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 2012· 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 12 Mar – 04 Apr (3 weeks), 6°49' Aries back to 23°50' Pisces; shadow from 27 Feb to 23 Apr. Stations at 07:52 and 10:11 UT.
Retrograde 15 Jul – 08 Aug (3 weeks), 12°32' Leo back to 1°25' Leo; shadow from 27 Jun to 22 Aug. Stations at 02:09 and 05:43 UT.
Retrograde 06 Nov – 26 Nov (3 weeks), 4°18' Sagittarius back to 18°10' Scorpio; shadow from 18 Oct to 14 Dec. Stations at 22:58 and 22:50 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2012· once this year
Retrograde 15 May – 27 Jun (6 weeks), 23°59' Gemini back to 7°29' Gemini; shadow from 12 Apr to 31 Jul. Stations at 14:32 and 15:10 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2012· once this year
Retrograde 24 Jan – 14 Apr (12 weeks), 23°05' Virgo back to 3°40' Virgo; shadow from 18 Nov 2011 to 19 Jun. Stations at 00:56 and 03:54 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 2012· once this year
Retrograde 04 Oct – 30 Jan 2013 (17 weeks), 16°22' Gemini back to 6°19' Gemini; shadow from 10 Jul to 25 Apr 2013. Stations at 13:22 and 11:39 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2012· once this year
Retrograde 07 Feb – 25 Jun (20 weeks), 29°30' Libra back to 22°45' Libra; shadow from 04 Nov 2011 to 01 Oct. Stations at 14:02 and 07:59 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2012· once this year
Retrograde 13 Jul – 13 Dec (22 weeks), 8°32' Aries back to 4°36' Aries; shadow from 26 Mar to 29 Mar 2013. Stations at 09:46 and 12:20 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2012· once this year
Retrograde 04 Jun – 11 Nov (23 weeks), 3°09' Pisces back to 0°21' Pisces; shadow from 13 Feb to 01 Mar 2013. Stations at 20:38 and 07:58 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2012· once this year
Retrograde 10 Apr – 18 Sep (23 weeks), 9°33' Capricorn back to 6°57' Capricorn; shadow from 21 Dec 2011 to 07 Jan 2013. Stations at 15:46 and 05:21 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.