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 1940· 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 06 Mar – 29 Mar (3 weeks), 0°15' Aries back to 16°50' Pisces; shadow from 21 Feb to 17 Apr. Stations at 05:34 and 02:57 UT.
Retrograde 08 Jul – 01 Aug (3 weeks), 5°18' Leo back to 24°38' Cancer; shadow from 21 Jun to 15 Aug. Stations at 14:12 and 18:46 UT.
Retrograde 01 Nov – 21 Nov (3 weeks), 28°07' Scorpio back to 12°02' Scorpio; shadow from 12 Oct to 08 Dec. Stations at 01:36 and 04:06 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1940· once this year
Retrograde 05 Jun – 18 Jul (6 weeks), 13°18' Cancer back to 26°47' Gemini; shadow from 02 May to 21 Aug. Stations at 10:06 and 13:15 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1940· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1940; 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 1940· once this year
Retrograde 04 Sep – 31 Dec (17 weeks), 15°40' Taurus back to 5°40' Taurus; shadow from 11 Jun to 24 Mar 1941. Stations at 12:55 and 01:17 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1940· once this year
Retrograde 27 Aug – 09 Jan 1941 (19 weeks), 14°46' Taurus back to 7°53' Taurus; shadow from 22 May to 13 Apr 1941. Stations at 07:51 and 12:08 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1940· twice this year
Retrograde 28 Aug 1939 – 26 Jan (22 weeks), 21°58' Taurus back to 17°58' Taurus; shadow from 11 May 1939 to 12 May. Stations at 14:36 and 20:32 UT.
Retrograde 01 Sep – 30 Jan 1941 (22 weeks), 26°08' Taurus back to 22°09' Taurus; shadow from 15 May to 16 May 1941. Stations at 03:47 and 05:05 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1940· twice this year
Retrograde 28 Dec 1939 – 03 Jun (23 weeks), 25°31' Virgo back to 22°43' Virgo; shadow from 07 Sep 1939 to 25 Sep. Stations at 14:07 and 11:37 UT.
Retrograde 30 Dec – 05 Jun 1941 (23 weeks), 27°41' Virgo back to 24°54' Virgo; shadow from 09 Sep to 28 Sep 1941. Stations at 00:17 and 22:59 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1940· twice this year
Retrograde 04 Nov 1939 – 13 Apr (23 weeks), 2°54' Leo back to 0°36' Leo; shadow from 08 Jul 1939 to 10 Aug. Stations at 08:03 and 02:55 UT.
Retrograde 05 Nov – 14 Apr 1941 (23 weeks), 4°20' Leo back to 2°01' Leo; shadow from 09 Jul to 11 Aug 1941. Stations at 02:02 and 18:53 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.