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 1957· 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 01 Jan – 21 Jan (3 weeks), 27°25' Capricorn back to 11°15' Capricorn; shadow from 15 Dec 1956 to 10 Feb. Stations at 13:21 and 19:58 UT.
Retrograde 25 Apr – 19 May (3 weeks), 19°26' Taurus back to 9°59' Taurus; shadow from 11 Apr to 04 Jun. Stations at 05:32 and 01:05 UT.
Retrograde 27 Aug – 19 Sep (3 weeks), 25°15' Virgo back to 11°09' Virgo; shadow from 07 Aug to 03 Oct. Stations at 08:00 and 03:37 UT.
Retrograde 16 Dec – 05 Jan 1958 (3 weeks), 11°31' Capricorn back to 25°14' Sagittarius; shadow from 28 Nov to 24 Jan 1958. Stations at 11:02 and 08:44 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1957· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1957; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1957· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1957; 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 1957· once this year
Retrograde 16 Jan – 19 May (18 weeks), 1°48' Libra back to 21°50' Virgo; shadow from 21 Oct 1956 to 16 Aug. Stations at 09:21 and 02:17 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1957· once this year
Retrograde 24 Mar – 11 Aug (20 weeks), 14°18' Sagittarius back to 7°40' Sagittarius; shadow from 17 Dec 1956 to 18 Nov. Stations at 00:56 and 23:54 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1957· twice this year
Retrograde 12 Nov 1956 – 10 Apr (21 weeks), 6°59' Leo back to 2°51' Leo; shadow from 29 Jul 1956 to 25 Jul. Stations at 06:56 and 08:21 UT.
Retrograde 17 Nov – 15 Apr 1958 (21 weeks), 11°40' Leo back to 7°32' Leo; shadow from 03 Aug to 30 Jul 1958. Stations at 06:28 and 08:29 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1957· once this year
Retrograde 02 Feb – 11 Jul (23 weeks), 2°35' Scorpio back to 29°49' Libra; shadow from 14 Oct 1956 to 02 Nov. Stations at 15:45 and 17:13 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1957· twice this year
Retrograde 02 Dec 1956 – 09 May (23 weeks), 0°27' Virgo back to 27°55' Leo; shadow from 10 Aug 1956 to 02 Sep. Stations at 07:12 and 19:57 UT.
Retrograde 04 Dec – 11 May 1958 (23 weeks), 2°19' Virgo back to 29°46' Leo; shadow from 12 Aug to 03 Sep 1958. Stations at 10:36 and 21:51 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.