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 2188· 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 21 Dec 2187 – 10 Jan (3 weeks), 16°44' Capricorn back to 0°26' Capricorn; shadow from 04 Dec 2187 to 29 Jan. Stations at 11:45 and 10:09 UT.
Retrograde 10 Apr – 04 May (3 weeks), 6°18' Taurus back to 25°37' Aries; shadow from 28 Mar to 21 May. Stations at 20:37 and 13:33 UT.
Retrograde 13 Aug – 06 Sep (3 weeks), 13°08' Virgo back to 0°00' Virgo; shadow from 25 Jul to 20 Sep. Stations at 23:43 and 10:56 UT.
Retrograde 04 Dec – 24 Dec (3 weeks), 0°55' Capricorn back to 14°37' Sagittarius; shadow from 16 Nov to 11 Jan 2189. Stations at 08:12 and 02:39 UT.
♀︎Venus retrograde 2188· once this year
Retrograde 26 Mar – 07 May (6 weeks), 5°45' Taurus back to 19°25' Aries; shadow from 22 Feb to 10 Jun. Stations at 14:20 and 23:42 UT.
♂︎Mars retrograde 2188· not retrograde this year
Mars holds a straight course through 2188; 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 2188· once this year
Retrograde 27 Jul – 22 Nov (17 weeks), 8°08' Aries back to 28°14' Pisces; shadow from 03 May to 13 Feb 2189. Stations at 10:08 and 14:15 UT.
♄︎Saturn retrograde 2188· once this year
Retrograde 01 Feb – 18 Jun (20 weeks), 23°52' Libra back to 17°06' Libra; shadow from 29 Oct 2187 to 25 Sep. Stations at 16:53 and 23:43 UT.
♅︎Uranus retrograde 2188· twice this year
Retrograde 14 Aug 2187 – 13 Jan (22 weeks), 8°56' Taurus back to 4°58' Taurus; shadow from 27 Apr 2187 to 28 Apr. Stations at 03:40 and 02:43 UT.
Retrograde 17 Aug – 16 Jan 2189 (22 weeks), 13°01' Taurus back to 9°03' Taurus; shadow from 30 Apr to 03 May 2189. Stations at 15:51 and 09:42 UT.
♆︎Neptune retrograde 2188· once this year
Retrograde 02 Jul – 08 Dec (23 weeks), 0°25' Aries back to 27°37' Pisces; shadow from 11 Mar to 28 Mar 2189. Stations at 12:01 and 05:15 UT.
♇︎Pluto retrograde 2188· twice this year
Retrograde 06 Nov 2187 – 15 Apr (23 weeks), 6°23' Leo back to 4°05' Leo; shadow from 11 Jul 2187 to 12 Aug. Stations at 22:10 and 18:18 UT.
Retrograde 07 Nov – 17 Apr 2189 (23 weeks), 7°49' Leo back to 5°30' Leo; shadow from 12 Jul to 14 Aug 2189. Stations at 17:35 and 09:35 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.