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 2018· 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 23 Mar – 15 Apr (3 weeks), 16°54' Aries back to 4°46' Aries; shadow from 09 Mar to 03 May. Stations at 00:23 and 09:19 UT.
Retrograde 26 Jul – 19 Aug (3 weeks), 23°27' Leo back to 11°31' Leo; shadow from 07 Jul to 02 Sep. Stations at 04:58 and 04:20 UT.
Retrograde 17 Nov – 06 Dec (3 weeks), 13°29' Sagittarius back to 27°16' Scorpio; shadow from 29 Oct to 24 Dec. Stations at 01:26 and 21:27 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2018· once this year
Retrograde 05 Oct – 16 Nov (6 weeks), 10°50' Scorpio back to 25°14' Libra; shadow from 03 Sep to 18 Dec. Stations at 19:02 and 10:51 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2018· once this year
Retrograde 26 Jun – 27 Aug (9 weeks), 9°13' Aquarius back to 28°36' Capricorn; shadow from 12 May to 08 Oct. Stations at 21:12 and 14:01 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 2018· once this year
Retrograde 09 Mar – 10 Jul (18 weeks), 23°13' Scorpio back to 13°20' Scorpio; shadow from 12 Dec 2017 to 07 Oct. Stations at 04:51 and 17:03 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2018· once this year
Retrograde 18 Apr – 06 Sep (20 weeks), 9°08' Capricorn back to 2°32' Capricorn; shadow from 10 Jan to 12 Dec. Stations at 01:51 and 11:20 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2018· twice this year
Retrograde 03 Aug 2017 – 02 Jan (22 weeks), 28°31' Aries back to 24°34' Aries; shadow from 16 Apr 2017 to 19 Apr. Stations at 05:51 and 14:32 UT.
Retrograde 07 Aug – 06 Jan 2019 (22 weeks), 2°33' Taurus back to 28°36' Aries; shadow from 20 Apr to 23 Apr 2019. Stations at 16:43 and 20:18 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2018· once this year
Retrograde 18 Jun – 25 Nov (23 weeks), 16°29' Pisces back to 13°41' Pisces; shadow from 26 Feb to 15 Mar 2019. Stations at 23:32 and 01:25 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2018· once this year
Retrograde 22 Apr – 01 Oct (23 weeks), 21°17' Capricorn back to 18°45' Capricorn; shadow from 31 Dec 2017 to 21 Jan 2019. Stations at 15:07 and 01:59 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.