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 1956· 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 18 Jan – 08 Feb (3 weeks), 13°26' Aquarius back to 27°35' Capricorn; shadow from 02 Jan to 28 Feb. Stations at 15:49 and 12:12 UT.
Retrograde 14 May – 07 Jun (3 weeks), 8°52' Gemini back to 0°13' Gemini; shadow from 30 Apr to 22 Jun. Stations at 12:14 and 08:27 UT.
Retrograde 13 Sep – 05 Oct (3 weeks), 12°11' Libra back to 27°16' Virgo; shadow from 24 Aug to 20 Oct. Stations at 14:00 and 14:23 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1956· once this year
Retrograde 31 May – 13 Jul (6 weeks), 9°00' Cancer back to 22°30' Gemini; shadow from 28 Apr to 16 Aug. Stations at 18:03 and 21:16 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1956· once this year
Retrograde 10 Aug – 10 Oct (9 weeks), 23°39' Pisces back to 13°09' Pisces; shadow from 29 Jun to 22 Nov. Stations at 16:16 and 10:13 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 1956· once this year
Retrograde 18 Dec 1955 – 17 Apr (17 weeks), 1°30' Virgo back to 21°29' Leo; shadow from 22 Sep 1955 to 15 Jul. Stations at 04:35 and 12:58 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1956· once this year
Retrograde 12 Mar – 30 Jul (20 weeks), 2°48' Sagittarius back to 26°09' Scorpio; shadow from 06 Dec 1955 to 05 Nov. Stations at 03:30 and 18:34 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1956· twice this year
Retrograde 08 Nov 1955 – 05 Apr (21 weeks), 2°20' Leo back to 28°12' Cancer; shadow from 25 Jul 1955 to 20 Jul. Stations at 09:48 and 11:11 UT.
Retrograde 12 Nov – 10 Apr 1957 (21 weeks), 6°59' Leo back to 2°51' Leo; shadow from 29 Jul to 25 Jul 1957. Stations at 06:56 and 08:21 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1956· once this year
Retrograde 01 Feb – 09 Jul (23 weeks), 0°25' Scorpio back to 27°38' Libra; shadow from 13 Oct 1955 to 30 Oct. Stations at 06:14 and 06:08 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1956· twice this year
Retrograde 01 Dec 1955 – 07 May (23 weeks), 28°36' Leo back to 26°05' Leo; shadow from 08 Aug 1955 to 31 Aug. Stations at 04:09 and 20:00 UT.
Retrograde 02 Dec – 09 May 1957 (23 weeks), 0°27' Virgo back to 27°55' Leo; shadow from 10 Aug to 02 Sep 1957. Stations at 07:12 and 19:57 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.