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 1980· 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 26 Feb – 19 Mar (3 weeks), 21°30' Pisces back to 7°24' Pisces; shadow from 11 Feb to 08 Apr. Stations at 01:32 and 14:01 UT.
Retrograde 28 Jun – 22 Jul (3 weeks), 25°07' Cancer back to 15°12' Cancer; shadow from 11 Jun to 05 Aug. Stations at 11:17 and 16:34 UT.
Retrograde 23 Oct – 12 Nov (3 weeks), 19°55' Scorpio back to 3°59' Scorpio; shadow from 03 Oct to 29 Nov. Stations at 01:58 and 10:57 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1980· once this year
Retrograde 24 May – 06 Jul (6 weeks), 2°35' Cancer back to 16°03' Gemini; shadow from 21 Apr to 09 Aug. Stations at 20:08 and 21:17 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1980· once this year
Retrograde 16 Jan – 06 Apr (12 weeks), 15°20' Virgo back to 25°52' Leo; shadow from 11 Nov 1979 to 12 Jun. Stations at 06:20 and 08:31 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 1980· once this year
Retrograde 26 Dec 1979 – 26 Apr (17 weeks), 10°14' Virgo back to 0°14' Virgo; shadow from 30 Sep 1979 to 24 Jul. Stations at 14:57 and 08:49 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1980· once this year
Retrograde 06 Jan – 22 May (20 weeks), 27°01' Virgo back to 20°11' Virgo; shadow from 04 Oct 1979 to 28 Aug. Stations at 22:37 and 11:48 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1980· once this year
Retrograde 29 Feb – 30 Jul (22 weeks), 25°34' Scorpio back to 21°29' Scorpio; shadow from 17 Nov 1979 to 13 Nov. Stations at 06:42 and 11:46 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1980· once this year
Retrograde 24 Mar – 31 Aug (23 weeks), 22°40' Sagittarius back to 19°53' Sagittarius; shadow from 04 Dec 1979 to 21 Dec. Stations at 17:57 and 23:43 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1980· once this year
Retrograde 24 Jan – 28 Jun (22 weeks), 21°46' Libra back to 18°58' Libra; shadow from 08 Oct 1979 to 16 Oct. Stations at 15:40 and 20:14 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.