Retrograde

Meaning

A planet is retrograde when, seen from the Earth, it appears to move backwards through the zodiac, against the usual order of the signs: from 10° of a sign into 9°, 8°, 7° and so on. The planet does not really reverse. The effect comes from the Earth and the planet moving around the Sun at different speeds, so that for a time the Earth's motion makes the planet seem to slip backwards against the stars.

Before and after each retrograde period the planet appears to stand still. These pauses are its stations: the first station (turning retrograde) and the second station (turning direct).

All five traditional planets other than the Sun and Moon go retrograde. The superior planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) are retrograde around the time they are opposite the Sun; the inferior planets (Mercury, Venus) are retrograde around the time they pass between the Earth and the Sun [1][2]. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde.

Modern figures are rounded averages; actual periods vary with the geometry of each cycle. Lilly's figures are from his chapters on the individual planets [5].

Origin and history

Retrograde motion was well known to ancient astronomers, and the astrological texts describe it in relation to the Sun. Paulus Alexandrinus explains that the superior planets make their first station at roughly 120° from the Sun, become retrograde, are opposite the Sun in the middle of the backward motion, and make their second station about 120° on the other side [1]. He calls the first the "subtractive" station and the second the "additive" station [1]. Al-Bīrūnī gives the same cycle in more detail, noting that the superior planets are opposite the Sun in the middle of their retrograde course, while the inferior planets are in conjunction with it at that point [2].

The judgement that retrograde motion is harmful goes back to the earliest surviving sources. Dorotheus says that a retrograde planet brings difficulty and misfortune [3], and that where the planets are retrograde in an otherwise strong nativity the native will be anxious and timid [3]. Paulus counts planets "retracing their path" among those whose effects are ineffectual and insignificant [1]. Ptolemy describes how a planet's qualities change through the stages of its cycle, including the stations [4].

Lilly defines retrogradation simply as a planet "going backward" in the sign [5] and in his table of fortitudes gives it −5, one of the heaviest single penalties, against +4 for direct motion [5]. Among the cautions before judging a horary question, he warns that if the lord of the 7th is retrograde the astrologer's judgement is unlikely to satisfy, and repeats the Arabic rule that Saturn retrograde in the Ascendant means the matter seldom comes to good [5]. In practical judgements he often reads retrograde motion as return: the lord of the Ascendant retrograde in a question about a ship shows that it will set out, then turn back or put into harbour [5].

How it is used

Points on this site. A retrograde planet scores −5, the same as Lilly's value [5]. Direct motion scores +2 (half Lilly's +4), so the difference between the two on this site is 7 points.

What it signifies. Traditional readings of a retrograde planet include delay, reversal, going back on a promise, returning, repetition, and things that do not go as planned. In horary it often shows a person or object coming back, or a matter that is undone after seeming settled [5]. In natal astrology, older authors mostly treat it as a weakness [3]; many modern astrologers read it more psychologically, as a planet whose expression is inward, reflective or unconventional. These are different traditions and should not be confused.

Stations. A planet at its station moves very slowly and is often read as especially emphasised. Many astrologers distinguish the station before retrogradation, read as the start of trouble or delay, from the station before direct motion, read as recovery. Lilly notes that the superior planets are stationary for two to four days before turning retrograde [5].

The Moon. The Moon is never retrograde, but Lilly says that when she is slow (less than 13°10′ in a day) she is equivalent to a retrograde planet [5]. This site does not score slow motion.

Retrograde and the Sun. Because retrograde motion is tied to the planet's position relative to the Sun, it is connected with other solar conditions. A retrograde superior planet is near opposition to the Sun and so is never combust; a retrograde inferior planet is near inferior conjunction and so is often combust, under the beams, or even cazimi [2].

Examples

• Mercury retrograde in Gemini (its domicile): essential +5, retrograde −5 on this site. A well-dignified planet whose matters (messages, contracts, travel) go back and forth.
• Saturn retrograde in the 1st house of a horary chart: the old rule, repeated by Lilly, says such a question seldom comes to good [5].
• Venus retrograde and within a few degrees of the Sun: retrograde −5 and combust −5 on this site. In the Venus cycle this is the inferior conjunction, when Venus passes from evening star to morning star.
• Jupiter at its second station, about to turn direct: still counted retrograde until it moves forward, but traditionally read as a planet on the point of recovery.

See also

Direct motion is the opposite condition; for a planet's relation to the Sun see oriental and occidental, combust and cazimi.