oct. Stations at 19:39 and 11:29 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1889· twice this year
Retrograde 04 Sep 1888 – 08 Feb (22 weeks), 2°19' Gemini back to 29°30' Taurus; shadow from 13 May 1888 to 31 May. Stations at 11:51 and 06:17 UT.
Retrograde 07 Sep – 10 Feb 1890 (22 weeks), 4°34' Gemini back to 1°45' Gemini; shadow from 16 May to 03 Jun 1890. Stations at 00:59 and 19:31 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1889· twice this year
Retrograde 04 Sep 1888 – 16 Feb (24 weeks), 5°58' Gemini back to 3°59' Gemini; shadow from 03 May 1888 to 19 Jun. Stations at 17:28 and 09:31 UT.
Retrograde 06 Sep – 17 Feb 1890 (23 weeks), 6°55' Gemini back to 4°57' Gemini; shadow from 04 May to 20 Jun 1890. Stations at 00:38 and 12:05 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.