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 1986· 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 07 Mar – 30 Mar (3 weeks), 1°18' Aries back to 17°55' Pisces; shadow from 21 Feb to 18 Apr. Stations at 10:58 and 08:43 UT.
Retrograde 09 Jul – 03 Aug (3 weeks), 6°25' Leo back to 25°43' Cancer; shadow from 22 Jun to 17 Aug. Stations at 20:22 and 00:51 UT.
Retrograde 02 Nov – 22 Nov (3 weeks), 29°09' Scorpio back to 13°05' Scorpio; shadow from 13 Oct to 09 Dec. Stations at 06:45 and 09:06 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1986· once this year
Retrograde 15 Oct – 26 Nov (6 weeks), 20°23' Scorpio back to 4°53' Scorpio; shadow from 13 Sep to 27 Dec. Stations at 16:35 and 02:45 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1986· once this year
Retrograde 08 Jun – 12 Aug (9 weeks), 23°06' Capricorn back to 11°24' Capricorn; shadow from 21 Apr to 25 Sep. Stations at 23:21 and 07:40 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 1986· once this year
Retrograde 12 Jul – 08 Nov (17 weeks), 22°51' Pisces back to 12°58' Pisces; shadow from 18 Apr to 29 Jan 1987. Stations at 17:07 and 09:29 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1986· once this year
Retrograde 19 Mar – 07 Aug (20 weeks), 9°42' Sagittarius back to 3°03' Sagittarius; shadow from 13 Dec 1985 to 13 Nov. Stations at 09:32 and 04:55 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1986· once this year
Retrograde 27 Mar – 27 Aug (22 weeks), 22°22' Sagittarius back to 18°21' Sagittarius; shadow from 12 Dec 1985 to 11 Dec. Stations at 14:20 and 21:08 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1986· once this year
Retrograde 07 Apr – 14 Sep (23 weeks), 5°48' Capricorn back to 3°02' Capricorn; shadow from 17 Dec 1985 to 04 Jan 1987. Stations at 13:01 and 19:46 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1986· once this year
Retrograde 08 Feb – 15 Jul (22 weeks), 7°21' Scorpio back to 4°32' Scorpio; shadow from 24 Oct 1985 to 01 Nov. Stations at 20:20 and 06:11 UT.
All times Universal Time (UT), from the same engine as the sky. 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.