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 2056· 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 27 Dec 2055 – 16 Jan (3 weeks), 22°50' Capricorn back to 6°35' Capricorn; shadow from 10 Dec 2055 to 05 Feb. Stations at 19:35 and 22:03 UT.
Retrograde 18 Apr – 12 May (3 weeks), 13°43' Taurus back to 3°47' Taurus; shadow from 04 Apr to 29 May. Stations at 10:23 and 04:53 UT.
Retrograde 21 Aug – 13 Sep (3 weeks), 20°07' Virgo back to 6°24' Virgo; shadow from 01 Aug to 27 Sep. Stations at 01:43 and 04:24 UT.
Retrograde 10 Dec – 30 Dec (3 weeks), 6°58' Capricorn back to 20°39' Sagittarius; shadow from 22 Nov to 18 Jan 2057. Stations at 16:59 and 12:30 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2056· not retrograde this year
Venus holds a straight course through 2056; no spell, no shadow, no station to mark.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2056· once this year
Retrograde 14 Dec – 04 Mar 2057 (11 weeks), 14°28' Leo back to 25°09' Cancer; shadow from 12 Oct to 11 May 2057. Stations at 20:18 and 13:36 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 2056· once this year
Retrograde 29 May – 27 Sep (17 weeks), 11°49' Aquarius back to 1°58' Aquarius; shadow from 05 Mar to 20 Dec. Stations at 15:37 and 09:43 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2056· once this year
Retrograde 03 Aug – 17 Dec (20 weeks), 22°39' Aries back to 15°49' Aries; shadow from 28 Apr to 22 Mar 2057. Stations at 09:32 and 23:49 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2056· once this year
Retrograde 23 Jan – 22 Jun (22 weeks), 19°26' Libra back to 15°18' Libra; shadow from 12 Oct 2055 to 06 Oct. Stations at 16:29 and 05:26 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2056· twice this year
Retrograde 12 Sep 2055 – 16 Feb (22 weeks), 9°36' Gemini back to 6°47' Gemini; shadow from 21 May 2055 to 07 Jun. Stations at 09:42 and 02:03 UT.
Retrograde 13 Sep – 17 Feb 2057 (22 weeks), 11°50' Gemini back to 9°01' Gemini; shadow from 23 May to 10 Jun 2057. Stations at 20:49 and 12:27 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2056· once this year
Retrograde 17 Jun – 29 Nov (24 weeks), 18°13' Pisces back to 16°02' Pisces; shadow from 18 Feb to 27 Mar 2057. Stations at 10:42 and 04:53 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.