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 1953· 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 09 Mar – 01 Apr (3 weeks), 2°59' Aries back to 19°46' Pisces; shadow from 23 Feb to 20 Apr. Stations at 03:49 and 03:36 UT.
Retrograde 11 Jul – 04 Aug (3 weeks), 8°22' Leo back to 27°30' Cancer; shadow from 24 Jun to 18 Aug. Stations at 17:21 and 21:26 UT.
Retrograde 03 Nov – 23 Nov (3 weeks), 0°41' Sagittarius back to 14°35' Scorpio; shadow from 15 Oct to 11 Dec. Stations at 21:47 and 22:59 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1953· once this year
Retrograde 23 Mar – 04 May (6 weeks), 1°20' Taurus back to 14°58' Aries; shadow from 18 Feb to 07 Jun. Stations at 03:50 and 12:28 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1953· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1953; 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 1953· twice this year
Retrograde 09 Sep 1952 – 05 Jan (17 weeks), 20°59' Taurus back to 10°58' Taurus; shadow from 16 Jun 1952 to 30 Mar. Stations at 19:36 and 07:51 UT.
Retrograde 15 Oct – 10 Feb 1954 (17 weeks), 26°28' Gemini back to 16°24' Gemini; shadow from 21 Jul to 07 May 1954. Stations at 02:54 and 09:33 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1953· once this year
Retrograde 05 Feb – 23 Jun (20 weeks), 27°17' Libra back to 20°33' Libra; shadow from 01 Nov 1952 to 30 Sep. Stations at 02:38 and 17:24 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1953· twice this year
Retrograde 24 Oct 1952 – 22 Mar (21 weeks), 18°32' Cancer back to 14°26' Cancer; shadow from 10 Jul 1952 to 07 Jul. Stations at 16:31 and 21:18 UT.
Retrograde 29 Oct – 27 Mar 1954 (21 weeks), 23°06' Cancer back to 18°59' Cancer; shadow from 15 Jul to 12 Jul 1954. Stations at 14:38 and 17:34 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1953· once this year
Retrograde 25 Jan – 02 Jul (23 weeks), 23°53' Libra back to 21°06' Libra; shadow from 05 Oct 1952 to 24 Oct. Stations at 00:34 and 21:57 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1953· twice this year
Retrograde 24 Nov 1952 – 02 May (23 weeks), 23°16' Leo back to 20°47' Leo; shadow from 01 Aug 1952 to 27 Aug. Stations at 17:20 and 20:37 UT.
Retrograde 26 Nov – 04 May 1954 (23 weeks), 25°01' Leo back to 22°32' Leo; shadow from 03 Aug to 28 Aug 1954. Stations at 21:20 and 18:41 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.