Astrology Class - How A Retrograde Planet is Different and the Same as When It's Direct - Pt.1

by Robert Wilkinson

This was inspired by comments asking about what it means when planets are retrograde as opposed to when they are direct. There are some strange rumors out there about how often some planets are retrograde, and even how "bad" retrograde planets supposedly are. There seems to be a lot of confusion about retrograde planets, so today and tomorrow we take a brief look at the phenomenon.

All the planets go retrograde except the Sun and Moon, and even these go faster or slower at various points in their transits. Mercury goes retrograde three times a year (except when it's four!), Venus every 19 months, and Mars once every 25 months. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all go retrograde once a year for several months at a time.

Any time a planet is retrograde it is still moving forward, but at a much slower rate of perceived speed from the Earth's point of view. Thus a retrograde planet only appears to be moving backward relative to the zodiacal backdrop, and when we and it are again at a certain positioning relative to the Sun, it again appears to move forward through the sign it's in.

So all retrogrades are a perception based in planetary orbital speed relative to the Sun. Consulting an ephemeris, aka a book of planetary motions, we find the outer invisible planets all go retrograde about the time of the Sun's waxing (lower) square to their positions, and stay retrograde for several months until they go stationary direct just before the waning (upper) square. There are philosophical implications to the outers being retrograde when they are at certain phases in their orbits relative to the Sun, but that's beyond the scope of this article.

When a planet is direct, it means we are "directly" experiencing its natural evolving awareness of the sign it's in. When retrograde, we're re-tracing ground we've already covered, but from a different perspective. It's like driving down a street from one direction, then driving back down the same street in the opposite direction. Two perspectives on the same field of vision.

However, a retrograde period never goes back as far as the last period, or we'd be stuck going back and forth over the same material indefinitely. This gap in how far we went forward to how far we're going back changes based in which planet is retrograde.

The inner planets swing back across far more degrees than the outers. Mercury retrogrades back about 15 degrees (except when near Gemini, when the swing is only 9). Venus fairly consistently retrogrades back about 16 degrees, and Mars goes back 18-20 degrees.

The outers are a different matter. Jupiter retrogrades about 10 degrees every year, while Saturn appears to go back 7 degrees. Uranus retrogrades back 4 degrees, Neptune goes back 3 degrees, and Pluto goes back 3-4 degrees.

After the retrograde period, Jupiter races forward about 45-48 degrees before going retrograde again. Saturn moves forward about 20 degrees before again slowing. Uranus moves 8 degrees forward, Neptune moves 5 degrees, and Pluto moves 5 or 6 degrees before going retrograde again.

So you can see that in any given year period, Jupiter gains 35-38 degrees of experience before taking its look back. Saturn gains 13 degrees of experience, while Uranus gains 4, Neptune gains 2, and Pluto gains 2. This means the parts of our lives and internal makeup symbolized by the outer invisible planets spans much less experience each year than the functions symbolized by the visible.

Thus we cover less ground in the spiritual realm, but also are more familiar with it when we master its lessons than the brief glimpses of the inner planet experiences as they race around the zodiac relative to the Spiritual planets. And, since the outers do go back so far relative to where they originally advanced, we often find ourselves revisiting familiar points of experience over several years.

It is far different with the inner planet periods, which never revisit the same points within any time frame we can take advantage of. For example, the last time Jupiter went RX at 23 Capricorn and direct at 13 Capricorn was in 1925, and the only times Jupiter stimulates 23 Capricorn as its direct station are 1949 and 2032.

This area of identical stationary degrees every 83 years is probably a subject for extensive study. I looked briefly, and it seems that for Jupiter, 1913 has the same stationary degrees as 1996, 1925 as 2008, 1937 as 2020, and 1949 as 2032. So we could infer that certain stationary points condition those effects not just for 12 years to come, but for the next 7 Jupiter cycles.

Tomorrow we'll examine some interpretative possibilities of how to look at retrograde and direct planets.

Copyright © 2008 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Valerie]

Great, I'm looking forward to your further comments. I have 4 Rx planets in my chart. That last par. about identical stationary degrees is interesting. I have noticed in recent years that more stuff happens when a planet is stat.- or at least I have a new awareness or a situation changes or something. Right now I'm looking forward to Jupiter stat.- it just feels like a change is coming.

Also have you heard of Donald Yott- he wrote a little book about retrograde planets and reincarnation (part of a 3 book series). I found it very useful, you might also.

Namaste! :)

[Robert]

Hi Valerie - Yes, I know his work. Read one of his volumes when it first came out way back when. Little did I know then that his publisher, Weiser, had a habit of screwing their authors. No doubt Martin Schulman, who also wrote a great multi-part series on things like the Nodes and Retrogrades and Reincarnation, also suffered our common fate. At least I got my Mercury Retrograde book rights back! And yes, I suspect the logjam of recent weeks will bust loose in a few days!

[James]

Dear Robert,

Thanks for the great article.

Like Valerie, I too have 4 planets retrograde in my natal chart, and I was wondering if you had any wisdom in this regard?

Best,
James

[danielle]

Robert,

An excellent post. I always learn so much from you.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

[Robert]

Hi James - Having several planets RX is common. I have 3, at one point 4 by progression. Now my last RX planet has gone direct in my progressed chart, so I feel like I'm finally moving forward in all areas of my life. Everything depends on where they are, by sign and house. As an aside, a RX planet can very well show as us doing on behalf of another, such as Mercury RX being a spokesperson for a group, or an editor of another's work, or even someone who works with people who need to externalize something internal in an area of their lives. My book "A New Look At Mercury Retrograde" explored some of the possibilities. You might do well to find a copy of "Karmic Astrology Vol 2" by Martin Schulman, which deals with retrogrades in signs and houses.

One important thing to remember about retrogrades. Since this life is part of the continuum of Eternal Consciousness then our current birth charts show what we learned and have yet to learn as a result of past life experiences and awarenesses. It could be inferred that RX planets at birth show a retracing of ground symbolically covered the first time in a past life. That's why often a person dealing with a RX planet quality reacts from past life experience that makes no sense in this life. But by progression a planet may go direct, symbolizing a renewal of a forward evolution to be realized and applied leading into a future Mastery of that planetary function. Even if a planet doesn't go direct by progression, we can still master the "inward way" shown by the planetary function which will prepare us for a future life.

[moon2lightshadow]

Namaste Robert, i am fascinated about natal retrograde Mercury and so interesting many of my friends has it in their charts, some also on Anaretic degree. How much does it count the phase of the retrogradation of Mercury in a natal chart, i mean if one has RX Mercury in one of the 3 phases you described in your book "A New Look At Mercury Retrograde" (i don't own the book, i only read the article from the innerself site ).
I have a feeling also Rx planets on the 3rd natal chart of one has somehow a similar significance as Rx Mercury, as Mercury rules the 3rd house (in a specifical case, virgo).
Your post are much appreciated, thank you.
moon2lightshadow

[Robert]

Hi moon2lightshadow - Where it is in the RX period determines how fast or slow it is going. While a RX in the 3rd could simulate Mercury RX, it is unlikely for a planet with a non-Mercurial disposition. Of primary importance is the planet and its qualities, not the houses. The houses show the field of experience, but the planet trigger the inner and outer dispositions to the many frequencies of inner awareness. The former is limited; the latter is unlimited.

[Leslee]

"a retrograde period never goes back as far as the last period"

I always thought that. But Uranus stationed at 18.41 Pisces on June 23, 2007 and this November 27 it will station at 18.44 Pisces! (I noticed, because my Sun is at 18 Virgo!) Is this very rare, for an outer planet to go back to where it stationed before?

[Robert]

Hi Leslee - It's true. A retrograde never goes back to its previous direct station. With Uranus specifically, it often does go back to its previous RX forward station. This is what I'm describing in this article. It went SRX at 15 Pisces June 06, SD at 11 Pisces Nov 06, SRX at 19 Pisces May 07, and SD at 15 Pisces Nov 07. It did not go back to 11, but it did go back to 15, the site of a previous forward SRX point. Then it hit 23 Pisces in Jun 08, and will RX back to 19 Pisces this Nov, the site of a previous SRX forward station. But it won't go back to 15 Pisces where it began its last forward journey toward 23 Pisces in late 2007. It will only make it back to 19 this year. It will move forward to 27 Pisces in 2009, then RX back to 23 Pisces, but not back all the way to 19. With the outer planets, the SRX stations of a year are always beyond the SRX station of the previous year. The SD stations of each year are always beyond the previous SD station of the previous year. I hope this clarifies.

[Lori]

Hi Robert,

Something must have been in the stars this year ... on two different occasions I came into contact again with two different old high school boyfriends after 33 to 34 years each - of silence. It seems to have been loose ends tied up, blessed, forgiven and released into the light and both now gone. One of them was my 1st love at age 16. Interesting huh? I never would have expected each instance as it was I who was contacted.

One was more Feb/Mar and the other was July/Aug time.

Thanks for all that you do!

Lori

[Leslee]

Thanks, Robert. That helped explain it!

[Robert]

Hi Lori - Well, quite a few I know have been contacted this year by old friends, or vise versa. In my case, I heard through someone that friends I haven't seen since the late 60s wanted to know about me. For some strange reason, I suspect it has to do with prior eclipses square Pluto and conjunct or opposite Uranus in Pisces clearing out the subconsciousness of past imagery that for some reason was "unresolved" or "incomplete."