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 1958· 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 16 Dec 1957 – 05 Jan (3 weeks), 11°31' Capricorn back to 25°14' Sagittarius; shadow from 28 Nov 1957 to 24 Jan. Stations at 11:02 and 08:44 UT.
Retrograde 06 Apr – 30 Apr (3 weeks), 0°50' Taurus back to 19°59' Aries; shadow from 23 Mar to 17 May. Stations at 14:25 and 07:01 UT.
Retrograde 09 Aug – 02 Sep (3 weeks), 7°41' Virgo back to 24°40' Leo; shadow from 21 Jul to 16 Sep. Stations at 18:51 and 07:38 UT.
Retrograde 30 Nov – 20 Dec (3 weeks), 25°42' Sagittarius back to 9°24' Sagittarius; shadow from 11 Nov to 07 Jan 1959. Stations at 07:12 and 01:35 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1958· once this year
Retrograde 08 Jan – 18 Feb (6 weeks), 16°17' Aquarius back to 0°41' Aquarius; shadow from 07 Dec 1957 to 22 Mar. Stations at 02:50 and 06:16 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1958· once this year
Retrograde 10 Oct – 20 Dec (10 weeks), 2°32' Gemini back to 16°34' Taurus; shadow from 18 Aug to 16 Feb 1959. Stations at 09:44 and 06:46 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 1958· once this year
Retrograde 15 Feb – 19 Jun (18 weeks), 1°39' Scorpio back to 21°45' Libra; shadow from 20 Nov 1957 to 16 Sep. Stations at 15:05 and 01:45 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1958· once this year
Retrograde 04 Apr – 24 Aug (20 weeks), 25°42' Sagittarius back to 19°05' Sagittarius; shadow from 28 Dec 1957 to 29 Nov. Stations at 19:28 and 00:30 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1958· twice this year
Retrograde 17 Nov 1957 – 15 Apr (21 weeks), 11°40' Leo back to 7°32' Leo; shadow from 03 Aug 1957 to 30 Jul. Stations at 06:28 and 08:29 UT.
Retrograde 22 Nov – 20 Apr 1959 (21 weeks), 16°21' Leo back to 12°13' Leo; shadow from 08 Aug to 04 Aug 1959. Stations at 04:42 and 07:11 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1958· once this year
Retrograde 05 Feb – 14 Jul (23 weeks), 4°46' Scorpio back to 2°00' Scorpio; shadow from 17 Oct 1957 to 04 Nov. Stations at 03:07 and 05:31 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1958· twice this year
Retrograde 04 Dec 1957 – 11 May (23 weeks), 2°19' Virgo back to 29°46' Leo; shadow from 12 Aug 1957 to 03 Sep. Stations at 10:36 and 21:51 UT.
Retrograde 06 Dec – 13 May 1959 (23 weeks), 4°13' Virgo back to 1°40' Virgo; shadow from 15 Aug to 05 Sep 1959. Stations at 15:33 and 21:54 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.