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 1974· 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 15 Feb – 09 Mar (3 weeks), 11°50' Pisces back to 27°08' Aquarius; shadow from 01 Feb to 29 Mar. Stations at 19:42 and 22:18 UT.
Retrograde 17 Jun – 12 Jul (3 weeks), 13°38' Cancer back to 4°23' Cancer; shadow from 01 Jun to 26 Jul. Stations at 22:46 and 01:47 UT.
Retrograde 13 Oct – 03 Nov (3 weeks), 10°37' Scorpio back to 24°51' Libra; shadow from 23 Sep to 19 Nov. Stations at 19:47 and 12:52 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1974· once this year
Retrograde 03 Jan – 13 Feb (6 weeks), 11°22' Aquarius back to 25°48' Capricorn; shadow from 02 Dec 1973 to 17 Mar. Stations at 06:06 and 07:32 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1974· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1974; 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 1974· once this year
Retrograde 07 Jul – 03 Nov (17 weeks), 17°52' Pisces back to 7°59' Pisces; shadow from 13 Apr to 25 Jan 1975. Stations at 16:18 and 12:16 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1974· twice this year
Retrograde 17 Oct 1973 – 27 Feb (19 weeks), 4°45' Cancer back to 27°46' Gemini; shadow from 14 Jul 1973 to 02 Jun. Stations at 05:39 and 21:11 UT.
Retrograde 31 Oct – 14 Mar 1975 (19 weeks), 18°54' Cancer back to 11°56' Cancer; shadow from 28 Jul to 17 Jun 1975. Stations at 14:50 and 08:29 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1974· once this year
Retrograde 01 Feb – 02 Jul (22 weeks), 27°46' Libra back to 23°39' Libra; shadow from 20 Oct 1973 to 16 Oct. Stations at 02:54 and 00:13 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1974· once this year
Retrograde 12 Mar – 19 Aug (23 weeks), 9°36' Sagittarius back to 6°50' Sagittarius; shadow from 21 Nov 1973 to 09 Dec. Stations at 00:46 and 03:19 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1974· once this year
Retrograde 09 Jan – 14 Jun (22 weeks), 6°49' Libra back to 4°03' Libra; shadow from 21 Sep 1973 to 03 Oct. Stations at 00:38 and 13:13 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.