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 1998· 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 27 Mar – 20 Apr (3 weeks), 21°29' Aries back to 9°47' Aries; shadow from 14 Mar to 08 May. Stations at 19:47 and 07:31 UT.
Retrograde 31 Jul – 23 Aug (3 weeks), 28°16' Leo back to 15°57' Leo; shadow from 12 Jul to 07 Sep. Stations at 02:30 and 22:32 UT.
Retrograde 21 Nov – 11 Dec (3 weeks), 17°33' Sagittarius back to 1°18' Sagittarius; shadow from 02 Nov to 29 Dec. Stations at 11:41 and 06:37 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 1998· once this year
Retrograde 26 Dec 1997 – 05 Feb (6 weeks), 3°56' Aquarius back to 18°28' Capricorn; shadow from 25 Nov 1997 to 09 Mar. Stations at 21:21 and 21:24 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 1998· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 1998; 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 1998· once this year
Retrograde 18 Jul – 13 Nov (17 weeks), 28°03' Pisces back to 18°09' Pisces; shadow from 24 Apr to 03 Feb 1999. Stations at 01:53 and 13:03 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 1998· once this year
Retrograde 15 Aug – 29 Dec (19 weeks), 3°37' Taurus back to 26°46' Aries; shadow from 10 May to 02 Apr 1999. Stations at 19:06 and 15:46 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 1998· once this year
Retrograde 17 May – 18 Oct (22 weeks), 12°44' Aquarius back to 8°48' Aquarius; shadow from 30 Jan to 01 Feb 1999. Stations at 14:39 and 21:27 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 1998· once this year
Retrograde 04 May – 11 Oct (23 weeks), 2°09' Aquarius back to 29°23' Capricorn; shadow from 12 Jan to 30 Jan 1999. Stations at 10:50 and 14:00 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 1998· once this year
Retrograde 11 Mar – 16 Aug (23 weeks), 8°03' Sagittarius back to 5°17' Sagittarius; shadow from 23 Nov 1997 to 04 Dec. Stations at 05:00 and 06:13 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.