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 2002· 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 Jan – 08 Feb (3 weeks), 14°29' Aquarius back to 28°37' Capricorn; shadow from 02 Jan to 28 Feb. Stations at 20:47 and 17:30 UT.
Retrograde 15 May – 08 Jun (3 weeks), 9°59' Gemini back to 1°21' Gemini; shadow from 01 May to 24 Jun. Stations at 18:53 and 15:06 UT.
Retrograde 14 Sep – 06 Oct (3 weeks), 13°14' Libra back to 28°19' Virgo; shadow from 25 Aug to 21 Oct. Stations at 19:33 and 19:29 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2002· once this year
Retrograde 10 Oct – 21 Nov (6 weeks), 15°36' Scorpio back to 0°03' Scorpio; shadow from 08 Sep to 22 Dec. Stations at 18:32 and 07:09 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2002· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 2002; 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 2002· twice this year
Retrograde 02 Nov 2001 – 01 Mar (17 weeks), 15°41' Cancer back to 5°37' Cancer; shadow from 08 Aug 2001 to 27 May. Stations at 15:41 and 15:13 UT.
Retrograde 04 Dec – 04 Apr 2003 (17 weeks), 18°06' Leo back to 8°03' Leo; shadow from 08 Sep to 01 Jul 2003. Stations at 12:22 and 03:03 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2002· twice this year
Retrograde 27 Sep 2001 – 08 Feb (19 weeks), 14°58' Gemini back to 8°02' Gemini; shadow from 23 Jun 2001 to 13 May. Stations at 00:11 and 01:37 UT.
Retrograde 11 Oct – 22 Feb 2003 (19 weeks), 29°05' Gemini back to 22°08' Gemini; shadow from 08 Jul to 27 May 2003. Stations at 12:53 and 07:47 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2002· once this year
Retrograde 03 Jun – 04 Nov (22 weeks), 28°50' Aquarius back to 24°54' Aquarius; shadow from 15 Feb to 18 Feb 2003. Stations at 00:14 and 06:17 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2002· once this year
Retrograde 13 May – 20 Oct (23 weeks), 10°59' Aquarius back to 8°11' Aquarius; shadow from 21 Jan to 08 Feb 2003. Stations at 12:42 and 13:42 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2002· once this year
Retrograde 20 Mar – 26 Aug (23 weeks), 17°37' Sagittarius back to 14°54' Sagittarius; shadow from 01 Dec 2001 to 14 Dec. Stations at 15:16 and 10:54 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.