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 2008· 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 28 Jan – 19 Feb (3 weeks), 23°52' Aquarius back to 8°19' Aquarius; shadow from 13 Jan to 10 Mar. Stations at 20:29 and 03:02 UT.
Retrograde 26 May – 19 Jun (3 weeks), 21°32' Gemini back to 12°58' Gemini; shadow from 11 May to 04 Jul. Stations at 15:42 and 14:37 UT.
Retrograde 24 Sep – 15 Oct (3 weeks), 22°50' Libra back to 7°33' Libra; shadow from 03 Sep to 31 Oct. Stations at 07:11 and 20:08 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2008· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 2008; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2008· once this year
Retrograde 15 Nov 2007 – 30 Jan (11 weeks), 12°27' Cancer back to 24°04' Gemini; shadow from 16 Sep 2007 to 04 Apr. Stations at 08:28 and 22:34 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 2008· once this year
Retrograde 09 May – 08 Sep (17 weeks), 22°21' Capricorn back to 12°31' Capricorn; shadow from 13 Feb to 01 Dec. Stations at 12:02 and 04:14 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2008· twice this year
Retrograde 19 Dec 2007 – 03 May (19 weeks), 8°34' Virgo back to 1°40' Virgo; shadow from 16 Sep 2007 to 08 Aug. Stations at 14:10 and 03:05 UT.
Retrograde 31 Dec – 17 May 2009 (19 weeks), 21°45' Virgo back to 14°54' Virgo; shadow from 28 Sep to 22 Aug 2009. Stations at 18:05 and 02:07 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2008· once this year
Retrograde 27 Jun – 27 Nov (22 weeks), 22°39' Pisces back to 18°44' Pisces; shadow from 10 Mar to 13 Mar 2009. Stations at 00:14 and 16:06 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2008· once this year
Retrograde 26 May – 02 Nov (23 weeks), 24°15' Aquarius back to 21°28' Aquarius; shadow from 04 Feb to 20 Feb 2009. Stations at 16:18 and 06:28 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2008· once this year
Retrograde 02 Apr – 09 Sep (23 weeks), 1°08' Capricorn back to 28°29' Sagittarius; shadow from 14 Dec 2007 to 29 Dec. Stations at 09:13 and 03:03 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.