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 1961· 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 12 Feb – 06 Mar (3 weeks), 9°10' Pisces back to 24°20' Aquarius; shadow from 29 Jan to 26 Mar. Stations at 23:29 and 23:18 UT.
Retrograde 14 Jun – 08 Jul (3 weeks), 10°27' Cancer back to 1°20' Cancer; shadow from 29 May to 23 Jul. Stations at 17:14 and 19:28 UT.
Retrograde 10 Oct – 31 Oct (3 weeks), 8°01' Scorpio back to 22°18' Libra; shadow from 20 Sep to 16 Nov. Stations at 22:40 and 18:00 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1961· once this year
Retrograde 20 Mar – 02 May (6 weeks), 29°05' Aries back to 12°44' Aries; shadow from 16 Feb to 04 Jun. Stations at 20:13 and 04:15 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1961· once this year
Retrograde 20 Nov 1960 – 06 Feb (11 weeks), 18°39' Cancer back to 29°59' Gemini; shadow from 21 Sep 1960 to 12 Apr. Stations at 17:09 and 02:54 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 1961· once this year
Retrograde 25 May – 23 Sep (17 weeks), 7°09' Aquarius back to 27°19' Capricorn; shadow from 01 Mar to 16 Dec. Stations at 18:34 and 15:31 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1961· once this year
Retrograde 09 May – 27 Sep (20 weeks), 29°51' Capricorn back to 23°14' Capricorn; shadow from 01 Feb to 02 Jan 1962. Stations at 16:21 and 19:31 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1961· twice this year
Retrograde 01 Dec 1960 – 29 Apr (21 weeks), 25°48' Leo back to 21°39' Leo; shadow from 18 Aug 1960 to 13 Aug. Stations at 04:17 and 07:50 UT.
Retrograde 06 Dec – 04 May 1962 (21 weeks), 0°32' Virgo back to 26°23' Leo; shadow from 23 Aug to 18 Aug 1962. Stations at 04:41 and 09:04 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1961· once this year
Retrograde 11 Feb – 20 Jul (23 weeks), 11°18' Scorpio back to 8°32' Scorpio; shadow from 23 Oct 1960 to 10 Nov. Stations at 11:17 and 18:28 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1961· twice this year
Retrograde 10 Dec 1960 – 17 May (23 weeks), 8°08' Virgo back to 5°32' Virgo; shadow from 19 Aug 1960 to 08 Sep. Stations at 04:19 and 04:04 UT.
Retrograde 12 Dec – 19 May 1962 (23 weeks), 10°07' Virgo back to 7°31' Virgo; shadow from 21 Aug to 10 Sep 1962. Stations at 11:35 and 09:10 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.