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 1978· 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 01 Apr – 25 Apr (3 weeks), 26°07' Aries back to 14°51' Aries; shadow from 18 Mar to 13 May. Stations at 16:19 and 06:47 UT.
Retrograde 04 Aug – 28 Aug (3 weeks), 3°00' Virgo back to 20°20' Leo; shadow from 16 Jul to 11 Sep. Stations at 23:09 and 15:34 UT.
Retrograde 25 Nov – 15 Dec (3 weeks), 21°37' Sagittarius back to 5°21' Sagittarius; shadow from 07 Nov to 02 Jan 1979. Stations at 21:34 and 16:02 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1978· once this year
Retrograde 18 Oct – 28 Nov (6 weeks), 22°48' Scorpio back to 7°20' Scorpio; shadow from 15 Sep to 30 Dec. Stations at 03:54 and 13:07 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1978· once this year
Retrograde 12 Dec 1977 – 02 Mar (11 weeks), 11°33' Leo back to 22°16' Cancer; shadow from 10 Oct 1977 to 08 May. Stations at 19:13 and 09:58 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 1978· twice this year
Retrograde 24 Oct 1977 – 20 Feb (17 weeks), 6°08' Cancer back to 26°04' Gemini; shadow from 30 Jul 1977 to 17 May. Stations at 10:09 and 01:20 UT.
Retrograde 25 Nov – 26 Mar 1979 (17 weeks), 9°03' Leo back to 29°00' Cancer; shadow from 31 Aug to 22 Jun 1979. Stations at 20:26 and 00:54 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1978· twice this year
Retrograde 11 Dec 1977 – 25 Apr (19 weeks), 0°32' Virgo back to 23°39' Leo; shadow from 08 Sep 1977 to 31 Jul. Stations at 12:06 and 12:18 UT.
Retrograde 24 Dec – 09 May 1979 (19 weeks), 13°56' Virgo back to 7°04' Virgo; shadow from 21 Sep to 14 Aug 1979. Stations at 21:11 and 14:52 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1978· once this year
Retrograde 19 Feb – 21 Jul (22 weeks), 16°24' Scorpio back to 12°18' Scorpio; shadow from 07 Nov 1977 to 04 Nov. Stations at 15:37 and 10:08 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1978· once this year
Retrograde 20 Mar – 28 Aug (23 weeks), 18°19' Sagittarius back to 15°32' Sagittarius; shadow from 29 Nov 1977 to 18 Dec. Stations at 18:42 and 00:20 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1978· once this year
Retrograde 19 Jan – 24 Jun (22 weeks), 16°41' Libra back to 13°53' Libra; shadow from 02 Oct 1977 to 12 Oct. Stations at 00:54 and 07:39 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.