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 1918· 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 25 Dec 1917 – 14 Jan (3 weeks), 19°42' Capricorn back to 3°27' Capricorn; shadow from 08 Dec 1917 to 02 Feb. Stations at 04:41 and 06:38 UT.
Retrograde 16 Apr – 10 May (3 weeks), 10°25' Taurus back to 0°23' Taurus; shadow from 02 Apr to 27 May. Stations at 15:26 and 09:54 UT.
Retrograde 19 Aug – 11 Sep (3 weeks), 16°53' Virgo back to 3°14' Virgo; shadow from 30 Jul to 25 Sep. Stations at 08:32 and 12:28 UT.
Retrograde 09 Dec – 28 Dec (3 weeks), 3°50' Capricorn back to 17°32' Sagittarius; shadow from 21 Nov to 16 Jan 1919. Stations at 02:01 and 21:18 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1918· once this year
Retrograde 20 Jan – 02 Mar (6 weeks), 28°30' Aquarius back to 12°44' Aquarius; shadow from 19 Dec 1917 to 04 Apr. Stations at 07:54 and 15:24 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1918· once this year
Retrograde 03 Feb – 25 Apr (12 weeks), 3°03' Libra back to 13°51' Virgo; shadow from 29 Nov 1917 to 30 Jun. Stations at 22:58 and 16:43 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 1918· twice this year
Retrograde 30 Sep 1917 – 26 Jan (17 weeks), 11°31' Gemini back to 1°28' Gemini; shadow from 07 Jul 1917 to 21 Apr. Stations at 16:05 and 12:43 UT.
Retrograde 03 Nov – 02 Mar 1919 (17 weeks), 15°49' Cancer back to 5°45' Cancer; shadow from 09 Aug to 28 May 1919. Stations at 13:50 and 16:35 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1918· twice this year
Retrograde 26 Nov 1917 – 09 Apr (19 weeks), 14°32' Leo back to 7°36' Leo; shadow from 23 Aug 1917 to 14 Jul. Stations at 04:35 and 13:32 UT.
Retrograde 09 Dec – 23 Apr 1919 (19 weeks), 28°15' Leo back to 21°21' Leo; shadow from 06 Sep to 29 Jul 1919. Stations at 21:30 and 21:16 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1918· once this year
Retrograde 02 Jun – 03 Nov (22 weeks), 27°43' Aquarius back to 23°47' Aquarius; shadow from 14 Feb to 17 Feb 1919. Stations at 12:35 and 18:21 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1918· twice this year
Retrograde 09 Nov 1917 – 15 Apr (22 weeks), 7°06' Leo back to 4°18' Leo; shadow from 20 Jul 1917 to 07 Aug. Stations at 22:40 and 12:24 UT.
Retrograde 12 Nov – 18 Apr 1919 (22 weeks), 9°19' Leo back to 6°31' Leo; shadow from 22 Jul to 09 Aug 1919. Stations at 09:21 and 01:23 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1918· twice this year
Retrograde 06 Oct 1917 – 18 Mar (23 weeks), 5°31' Cancer back to 3°26' Cancer; shadow from 06 Jun 1917 to 18 Jul. Stations at 12:10 and 06:59 UT.
Retrograde 07 Oct – 19 Mar 1919 (23 weeks), 6°39' Cancer back to 4°32' Cancer; shadow from 07 Jun to 19 Jul 1919. Stations at 19:23 and 17:40 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.