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 1989· 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 16 Jan – 05 Feb (3 weeks), 11°53' Aquarius back to 25°58' Capricorn; shadow from 31 Dec 1988 to 25 Feb. Stations at 01:44 and 20:10 UT.
Retrograde 12 May – 05 Jun (3 weeks), 6°51' Gemini back to 28°09' Taurus; shadow from 28 Apr to 20 Jun. Stations at 11:59 and 08:00 UT.
Retrograde 11 Sep – 03 Oct (3 weeks), 10°33' Libra back to 25°44' Virgo; shadow from 22 Aug to 18 Oct. Stations at 20:49 and 23:49 UT.
Retrograde 30 Dec – 20 Jan 1990 (3 weeks), 25°53' Capricorn back to 9°41' Capricorn; shadow from 14 Dec to 08 Feb 1990. Stations at 23:26 and 04:32 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1989· once this year
Retrograde 29 Dec – 08 Feb 1990 (6 weeks), 6°25' Aquarius back to 20°55' Capricorn; shadow from 27 Nov to 12 Mar 1990. Stations at 08:51 and 09:16 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1989· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1989; 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 1989· twice this year
Retrograde 24 Sep 1988 – 20 Jan (17 weeks), 6°07' Gemini back to 26°05' Taurus; shadow from 01 Jul 1988 to 14 Apr. Stations at 13:59 and 06:12 UT.
Retrograde 29 Oct – 24 Feb 1990 (17 weeks), 10°52' Cancer back to 0°48' Cancer; shadow from 03 Aug to 22 May 1990. Stations at 00:05 and 19:13 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1989· once this year
Retrograde 22 Apr – 11 Sep (20 weeks), 13°55' Capricorn back to 7°18' Capricorn; shadow from 15 Jan to 17 Dec. Stations at 23:41 and 07:20 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1989· once this year
Retrograde 09 Apr – 10 Sep (22 weeks), 5°19' Capricorn back to 1°20' Capricorn; shadow from 25 Dec 1988 to 24 Dec. Stations at 08:24 and 01:19 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1989· once this year
Retrograde 14 Apr – 21 Sep (23 weeks), 12°23' Capricorn back to 9°36' Capricorn; shadow from 23 Dec 1988 to 10 Jan 1990. Stations at 00:02 and 07:25 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1989· once this year
Retrograde 16 Feb – 23 Jul (22 weeks), 15°11' Scorpio back to 12°22' Scorpio; shadow from 01 Nov 1988 to 09 Nov. Stations at 09:50 and 03:43 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.