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 1896· 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 30 Jan – 21 Feb (3 weeks), 25°58' Aquarius back to 10°33' Aquarius; shadow from 15 Jan to 12 Mar. Stations at 20:12 and 06:50 UT.
Retrograde 29 May – 22 Jun (3 weeks), 24°30' Gemini back to 15°53' Gemini; shadow from 14 May to 07 Jul. Stations at 09:17 and 09:16 UT.
Retrograde 26 Sep – 17 Oct (3 weeks), 24°56' Libra back to 9°33' Libra; shadow from 06 Sep to 02 Nov. Stations at 10:45 and 19:21 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1896· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1896; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1896· once this year
Retrograde 02 Nov – 16 Jan 1897 (11 weeks), 29°24' Gemini back to 11°34' Gemini; shadow from 05 Sep to 20 Mar 1897. Stations at 06:50 and 08:17 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 1896· twice this year
Retrograde 25 Nov 1895 – 24 Mar (17 weeks), 9°08' Leo back to 29°05' Cancer; shadow from 31 Aug 1895 to 21 Jun. Stations at 17:37 and 23:49 UT.
Retrograde 25 Dec – 26 Apr 1897 (17 weeks), 10°13' Virgo back to 0°13' Virgo; shadow from 29 Sep to 24 Jul 1897. Stations at 11:33 and 07:50 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1896· once this year
Retrograde 26 Feb – 15 Jul (20 weeks), 19°06' Scorpio back to 12°25' Scorpio; shadow from 23 Nov 1895 to 22 Oct. Stations at 21:48 and 21:04 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1896· once this year
Retrograde 27 Feb – 29 Jul (22 weeks), 24°30' Scorpio back to 20°25' Scorpio; shadow from 15 Nov 1895 to 11 Nov. Stations at 19:56 and 01:56 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1896· twice this year
Retrograde 21 Sep 1895 – 24 Feb (22 weeks), 18°03' Gemini back to 15°14' Gemini; shadow from 30 May 1895 to 16 Jun. Stations at 04:32 and 15:38 UT.
Retrograde 22 Sep – 26 Feb 1897 (22 weeks), 20°18' Gemini back to 17°29' Gemini; shadow from 01 Jun to 19 Jun 1897. Stations at 16:54 and 04:45 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1896· twice this year
Retrograde 12 Sep 1895 – 23 Feb (23 weeks), 12°45' Gemini back to 10°46' Gemini; shadow from 11 May 1895 to 25 Jun. Stations at 14:16 and 14:31 UT.
Retrograde 12 Sep – 23 Feb 1897 (23 weeks), 13°44' Gemini back to 11°44' Gemini; shadow from 11 May to 26 Jun 1897. Stations at 17:47 and 22:02 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.