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 1951· 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 23 Dec 1950 – 12 Jan (3 weeks), 18°10' Capricorn back to 1°54' Capricorn; shadow from 06 Dec 1950 to 01 Feb. Stations at 14:44 and 15:36 UT.
Retrograde 14 Apr – 08 May (3 weeks), 8°33' Taurus back to 28°20' Aries; shadow from 31 Mar to 25 May. Stations at 17:45 and 11:54 UT.
Retrograde 17 Aug – 09 Sep (3 weeks), 15°09' Virgo back to 1°38' Virgo; shadow from 28 Jul to 24 Sep. Stations at 14:06 and 20:19 UT.
Retrograde 07 Dec – 27 Dec (3 weeks), 2°19' Capricorn back to 16°01' Sagittarius; shadow from 19 Nov to 15 Jan 1952. Stations at 11:52 and 06:45 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1951· once this year
Retrograde 13 Aug – 25 Sep (6 weeks), 18°19' Virgo back to 2°06' Virgo; shadow from 10 Jul to 27 Oct. Stations at 07:49 and 00:58 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1951· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1951; 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 1951· once this year
Retrograde 04 Aug – 30 Nov (17 weeks), 14°10' Aries back to 4°14' Aries; shadow from 11 May to 20 Feb 1952. Stations at 06:53 and 04:17 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1951· once this year
Retrograde 12 Jan – 29 May (20 weeks), 2°21' Libra back to 25°32' Virgo; shadow from 09 Oct 1950 to 03 Sep. Stations at 01:26 and 03:28 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1951· twice this year
Retrograde 15 Oct 1950 – 14 Mar (21 weeks), 9°29' Cancer back to 5°24' Cancer; shadow from 30 Jun 1950 to 29 Jun. Stations at 23:52 and 10:36 UT.
Retrograde 20 Oct – 18 Mar 1952 (21 weeks), 13°59' Cancer back to 9°54' Cancer; shadow from 05 Jul to 02 Jul 1952. Stations at 21:03 and 04:27 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1951· once this year
Retrograde 21 Jan – 28 Jun (23 weeks), 19°31' Libra back to 16°45' Libra; shadow from 01 Oct 1950 to 20 Oct. Stations at 05:33 and 21:54 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1951· twice this year
Retrograde 21 Nov 1950 – 30 Apr (23 weeks), 19°51' Leo back to 17°24' Leo; shadow from 28 Jul 1950 to 24 Aug. Stations at 16:01 and 04:56 UT.
Retrograde 23 Nov – 30 Apr 1952 (23 weeks), 21°33' Leo back to 19°05' Leo; shadow from 30 Jul to 25 Aug 1952. Stations at 16:39 and 23:03 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.