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 2009· 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 11 Jan – 01 Feb (3 weeks), 7°45' Aquarius back to 21°44' Capricorn; shadow from 26 Dec 2008 to 21 Feb. Stations at 16:43 and 07:13 UT.
Retrograde 07 May – 31 May (3 weeks), 1°44' Gemini back to 22°52' Taurus; shadow from 23 Apr to 15 Jun. Stations at 05:11 and 01:16 UT.
Retrograde 07 Sep – 29 Sep (3 weeks), 6°13' Libra back to 21°36' Virgo; shadow from 17 Aug to 14 Oct. Stations at 04:40 and 13:17 UT.
Retrograde 26 Dec – 15 Jan 2010 (3 weeks), 21°47' Capricorn back to 5°33' Capricorn; shadow from 09 Dec to 04 Feb 2010. Stations at 14:36 and 16:54 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2009· once this year
Retrograde 06 Mar – 17 Apr (6 weeks), 15°27' Aries back to 29°12' Pisces; shadow from 02 Feb to 21 May. Stations at 17:19 and 19:25 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2009· once this year
Retrograde 20 Dec – 10 Mar 2010 (11 weeks), 19°41' Leo back to 0°17' Leo; shadow from 17 Oct to 17 May 2010. Stations at 13:28 and 17:14 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 2009· once this year
Retrograde 15 Jun – 13 Oct (17 weeks), 27°00' Aquarius back to 17°09' Aquarius; shadow from 22 Mar to 04 Jan 2010. Stations at 07:48 and 04:29 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2009· once this year
Retrograde 31 Dec 2008 – 17 May (19 weeks), 21°45' Virgo back to 14°54' Virgo; shadow from 28 Sep 2008 to 22 Aug. Stations at 18:05 and 02:07 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2009· once this year
Retrograde 01 Jul – 01 Dec (22 weeks), 26°37' Pisces back to 22°42' Pisces; shadow from 14 Mar to 18 Mar 2010. Stations at 07:25 and 20:42 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2009· once this year
Retrograde 29 May – 04 Nov (23 weeks), 26°28' Aquarius back to 23°41' Aquarius; shadow from 06 Feb to 23 Feb 2010. Stations at 04:48 and 18:36 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2009· once this year
Retrograde 04 Apr – 11 Sep (23 weeks), 3°18' Capricorn back to 0°39' Capricorn; shadow from 15 Dec 2008 to 31 Dec. Stations at 17:42 and 17:18 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.