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 2040· 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 Feb – 05 Mar (3 weeks), 8°37' Pisces back to 23°41' Aquarius; shadow from 28 Jan to 25 Mar. Stations at 13:36 and 11:23 UT.
Retrograde 13 Jun – 07 Jul (3 weeks), 9°32' Cancer back to 0°31' Cancer; shadow from 28 May to 21 Jul. Stations at 00:25 and 02:14 UT.
Retrograde 09 Oct – 30 Oct (3 weeks), 7°31' Scorpio back to 21°51' Libra; shadow from 19 Sep to 15 Nov. Stations at 12:02 and 09:06 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2040· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 2040; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2040· once this year
Retrograde 23 Nov 2039 – 09 Feb (11 weeks), 21°45' Cancer back to 3°01' Cancer; shadow from 24 Sep 2039 to 15 Apr. Stations at 20:45 and 11:48 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 2040· once this year
Retrograde 16 Jan – 18 May (18 weeks), 1°50' Libra back to 21°52' Virgo; shadow from 21 Oct 2039 to 15 Aug. Stations at 13:18 and 04:01 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2040· once this year
Retrograde 21 Jan – 06 Jun (20 weeks), 12°01' Libra back to 5°14' Libra; shadow from 18 Oct 2039 to 12 Sep. Stations at 04:12 and 17:53 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2040· twice this year
Retrograde 08 Nov 2039 – 05 Apr (21 weeks), 3°25' Leo back to 29°17' Cancer; shadow from 25 Jul 2039 to 21 Jul. Stations at 20:57 and 21:54 UT.
Retrograde 12 Nov – 10 Apr 2041 (21 weeks), 8°04' Leo back to 3°56' Leo; shadow from 30 Jul to 26 Jul 2041. Stations at 17:59 and 19:00 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2040· twice this year
Retrograde 06 Aug 2039 – 11 Jan (23 weeks), 3°37' Taurus back to 0°48' Taurus; shadow from 15 Apr 2039 to 01 May. Stations at 16:04 and 05:25 UT.
Retrograde 08 Aug – 12 Jan 2041 (22 weeks), 5°52' Taurus back to 3°03' Taurus; shadow from 16 Apr to 04 May 2041. Stations at 05:19 and 16:42 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2040· once this year
Retrograde 27 May – 07 Nov (23 weeks), 27°07' Aquarius back to 24°49' Aquarius; shadow from 31 Jan to 03 Mar 2041. Stations at 12:35 and 06:23 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.