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 1968· 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 06 Feb – 28 Feb (3 weeks), 2°17' Pisces back to 17°05' Aquarius; shadow from 22 Jan to 19 Mar. Stations at 16:37 and 08:40 UT.
Retrograde 06 Jun – 30 Jun (3 weeks), 2°01' Cancer back to 23°15' Gemini; shadow from 21 May to 14 Jul. Stations at 05:15 and 06:10 UT.
Retrograde 03 Oct – 24 Oct (3 weeks), 1°15' Scorpio back to 15°42' Libra; shadow from 13 Sep to 09 Nov. Stations at 11:38 and 14:18 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1968· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1968; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1968· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1968; 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 1968· once this year
Retrograde 22 Dec 1967 – 21 Apr (17 weeks), 5°50' Virgo back to 25°49' Leo; shadow from 26 Sep 1967 to 20 Jul. Stations at 10:02 and 23:21 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1968· once this year
Retrograde 07 Aug – 21 Dec (19 weeks), 25°33' Aries back to 18°41' Aries; shadow from 02 May to 25 Mar 1969. Stations at 02:13 and 11:47 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1968· once this year
Retrograde 04 Jan – 02 Jun (21 weeks), 29°12' Virgo back to 25°04' Virgo; shadow from 22 Sep 1967 to 16 Sep. Stations at 06:21 and 00:41 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1968· once this year
Retrograde 27 Feb – 05 Aug (23 weeks), 26°31' Scorpio back to 23°45' Scorpio; shadow from 08 Nov 1967 to 25 Nov. Stations at 09:03 and 01:52 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1968· twice this year
Retrograde 26 Dec 1967 – 31 May (22 weeks), 22°51' Virgo back to 20°10' Virgo; shadow from 06 Sep 1967 to 20 Sep. Stations at 05:01 and 04:07 UT.
Retrograde 27 Dec – 02 Jun 1969 (22 weeks), 25°06' Virgo back to 22°24' Virgo; shadow from 08 Sep to 22 Sep 1969. Stations at 17:06 and 14:51 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.