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 2003· 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 02 Jan – 23 Jan (3 weeks), 28°27' Capricorn back to 12°17' Capricorn; shadow from 17 Dec 2002 to 11 Feb. Stations at 18:17 and 01:09 UT.
Retrograde 26 Apr – 20 May (3 weeks), 20°33' Taurus back to 11°07' Taurus; shadow from 12 Apr to 05 Jun. Stations at 12:01 and 07:34 UT.
Retrograde 28 Aug – 20 Sep (3 weeks), 26°19' Virgo back to 12°12' Virgo; shadow from 08 Aug to 04 Oct. Stations at 13:39 and 08:53 UT.
Retrograde 17 Dec – 06 Jan 2004 (3 weeks), 12°33' Capricorn back to 26°16' Sagittarius; shadow from 30 Nov to 25 Jan 2004. Stations at 15:58 and 13:49 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2003· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 2003; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2003· once this year
Retrograde 29 Jul – 27 Sep (9 weeks), 10°08' Pisces back to 0°07' Pisces; shadow from 17 Jun to 08 Nov. Stations at 07:38 and 07:50 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 2003· once this year
Retrograde 04 Dec 2002 – 04 Apr (17 weeks), 18°06' Leo back to 8°03' Leo; shadow from 08 Sep 2002 to 01 Jul. Stations at 12:22 and 03:03 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2003· twice this year
Retrograde 11 Oct 2002 – 22 Feb (19 weeks), 29°05' Gemini back to 22°08' Gemini; shadow from 08 Jul 2002 to 27 May. Stations at 12:53 and 07:47 UT.
Retrograde 25 Oct – 07 Mar 2004 (19 weeks), 13°14' Cancer back to 6°17' Cancer; shadow from 23 Jul to 10 Jun 2004. Stations at 23:44 and 16:48 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2003· once this year
Retrograde 07 Jun – 08 Nov (22 weeks), 2°49' Pisces back to 28°53' Aquarius; shadow from 19 Feb to 22 Feb 2004. Stations at 06:51 and 12:31 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2003· once this year
Retrograde 16 May – 23 Oct (23 weeks), 13°11' Aquarius back to 10°24' Aquarius; shadow from 24 Jan to 10 Feb 2004. Stations at 00:35 and 01:49 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2003· once this year
Retrograde 23 Mar – 29 Aug (23 weeks), 19°57' Sagittarius back to 17°14' Sagittarius; shadow from 04 Dec 2002 to 17 Dec. Stations at 04:46 and 03:30 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.