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 2017· 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 19 Dec 2016 – 08 Jan (3 weeks), 15°07' Capricorn back to 28°50' Sagittarius; shadow from 02 Dec 2016 to 27 Jan. Stations at 10:53 and 09:47 UT.
Retrograde 09 Apr – 03 May (3 weeks), 4°50' Taurus back to 24°15' Aries; shadow from 27 Mar to 21 May. Stations at 23:11 and 16:34 UT.
Retrograde 13 Aug – 05 Sep (3 weeks), 11°38' Virgo back to 28°25' Leo; shadow from 24 Jul to 19 Sep. Stations at 01:03 and 11:23 UT.
Retrograde 03 Dec – 23 Dec (3 weeks), 29°18' Sagittarius back to 13°00' Sagittarius; shadow from 15 Nov to 10 Jan 2018. Stations at 07:28 and 01:57 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2017· once this year
Retrograde 04 Mar – 15 Apr (6 weeks), 13°08' Aries back to 26°54' Pisces; shadow from 30 Jan to 18 May. Stations at 09:07 and 10:18 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2017· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 2017; 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 2017· once this year
Retrograde 06 Feb – 09 Jun (18 weeks), 23°08' Libra back to 13°13' Libra; shadow from 11 Nov 2016 to 07 Sep. Stations at 06:54 and 13:59 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2017· once this year
Retrograde 06 Apr – 25 Aug (20 weeks), 27°47' Sagittarius back to 21°10' Sagittarius; shadow from 30 Dec 2016 to 01 Dec. Stations at 05:09 and 12:13 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2017· once this year
Retrograde 03 Aug – 02 Jan 2018 (22 weeks), 28°31' Aries back to 24°34' Aries; shadow from 16 Apr to 19 Apr 2018. Stations at 05:51 and 14:32 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2017· once this year
Retrograde 16 Jun – 22 Nov (23 weeks), 14°16' Pisces back to 11°28' Pisces; shadow from 23 Feb to 13 Mar 2018. Stations at 10:55 and 14:09 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2017· once this year
Retrograde 20 Apr – 28 Sep (23 weeks), 19°23' Capricorn back to 16°51' Capricorn; shadow from 29 Dec 2016 to 19 Jan 2018. Stations at 12:24 and 19:13 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.