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 1976· 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 14 Jan – 03 Feb (3 weeks), 9°18' Aquarius back to 23°20' Capricorn; shadow from 29 Dec 1975 to 24 Feb. Stations at 06:43 and 23:01 UT.
Retrograde 09 May – 02 Jun (3 weeks), 3°44' Gemini back to 24°57' Taurus; shadow from 25 Apr to 17 Jun. Stations at 05:12 and 01:14 UT.
Retrograde 08 Sep – 01 Oct (3 weeks), 7°51' Libra back to 23°08' Virgo; shadow from 19 Aug to 15 Oct. Stations at 21:57 and 04:02 UT.
Retrograde 28 Dec – 17 Jan 1977 (3 weeks), 23°19' Capricorn back to 7°05' Capricorn; shadow from 11 Dec to 05 Feb 1977. Stations at 04:33 and 08:05 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1976· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1976; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1976· once this year
Retrograde 06 Nov 1975 – 20 Jan (11 weeks), 2°39' Cancer back to 14°43' Gemini; shadow from 09 Sep 1975 to 24 Mar. Stations at 12:01 and 21:28 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 1976· once this year
Retrograde 19 Sep – 15 Jan 1977 (17 weeks), 1°12' Gemini back to 21°10' Taurus; shadow from 26 Jun to 09 Apr 1977. Stations at 18:37 and 10:58 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1976· twice this year
Retrograde 14 Nov 1975 – 27 Mar (19 weeks), 2°58' Leo back to 26°01' Cancer; shadow from 12 Aug 1975 to 01 Jul. Stations at 19:19 and 19:49 UT.
Retrograde 27 Nov – 11 Apr 1977 (19 weeks), 16°52' Leo back to 9°57' Leo; shadow from 25 Aug to 16 Jul 1977. Stations at 18:53 and 05:33 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1976· once this year
Retrograde 10 Feb – 11 Jul (22 weeks), 7°08' Scorpio back to 3°02' Scorpio; shadow from 30 Oct 1975 to 25 Oct. Stations at 22:21 and 05:56 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1976· once this year
Retrograde 15 Mar – 23 Aug (23 weeks), 13°58' Sagittarius back to 11°11' Sagittarius; shadow from 25 Nov 1975 to 13 Dec. Stations at 20:33 and 02:02 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1976· once this year
Retrograde 14 Jan – 18 Jun (22 weeks), 11°42' Libra back to 8°55' Libra; shadow from 27 Sep 1975 to 07 Oct. Stations at 11:49 and 21:43 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.