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 1997· 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 23 Dec 1996 – 12 Jan (3 weeks), 19°13' Capricorn back to 2°58' Capricorn; shadow from 06 Dec 1996 to 01 Feb. Stations at 19:43 and 20:44 UT.
Retrograde 14 Apr – 08 May (3 weeks), 9°39' Taurus back to 29°28' Aries; shadow from 01 Apr to 25 May. Stations at 23:58 and 18:10 UT.
Retrograde 17 Aug – 10 Sep (3 weeks), 16°13' Virgo back to 2°42' Virgo; shadow from 29 Jul to 24 Sep. Stations at 19:50 and 01:39 UT.
Retrograde 07 Dec – 27 Dec (3 weeks), 3°22' Capricorn back to 17°03' Sagittarius; shadow from 19 Nov to 15 Jan 1998. Stations at 16:52 and 11:48 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1997· once this year
Retrograde 26 Dec – 05 Feb 1998 (6 weeks), 3°56' Aquarius back to 18°28' Capricorn; shadow from 25 Nov to 09 Mar 1998. Stations at 21:21 and 21:24 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1997· once this year
Retrograde 06 Feb – 27 Apr (12 weeks), 5°55' Libra back to 16°44' Virgo; shadow from 01 Dec 1996 to 02 Jul. Stations at 00:34 and 19:13 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 1997· once this year
Retrograde 10 Jun – 08 Oct (17 weeks), 21°56' Aquarius back to 12°05' Aquarius; shadow from 16 Mar to 30 Dec. Stations at 00:25 and 04:31 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1997· once this year
Retrograde 01 Aug – 16 Dec (20 weeks), 20°21' Aries back to 13°32' Aries; shadow from 26 Apr to 20 Mar 1998. Stations at 17:03 and 10:26 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1997· once this year
Retrograde 13 May – 14 Oct (22 weeks), 8°40' Aquarius back to 4°44' Aquarius; shadow from 26 Jan to 28 Jan 1998. Stations at 04:12 and 10:54 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1997· once this year
Retrograde 01 May – 09 Oct (23 weeks), 29°57' Capricorn back to 27°10' Capricorn; shadow from 10 Jan to 27 Jan 1998. Stations at 23:09 and 01:29 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1997· once this year
Retrograde 08 Mar – 13 Aug (23 weeks), 5°36' Sagittarius back to 2°49' Sagittarius; shadow from 20 Nov 1996 to 01 Dec. Stations at 12:46 and 08:13 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.