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 2004· 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 17 Dec 2003 – 06 Jan (3 weeks), 12°33' Capricorn back to 26°16' Sagittarius; shadow from 30 Nov 2003 to 25 Jan. Stations at 15:58 and 13:49 UT.
Retrograde 06 Apr – 30 Apr (3 weeks), 1°55' Taurus back to 21°06' Aries; shadow from 24 Mar to 18 May. Stations at 20:27 and 13:08 UT.
Retrograde 10 Aug – 02 Sep (3 weeks), 8°46' Virgo back to 25°44' Leo; shadow from 21 Jul to 16 Sep. Stations at 00:37 and 13:05 UT.
Retrograde 30 Nov – 20 Dec (3 weeks), 26°44' Sagittarius back to 10°27' Sagittarius; shadow from 12 Nov to 07 Jan 2005. Stations at 12:13 and 06:37 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2004· once this year
Retrograde 17 May – 29 Jun (6 weeks), 26°08' Gemini back to 9°37' Gemini; shadow from 14 Apr to 02 Aug. Stations at 22:30 and 23:15 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2004· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 2004; 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 2004· once this year
Retrograde 04 Jan – 05 May (17 weeks), 18°54' Virgo back to 8°54' Virgo; shadow from 08 Oct 2003 to 02 Aug. Stations at 00:01 and 03:13 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2004· twice this year
Retrograde 25 Oct 2003 – 07 Mar (19 weeks), 13°14' Cancer back to 6°17' Cancer; shadow from 23 Jul 2003 to 10 Jun. Stations at 23:44 and 16:48 UT.
Retrograde 08 Nov – 22 Mar 2005 (19 weeks), 27°20' Cancer back to 20°23' Cancer; shadow from 05 Aug to 25 Jun 2005. Stations at 06:57 and 02:51 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2004· once this year
Retrograde 10 Jun – 11 Nov (22 weeks), 6°47' Pisces back to 2°52' Pisces; shadow from 23 Feb to 25 Feb 2005. Stations at 15:57 and 18:59 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2004· once this year
Retrograde 17 May – 24 Oct (23 weeks), 15°23' Aquarius back to 12°36' Aquarius; shadow from 26 Jan to 12 Feb 2005. Stations at 12:24 and 11:45 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2004· once this year
Retrograde 24 Mar – 30 Aug (23 weeks), 22°14' Sagittarius back to 19°32' Sagittarius; shadow from 06 Dec 2003 to 19 Dec. Stations at 15:18 and 19:24 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.