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 1898· 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 28 Dec 1897 – 17 Jan (3 weeks), 23°48' Capricorn back to 7°36' Capricorn; shadow from 11 Dec 1897 to 06 Feb. Stations at 13:32 and 18:12 UT.
Retrograde 20 Apr – 14 May (3 weeks), 15°18' Taurus back to 5°38' Taurus; shadow from 06 Apr to 31 May. Stations at 18:06 and 13:15 UT.
Retrograde 23 Aug – 15 Sep (3 weeks), 21°24' Virgo back to 7°27' Virgo; shadow from 03 Aug to 29 Sep. Stations at 02:41 and 01:28 UT.
Retrograde 12 Dec – 01 Jan 1899 (3 weeks), 7°55' Capricorn back to 21°37' Sagittarius; shadow from 24 Nov to 20 Jan 1899. Stations at 11:09 and 07:46 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1898· once this year
Retrograde 11 Nov – 22 Dec (6 weeks), 17°13' Sagittarius back to 1°56' Sagittarius; shadow from 10 Oct to 22 Jan 1899. Stations at 04:22 and 04:24 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1898· once this year
Retrograde 09 Dec – 27 Feb 1899 (11 weeks), 8°40' Leo back to 19°25' Cancer; shadow from 07 Oct to 05 May 1899. Stations at 19:58 and 05:55 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 1898· once this year
Retrograde 24 Jan – 27 May (18 weeks), 10°17' Libra back to 0°20' Libra; shadow from 29 Oct 1897 to 25 Aug. Stations at 12:23 and 13:07 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1898· once this year
Retrograde 21 Mar – 09 Aug (20 weeks), 12°16' Sagittarius back to 5°38' Sagittarius; shadow from 15 Dec 1897 to 15 Nov. Stations at 15:18 and 15:03 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1898· once this year
Retrograde 08 Mar – 07 Aug (22 weeks), 3°33' Sagittarius back to 29°30' Scorpio; shadow from 24 Nov 1897 to 21 Nov. Stations at 08:47 and 23:56 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1898· twice this year
Retrograde 25 Sep 1897 – 28 Feb (22 weeks), 22°33' Gemini back to 19°44' Gemini; shadow from 03 Jun 1897 to 21 Jun. Stations at 04:50 and 16:02 UT.
Retrograde 27 Sep – 03 Mar 1899 (22 weeks), 24°47' Gemini back to 21°58' Gemini; shadow from 06 Jun to 24 Jun 1899. Stations at 16:53 and 05:40 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1898· twice this year
Retrograde 13 Sep 1897 – 25 Feb (23 weeks), 14°43' Gemini back to 12°43' Gemini; shadow from 12 May 1897 to 28 Jun. Stations at 22:21 and 04:36 UT.
Retrograde 15 Sep – 26 Feb 1899 (23 weeks), 15°43' Gemini back to 13°42' Gemini; shadow from 14 May to 29 Jun 1899. Stations at 03:44 and 10:59 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.