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 1917· 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 10 Jan – 30 Jan (3 weeks), 5°40' Aquarius back to 19°38' Capricorn; shadow from 25 Dec 1916 to 19 Feb. Stations at 06:47 and 20:46 UT.
Retrograde 05 May – 29 May (3 weeks), 29°29' Taurus back to 20°35' Taurus; shadow from 21 Apr to 14 Jun. Stations at 15:53 and 12:04 UT.
Retrograde 05 Sep – 28 Sep (3 weeks), 4°04' Libra back to 19°29' Virgo; shadow from 16 Aug to 12 Oct. Stations at 17:28 and 02:57 UT.
Retrograde 25 Dec – 14 Jan 1918 (3 weeks), 19°42' Capricorn back to 3°27' Capricorn; shadow from 08 Dec to 02 Feb 1918. Stations at 04:41 and 06:38 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1917· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1917; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1917· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1917; 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 1917· once this year
Retrograde 30 Sep – 26 Jan 1918 (17 weeks), 11°31' Gemini back to 1°28' Gemini; shadow from 07 Jul to 21 Apr 1918. Stations at 16:05 and 12:43 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1917· twice this year
Retrograde 12 Nov 1916 – 26 Mar (19 weeks), 0°36' Leo back to 23°39' Cancer; shadow from 09 Aug 1916 to 29 Jun. Stations at 05:13 and 02:02 UT.
Retrograde 26 Nov – 09 Apr 1918 (19 weeks), 14°32' Leo back to 7°36' Leo; shadow from 23 Aug to 14 Jul 1918. Stations at 04:35 and 13:32 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1917· once this year
Retrograde 29 May – 30 Oct (22 weeks), 23°43' Aquarius back to 19°47' Aquarius; shadow from 10 Feb to 13 Feb 1918. Stations at 03:34 and 10:48 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1917· twice this year
Retrograde 07 Nov 1916 – 13 Apr (22 weeks), 4°53' Leo back to 2°05' Leo; shadow from 17 Jul 1916 to 04 Aug. Stations at 10:40 and 01:27 UT.
Retrograde 09 Nov – 15 Apr 1918 (22 weeks), 7°06' Leo back to 4°18' Leo; shadow from 20 Jul to 07 Aug 1918. Stations at 22:40 and 12:24 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1917· twice this year
Retrograde 05 Oct 1916 – 16 Mar (23 weeks), 4°25' Cancer back to 2°19' Cancer; shadow from 04 Jun 1916 to 16 Jul. Stations at 00:59 and 23:43 UT.
Retrograde 06 Oct – 18 Mar 1918 (23 weeks), 5°31' Cancer back to 3°26' Cancer; shadow from 06 Jun to 18 Jul 1918. Stations at 12:10 and 06:59 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.