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 1959· 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 19 Mar – 12 Apr (3 weeks), 13°01' Aries back to 0°38' Aries; shadow from 05 Mar to 30 Apr. Stations at 18:41 and 01:53 UT.
Retrograde 22 Jul – 15 Aug (3 weeks), 19°22' Leo back to 7°40' Leo; shadow from 04 Jul to 29 Aug. Stations at 21:00 and 22:06 UT.
Retrograde 14 Nov – 03 Dec (3 weeks), 9°53' Sagittarius back to 23°41' Scorpio; shadow from 25 Oct to 21 Dec. Stations at 00:31 and 21:30 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1959· once this year
Retrograde 10 Aug – 22 Sep (6 weeks), 16°07' Virgo back to 29°51' Leo; shadow from 08 Jul to 25 Oct. Stations at 23:14 and 17:16 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1959· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1959; 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 1959· once this year
Retrograde 18 Mar – 20 Jul (18 weeks), 1°59' Sagittarius back to 22°07' Scorpio; shadow from 22 Dec 1958 to 16 Oct. Stations at 22:17 and 08:00 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1959· once this year
Retrograde 16 Apr – 05 Sep (20 weeks), 7°03' Capricorn back to 0°27' Capricorn; shadow from 09 Jan to 11 Dec. Stations at 15:28 and 01:04 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1959· twice this year
Retrograde 22 Nov 1958 – 20 Apr (21 weeks), 16°21' Leo back to 12°13' Leo; shadow from 08 Aug 1958 to 04 Aug. Stations at 04:42 and 07:11 UT.
Retrograde 27 Nov – 24 Apr 1960 (21 weeks), 21°04' Leo back to 16°55' Leo; shadow from 13 Aug to 08 Aug 1960. Stations at 04:45 and 08:00 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1959· once this year
Retrograde 07 Feb – 16 Jul (23 weeks), 6°57' Scorpio back to 4°11' Scorpio; shadow from 19 Oct 1958 to 06 Nov. Stations at 13:49 and 16:58 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1959· twice this year
Retrograde 06 Dec 1958 – 13 May (23 weeks), 4°13' Virgo back to 1°40' Virgo; shadow from 15 Aug 1958 to 05 Sep. Stations at 15:33 and 21:54 UT.
Retrograde 08 Dec – 15 May 1960 (23 weeks), 6°10' Virgo back to 3°35' Virgo; shadow from 17 Aug to 06 Sep 1960. Stations at 20:09 and 00:57 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.