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 1984· 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 22 Dec 1983 – 11 Jan (3 weeks), 16°39' Capricorn back to 0°22' Capricorn; shadow from 04 Dec 1983 to 30 Jan. Stations at 00:50 and 00:40 UT.
Retrograde 11 Apr – 05 May (3 weeks), 6°41' Taurus back to 26°18' Aries; shadow from 29 Mar to 22 May. Stations at 20:19 and 14:10 UT.
Retrograde 14 Aug – 07 Sep (3 weeks), 13°23' Virgo back to 0°01' Virgo; shadow from 26 Jul to 21 Sep. Stations at 19:34 and 03:56 UT.
Retrograde 04 Dec – 24 Dec (3 weeks), 0°48' Capricorn back to 14°30' Sagittarius; shadow from 16 Nov to 12 Jan 1985. Stations at 21:40 and 16:17 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1984· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1984; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1984· once this year
Retrograde 05 Apr – 19 Jun (11 weeks), 28°20' Scorpio back to 11°42' Scorpio; shadow from 04 Feb to 14 Aug. Stations at 12:26 and 18:14 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 1984· once this year
Retrograde 29 Apr – 29 Aug (17 weeks), 12°57' Capricorn back to 3°07' Capricorn; shadow from 03 Feb to 23 Nov. Stations at 18:38 and 23:03 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1984· once this year
Retrograde 24 Feb – 13 Jul (20 weeks), 16°23' Scorpio back to 9°42' Scorpio; shadow from 20 Nov 1983 to 19 Oct. Stations at 14:36 and 06:12 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1984· once this year
Retrograde 18 Mar – 18 Aug (22 weeks), 13°33' Sagittarius back to 9°31' Sagittarius; shadow from 04 Dec 1983 to 01 Dec. Stations at 06:18 and 05:22 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1984· once this year
Retrograde 02 Apr – 09 Sep (23 weeks), 1°25' Capricorn back to 28°39' Sagittarius; shadow from 13 Dec 1983 to 30 Dec. Stations at 14:25 and 22:04 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1984· once this year
Retrograde 04 Feb – 09 Jul (22 weeks), 2°08' Scorpio back to 29°18' Libra; shadow from 19 Oct 1983 to 26 Oct. Stations at 02:05 and 08:32 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.