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 1987· 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 18 Feb – 12 Mar (3 weeks), 14°30' Pisces back to 29°57' Aquarius; shadow from 04 Feb to 01 Apr. Stations at 16:07 and 21:27 UT.
Retrograde 21 Jun – 15 Jul (3 weeks), 16°48' Cancer back to 7°24' Cancer; shadow from 04 Jun to 29 Jul. Stations at 03:52 and 07:43 UT.
Retrograde 16 Oct – 06 Nov (3 weeks), 13°12' Scorpio back to 27°24' Libra; shadow from 26 Sep to 22 Nov. Stations at 16:46 and 07:40 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1987· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 1987; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1987· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1987; 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 1987· once this year
Retrograde 19 Aug – 15 Dec (17 weeks), 29°43' Aries back to 19°45' Aries; shadow from 26 May to 07 Mar 1988. Stations at 21:10 and 12:21 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1987· once this year
Retrograde 31 Mar – 19 Aug (20 weeks), 21°09' Sagittarius back to 14°32' Sagittarius; shadow from 24 Dec 1986 to 25 Nov. Stations at 04:42 and 08:53 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1987· once this year
Retrograde 01 Apr – 01 Sep (22 weeks), 26°43' Sagittarius back to 22°42' Sagittarius; shadow from 17 Dec 1986 to 16 Dec. Stations at 04:26 and 14:33 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1987· once this year
Retrograde 10 Apr – 17 Sep (23 weeks), 8°00' Capricorn back to 5°13' Capricorn; shadow from 19 Dec 1986 to 06 Jan 1988. Stations at 00:09 and 08:01 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1987· once this year
Retrograde 11 Feb – 18 Jul (22 weeks), 9°58' Scorpio back to 7°08' Scorpio; shadow from 27 Oct 1986 to 04 Nov. Stations at 17:03 and 06:18 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.