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 1939· 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 24 Mar – 16 Apr (3 weeks), 17°35' Aries back to 5°37' Aries; shadow from 10 Mar to 05 May. Stations at 13:22 and 23:24 UT.
Retrograde 27 Jul – 20 Aug (3 weeks), 24°13' Leo back to 12°08' Leo; shadow from 09 Jul to 03 Sep. Stations at 18:53 and 17:05 UT.
Retrograde 18 Nov – 08 Dec (3 weeks), 13°57' Sagittarius back to 27°43' Scorpio; shadow from 30 Oct to 26 Dec. Stations at 10:58 and 06:28 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1939· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1939; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1939· once this year
Retrograde 22 Jun – 23 Aug (9 weeks), 4°42' Aquarius back to 23°55' Capricorn; shadow from 08 May to 05 Oct. Stations at 18:33 and 23:57 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 1939· once this year
Retrograde 29 Jul – 24 Nov (17 weeks), 8°47' Aries back to 28°52' Pisces; shadow from 05 May to 15 Feb 1940. Stations at 21:10 and 21:18 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1939· once this year
Retrograde 14 Aug – 28 Dec (19 weeks), 1°16' Taurus back to 24°24' Aries; shadow from 09 May to 31 Mar 1940. Stations at 00:55 and 01:10 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1939· twice this year
Retrograde 24 Aug 1938 – 22 Jan (22 weeks), 17°49' Taurus back to 13°50' Taurus; shadow from 07 May 1938 to 09 May. Stations at 02:11 and 12:05 UT.
Retrograde 28 Aug – 26 Jan 1940 (22 weeks), 21°58' Taurus back to 17°58' Taurus; shadow from 11 May to 12 May 1940. Stations at 14:36 and 20:32 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1939· twice this year
Retrograde 26 Dec 1938 – 01 Jun (23 weeks), 23°20' Virgo back to 20°32' Virgo; shadow from 05 Sep 1938 to 24 Sep. Stations at 02:33 and 22:41 UT.
Retrograde 28 Dec – 03 Jun 1940 (23 weeks), 25°31' Virgo back to 22°43' Virgo; shadow from 07 Sep to 25 Sep 1940. Stations at 14:07 and 11:37 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1939· twice this year
Retrograde 02 Nov 1938 – 12 Apr (23 weeks), 1°30' Leo back to 29°13' Cancer; shadow from 06 Jul 1938 to 09 Aug. Stations at 12:19 and 14:41 UT.
Retrograde 04 Nov – 13 Apr 1940 (23 weeks), 2°54' Leo back to 0°36' Leo; shadow from 08 Jul to 10 Aug 1940. Stations at 08:03 and 02:55 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.