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 1979· 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 Mar – 07 Apr (3 weeks), 8°31' Aries back to 25°43' Pisces; shadow from 01 Mar to 26 Apr. Stations at 01:19 and 05:21 UT.
Retrograde 17 Jul – 11 Aug (3 weeks), 14°27' Leo back to 3°09' Leo; shadow from 30 Jun to 25 Aug. Stations at 22:35 and 01:35 UT.
Retrograde 09 Nov – 29 Nov (3 weeks), 5°48' Sagittarius back to 19°39' Scorpio; shadow from 21 Oct to 16 Dec. Stations at 13:49 and 12:43 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1979· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1979; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1979· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1979; 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 1979· twice this year
Retrograde 25 Nov 1978 – 26 Mar (17 weeks), 9°03' Leo back to 29°00' Cancer; shadow from 31 Aug 1978 to 22 Jun. Stations at 20:26 and 00:54 UT.
Retrograde 26 Dec – 26 Apr 1980 (17 weeks), 10°14' Virgo back to 0°14' Virgo; shadow from 30 Sep to 24 Jul 1980. Stations at 14:57 and 08:49 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1979· once this year
Retrograde 24 Dec 1978 – 09 May (19 weeks), 13°56' Virgo back to 7°04' Virgo; shadow from 21 Sep 1978 to 14 Aug. Stations at 21:11 and 14:52 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1979· once this year
Retrograde 24 Feb – 26 Jul (22 weeks), 21°00' Scorpio back to 16°55' Scorpio; shadow from 12 Nov 1978 to 09 Nov. Stations at 11:40 and 11:03 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1979· once this year
Retrograde 23 Mar – 30 Aug (23 weeks), 20°29' Sagittarius back to 17°43' Sagittarius; shadow from 02 Dec 1978 to 20 Dec. Stations at 07:10 and 10:44 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1979· once this year
Retrograde 21 Jan – 27 Jun (22 weeks), 19°13' Libra back to 16°25' Libra; shadow from 05 Oct 1978 to 15 Oct. Stations at 21:05 and 01:09 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.