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 1971· 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 19 Dec 1970 – 08 Jan (3 weeks), 14°05' Capricorn back to 27°48' Sagittarius; shadow from 01 Dec 1970 to 27 Jan. Stations at 05:56 and 04:41 UT.
Retrograde 09 Apr – 03 May (3 weeks), 3°46' Taurus back to 23°09' Aries; shadow from 26 Mar to 20 May. Stations at 17:09 and 10:29 UT.
Retrograde 12 Aug – 05 Sep (3 weeks), 10°33' Virgo back to 27°21' Leo; shadow from 24 Jul to 19 Sep. Stations at 19:16 and 05:57 UT.
Retrograde 03 Dec – 22 Dec (3 weeks), 28°15' Sagittarius back to 11°57' Sagittarius; shadow from 14 Nov to 10 Jan 1972. Stations at 02:27 and 20:54 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1971· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1971; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1971· once this year
Retrograde 11 Jul – 09 Sep (9 weeks), 21°57' Aquarius back to 11°53' Aquarius; shadow from 29 May to 20 Oct. Stations at 06:31 and 13:48 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 1971· once this year
Retrograde 23 Mar – 24 Jul (18 weeks), 6°27' Sagittarius back to 26°35' Scorpio; shadow from 26 Dec 1970 to 20 Oct. Stations at 11:30 and 19:05 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1971· twice this year
Retrograde 04 Sep 1970 – 17 Jan (19 weeks), 22°37' Taurus back to 15°41' Taurus; shadow from 31 May 1970 to 21 Apr. Stations at 14:04 and 12:58 UT.
Retrograde 19 Sep – 31 Jan 1972 (19 weeks), 6°31' Gemini back to 29°34' Taurus; shadow from 15 Jun to 04 May 1972. Stations at 02:22 and 10:17 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1971· once this year
Retrograde 18 Jan – 17 Jun (21 weeks), 13°33' Libra back to 9°25' Libra; shadow from 06 Oct 1970 to 01 Oct. Stations at 07:01 and 14:46 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1971· once this year
Retrograde 05 Mar – 12 Aug (23 weeks), 3°04' Sagittarius back to 0°17' Sagittarius; shadow from 14 Nov 1970 to 02 Dec. Stations at 18:04 and 15:33 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1971· once this year
Retrograde 01 Jan – 07 Jun (22 weeks), 29°42' Virgo back to 26°58' Virgo; shadow from 14 Sep 1970 to 27 Sep. Stations at 22:14 and 15:09 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.