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 1972· 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 21 Mar – 14 Apr (3 weeks), 15°50' Aries back to 3°41' Aries; shadow from 07 Mar to 02 May. Stations at 18:44 and 03:29 UT.
Retrograde 24 Jul – 17 Aug (3 weeks), 22°21' Leo back to 10°27' Leo; shadow from 06 Jul to 31 Aug. Stations at 22:59 and 22:37 UT.
Retrograde 15 Nov – 05 Dec (3 weeks), 12°27' Sagittarius back to 26°14' Scorpio; shadow from 27 Oct to 23 Dec. Stations at 20:20 and 16:26 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1972· once this year
Retrograde 27 May – 09 Jul (6 weeks), 4°44' Cancer back to 18°13' Gemini; shadow from 23 Apr to 12 Aug. Stations at 03:12 and 05:00 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1972· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1972; 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 1972· once this year
Retrograde 25 Apr – 25 Aug (17 weeks), 8°19' Capricorn back to 28°29' Sagittarius; shadow from 29 Jan to 18 Nov. Stations at 00:22 and 08:03 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1972· twice this year
Retrograde 19 Sep 1971 – 31 Jan (19 weeks), 6°31' Gemini back to 29°34' Taurus; shadow from 15 Jun 1971 to 04 May. Stations at 02:22 and 10:17 UT.
Retrograde 02 Oct – 13 Feb 1973 (19 weeks), 20°35' Gemini back to 13°37' Gemini; shadow from 29 Jun to 18 May 1973. Stations at 16:33 and 12:59 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1972· once this year
Retrograde 23 Jan – 21 Jun (22 weeks), 18°19' Libra back to 14°11' Libra; shadow from 11 Oct 1971 to 05 Oct. Stations at 05:18 and 17:27 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1972· once this year
Retrograde 07 Mar – 14 Aug (23 weeks), 5°15' Sagittarius back to 2°28' Sagittarius; shadow from 17 Nov 1971 to 04 Dec. Stations at 05:28 and 03:09 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1972· once this year
Retrograde 04 Jan – 09 Jun (22 weeks), 2°03' Libra back to 29°18' Virgo; shadow from 16 Sep 1971 to 28 Sep. Stations at 15:10 and 06:10 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.