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 1899· 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 12 Dec 1898 – 01 Jan (3 weeks), 7°55' Capricorn back to 21°37' Sagittarius; shadow from 24 Nov 1898 to 20 Jan. Stations at 11:09 and 07:46 UT.
Retrograde 02 Apr – 25 Apr (3 weeks), 26°51' Aries back to 15°44' Aries; shadow from 19 Mar to 13 May. Stations at 06:19 and 21:43 UT.
Retrograde 05 Aug – 29 Aug (3 weeks), 3°43' Virgo back to 20°54' Leo; shadow from 17 Jul to 12 Sep. Stations at 12:21 and 03:25 UT.
Retrograde 26 Nov – 16 Dec (3 weeks), 22°06' Sagittarius back to 5°49' Sagittarius; shadow from 07 Nov to 03 Jan 1900. Stations at 06:53 and 01:15 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1899· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1899; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1899· once this year
Retrograde 09 Dec 1898 – 27 Feb (11 weeks), 8°40' Leo back to 19°25' Cancer; shadow from 07 Oct 1898 to 05 May. 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 1899· once this year
Retrograde 24 Feb – 27 Jun (18 weeks), 10°12' Scorpio back to 0°18' Scorpio; shadow from 29 Nov 1898 to 24 Sep. Stations at 00:34 and 13:50 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1899· once this year
Retrograde 02 Apr – 21 Aug (20 weeks), 23°40' Sagittarius back to 17°04' Sagittarius; shadow from 26 Dec 1898 to 27 Nov. Stations at 12:03 and 16:53 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1899· once this year
Retrograde 13 Mar – 12 Aug (22 weeks), 8°01' Sagittarius back to 3°59' Sagittarius; shadow from 28 Nov 1898 to 26 Nov. Stations at 01:52 and 20:33 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1899· twice this year
Retrograde 27 Sep 1898 – 03 Mar (22 weeks), 24°47' Gemini back to 21°58' Gemini; shadow from 06 Jun 1898 to 24 Jun. Stations at 16:53 and 05:40 UT.
Retrograde 30 Sep – 05 Mar 1900 (22 weeks), 27°01' Gemini back to 24°12' Gemini; shadow from 08 Jun to 26 Jun 1900. Stations at 06:03 and 17:30 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1899· twice this year
Retrograde 15 Sep 1898 – 26 Feb (23 weeks), 15°43' Gemini back to 13°42' Gemini; shadow from 14 May 1898 to 29 Jun. Stations at 03:44 and 10:59 UT.
Retrograde 16 Sep – 27 Feb 1900 (23 weeks), 16°42' Gemini back to 14°41' Gemini; shadow from 15 May to 30 Jun 1900. Stations at 11:11 and 15:04 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.