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 1949· 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 Jan – 14 Feb (3 weeks), 20°12' Aquarius back to 4°33' Aquarius; shadow from 09 Jan to 07 Mar. Stations at 20:15 and 23:49 UT.
Retrograde 23 May – 16 Jun (3 weeks), 17°13' Gemini back to 8°39' Gemini; shadow from 08 May to 01 Jul. Stations at 02:12 and 00:11 UT.
Retrograde 21 Sep – 12 Oct (3 weeks), 19°07' Libra back to 3°56' Libra; shadow from 31 Aug to 28 Oct. Stations at 03:42 and 19:45 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1949· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1949; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1949· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1949; 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 1949· once this year
Retrograde 20 May – 18 Sep (17 weeks), 2°10' Aquarius back to 22°20' Capricorn; shadow from 24 Feb to 11 Dec. Stations at 15:32 and 18:51 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1949· twice this year
Retrograde 17 Dec 1948 – 01 May (19 weeks), 6°12' Virgo back to 29°18' Leo; shadow from 13 Sep 1948 to 06 Aug. Stations at 00:09 and 08:32 UT.
Retrograde 30 Dec – 15 May 1950 (19 weeks), 19°26' Virgo back to 12°34' Virgo; shadow from 26 Sep to 20 Aug 1950. Stations at 04:08 and 09:18 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1949· twice this year
Retrograde 06 Oct 1948 – 05 Mar (21 weeks), 0°34' Cancer back to 26°30' Gemini; shadow from 20 Jun 1948 to 19 Jun. Stations at 09:35 and 03:49 UT.
Retrograde 11 Oct – 09 Mar 1950 (21 weeks), 5°01' Cancer back to 0°56' Cancer; shadow from 25 Jun to 24 Jun 1950. Stations at 05:30 and 19:43 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1949· once this year
Retrograde 16 Jan – 23 Jun (23 weeks), 15°10' Libra back to 12°23' Libra; shadow from 27 Sep 1948 to 15 Oct. Stations at 09:05 and 20:30 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1949· twice this year
Retrograde 17 Nov 1948 – 26 Apr (23 weeks), 16°33' Leo back to 14°08' Leo; shadow from 24 Jul 1948 to 21 Aug. Stations at 20:24 and 13:45 UT.
Retrograde 19 Nov – 28 Apr 1950 (23 weeks), 18°12' Leo back to 15°46' Leo; shadow from 26 Jul to 23 Aug 1950. Stations at 17:58 and 08:40 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.