Retrograde

What is a retrograde motion of the planets

In short, the planets never actually move backwards. Planetary retrograde is an optical illusion. That is, retrograde is a phenomenon that we observe – it only appears that way to us. It only seems as though the planet is moving backwards.

This means that the most important thing we can do during this period is to work on our PERCEPTION OF THE PAST to reassess what we have already achieved or failed to achieve, that is, to dip into the past for a while, to draw conclusions so that we can move forward more effectively.

During the retrograde loop, the planet appears somehow unsure, as if it doubted it was heading in the right direction. The same thing happens with people. We begin to question the validity of our beliefs, the ways we solve problems, our values and priorities. We start to revise them and create new ones. At this time, events may occur that encourage a shift in our usual approach to life, worldview, or relationships (depending on the sphere governed by the planet). And vice versa, our changing perception influences our decisions and, consequently, the situations we find ourselves in.

What’s important to know about retrograde planets

A retrograde planet can turn your whole life upside down, or it can open up wonderful opportunities for development, if you understand what exactly to pay attention to during its retrograde. What is important to know?

• What are the characteristics of the different stages of a retrograde loop
• When does it occur
• What does the retrograde planet represent in its essence
• What does it rule in your natal chart (birth horoscope)
• What points and areas of the personal horoscope does it touch on its retrograde path

If for the last two points it is necessary to create an individual horoscope (independently or with the help of an astrologer), the first three I will try to reveal below.

Retrograde loop

Planetary shifts do not happen suddenly. A planet moves forward, then slows down, stops, turns back, then slows down again, stops and stomps forward. This whole period is called a retrograde loop. And each stage of the loop is characterized by something different.

Stage 1: When the planet is still moving forward, but is already slowing down before turning around

This is a preparation for a change of views, priorities, usual methods of solving problems. Events may occur during this period that you’ll need to revisit later.

Stage 2: When a planet is retrograde

This is when the usual models stop working, so you have to:

• act outside the box
• spend more time/effort on routine matters
• repeat the same steps several times
• retrace

Decisions made now may not align with true needs, and may be regretted later when the needs take on a new form. This is not the time to start or acquire something new in the area of planetary control (see the calendar below to find out what each planet rules).

It makes sense to look for solutions to long-standing problems, as the absence of your usual way of seeing things can help you find a new solution to an old issue. After all, in order for something new to come, you need to create space – am emptiness ready to be filled.

It’s a good time for reviewing and working through past mistakes

Stage 3. When the planet moves directly back to the point where it once turned

New patterns and beliefs are developed and solidified, and it becomes easier to identify mistakes made during the passing planetary loop. At this stage, situations that arose during the previous stages of the loop may be resolved, or, if they are long-term projects, the problem will finally take its shape, and it will become clear how to solve it. Thus, it is important to track not only the retrograde periods of planets, but also the entry and exit periods from the entire retrograde loop. That’s why I provide these dates in the calendar as well. Read more about planetary retrograde loops – How planets knit loops.

Planetary retrograde calendar

The most noticeable and significant retrograde periods for us are those of Mercury, Venus, and Mars, as these are personal planets that are directly related to our daily lives. Moreover, they move relatively quickly, and during their retrograde periods, they manage to affect various points in the individual horoscopes of a large number of people.

Mercury retrograde 2024

December 13, 2023 – January 2, 2024

Loop – November 26, 2023 – January 20, 2024 (23° Sagittarius – 9° Capricorn)

April 2 – April 25, 2024

Loop – March 19 – May 13, 2024 (16° to 28° Aries)

August 5 – August 29, 2024

Loop – July 17 – September 12 (22° Leo to 5° Virgo)

November 26 – December 15, 2024

Loop – November 7, 2024 – January 3, 2025 (7° – 23° Sagittarius)

Mercury retrograde 2025

March 15 – April 7, 2025

Loop – March 1 – April 26, 2026 (27° Pisces – 10° Aries)

July 18 – August 11, 2025

Loop – June 30 – August 26 (5° – 16° Leo)

November 9 – November 29, 2025

Loop – October 21 – December 17 (21° Scorpio – 7° Sagittarius)

Mercury is the natural ruler of the next areas:

• All types and means of communication, interaction, transmission, reception, and processing of information
• any activity related to the word (literature, journalism, publishing, advertising, sales…)
• learning and teaching
• contracts and negotiations, transactions, exchanges, buying and selling, commercial and intermediary activities
• all types of equipment – office, household, electronic, computing
• transportation – of all kinds
• the very process of transportation, travel, route, schedule.
• organization and coordination
• planning, analysis, logic

During Mercury retrograde, all of these areas can be stressful and demand extra attention: appliances break down, plans get derailed, letters get lost… Sometimes life seems to descend into complete chaos. BUT: when things don’t go according to plan, you don’t have to change your goals, perhaps you should change your plan.

And this is the main mission of Mercury retrograde: to find the most effective way to organize life.

Everything that happens at this time repeatedly, brings us back to the past in some way and requires some kind of reworking. This way we have the opportunity to look at the organization of our lives differently and do the necessary work on mistakes for further growth. More detailed recommendations for the period of Mercury retrograde – Mercury Retrograde: What to do?

Venus retrograde 2024

No retrograde periods

Venus retrograde 2025

March 2 – March 27, 2025

Loop – January 29 – May 16, 2025 (24° Pisces – 11° Aries)

Venus is the natural ruler of such spheres:

• love, relationships
• material prosperity, comfort, financial relationships
• luxury goods, stylish items, gourmet food, jewelry, cosmetics
• beauty, tastes, preferences, style, aesthetics
• sense of justice, harmony
• all activities related to beauty and art (from artist to plastic surgeon)

During Venus retrograde, we begin to see the world a little differently. What once was beautiful, tasty, or pleasant may no longer seem so, and new preferences may appear in food, in decorating the house and oneself, in understanding how to build relationships.
Since this is a time of reevaluation and rethinking in all of these areas, it’s not the best moment for drastic changes in appearance, design projects, renovations, or starting new relationships. However, it’s common during Venus retrograde for old acquaintances to resurface, past connections to reappear, and familiar habits or tastes to return. This happens so we can reassess, understand, and form new judgments about them.
This is a perfect time for tuning into your own feelings, reviewing and reflecting on current relationships and your role within them, and for stepping out of your comfort zone in order to gain a new understanding of what truly feels harmonious and comfortable for you.

And this is the main purpose of Venus retrograde: TO RESTORE HARMONY

More detailed recommendations for the period of Venus retrograde – Venus retrograde : what to do

Mars retrograde 2024

December 7, 2024 – February 24, 2025

Loop – October 5, 2024 – May 2, 2025 (17° Cancer – 7° Leo)

Mars retrograde 2025

December 7, 2024 – February 24, 2025

Loop – October 5, 2024 – May 2, 2025 (17° Cancer – 7° Leo)

Mars is the natural ruler of the following areas:

• the process of creation, building – action itself, initiative, activity
• strength, energy, passion, courage, aggression
• focus, determination
• Sports (training, equipment, competition)
• weapons, military actions and activities
• surgery
• danger and crime
• everything sharp (both knives and spices), hot (both passion and vodka), fast (both cars and runners)
• machinery, tools, equipment

During Mars retrograde, power and energy are not directed in the usual direction — outward, forward, and toward goals — but either in the wrong direction or inward. Obstacles and delays often arise, actions prove ineffective, and the natural response to all this mess is anger, denial, and trying to force one’s position. However, aggressive behavior is actually the least effective at this time. It’s important now to allow situations to unfold at their own pace, to catch the energy flow and follow it. It makes sense to return to unfinished projects, to reconsider one’s usual ways of acting, and in general to engage in any actions related to the past and to the development of inner strength.

And that’s the main mission of Mars retrograde: GAINING INNER STRENGTH.

Recommendations for the period of Mars retrograde – Mars retrograde : peaceful warrior

Social and higher planets

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are outer planets that move slowly – some of them very slowly. Here are their orbital periods:

• Jupiter – 12 years old
• Saturn – 29.5 years
• Uranus – 84 years old
• Neptune – 165 years old
• Pluto – 248 years

Some of them spend almost half of their time in retrograde state. All of them are mostly connected with social and global processes (reforms, revolutions, turmoil, mass movements, economic crises, state decisions, cataclysms, etc.). Undoubtedly, they have a direct relation to the people’s destiny, but in this case the general background that accompanies their retrograde is not as important as the hit of the looping planet on the sensitive points of the horoscope. Therefore, when studying these periods, it is important, first of all, to pay attention to the degrees of the Zodiac in which the loop occurs. If you have planets or other elements of the horoscope in the intervals between the degrees indicated in the calendar, these periods will not pass unnoticed, especially since they can last for more than one year.

Jupiter retrograde

October 9, 2024 – February 4, 2025

Loop – July 15, 2024 – April 30, 2025 (12° – 22° Gemini)

November 11, 2025 – March 11, 2026

Loop – August 17, 2025 – June 6, 2026 (16° to 26° Cancer)

Saturn retrograde

June 29 – November 15, 2024

The loop is at 13° to 20° Pisces.

July 13 – November 28, 2025

The loop is at 25° Pisces to 2° Aries.

Uranus retrograde

August 29, 2023 – January 27, 2024

The loop is at 20° to 24° Taurus.

September 1, 2024 – January 30, 2025

The loop is at 24° to 28° Taurus.

September 6, 2025 – February 4, 2026

The loop is at 28° Taurus to 2° Gemini.

Neptune retrograde

July 2 – December 8, 2024

The loop is at 28° to 30° Pisces.

July 5 – December 10, 2025

The loop is at 30° Pisces to 3° Aries.

Pluto retrograde

May 2 – October 12, 2024

The loop is at 30° Capricorn to 3° Aquarius.

May 4 – October 14, 2025

The loop is at 2° – 4° Aquarius

Calendar Archive 2015 – 2023

2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Mercury	Mercury	Mercury	Mercury	Mercury	Mercury	Mercury	Mercury	Mercury
January 21 – February 11	Jan. 5 – Jan. 26	Jan. 1 – Jan. 8.	March 23-April 15	March 5 – March 28.	February 17-March 10	January 30 – February 21	January 14 – February 4	April 21-May 15
May 19-June 12	April 28-May 22	April 10 – May 3	July 26-Aug. 19	July 18-Aug. 1	June 18-July 12.	May 30-June 22	May 10-June 3	August 23-September 15
September 17-October 9	Aug. 30-Sept. 22	August 13-September 5	November 17 – December 6	October 31 – November 20	October 14 – November 4	September 27-October 18	September 10-October 2	December 13 – 31.
	December 19 – December 31	December 3 – December 23
Venus	Venus	Venus	Venus	Venus	Venus	Venus	Venus	Venus
July 25-September 6	no retro	March 4-April 15	October 5 – November 16	no retro	May 13-June 25	Dec. 19 – Dec. 31.	Jan. 1 – Jan. 29.	July 23 – September 4.
Mars	Mars	Mars	Mars	Mars	Mars	Mars	Mars	Mars
no retro	April 17-June 30	no retro	June 27-Aug. 27	no retro	September 10 – November 15	no retro	October 30-December 31	Jan. 1 – Jan. 12.
Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter	Jupiter
January 1 – April 8	January 8 – May 9	February 6-June 9	March 9-July 10	April 10-Aug. 11	May 14-September 13	June 20-October 18	July 28 – November 24	September 4 – December 31
Saturn	Saturn	Saturn	Saturn	Saturn	Saturn	Saturn	Saturn	Saturn
March 14-Aug. 2	March 25-Aug. 13	April 6-Aug. 25	April 18-September 6	April 30-September 18	May 11-September 29	May 23-October 11	June 4-October 23	June 17 – November 4
Uranus	Uranus	Uranus	Uranus	Uranus	Uranus	Uranus	Uranus	Uranus
July 26-December 26.	July 30-December 29	August 3 – December 31	January 1 – 2, August 7 – December 31	January 1 – January 6, August 12 – December 31	January 1 – January 11, August 15 – December 31	January 1 – January 14, August 20 – December 31	January 1 – 18, August 24 – December 31	January 1 – January 23, August 29 – December 31
Neptune	Neptune	Neptune	Neptune	Neptune	Neptune	Neptune	Neptune	Neptune
June 12 – November 17	June 13-November 20.	June 16 – November 22	June 19 – November 25	June 21 – November 27	June 23 – November 29	June 25-December 1	June 28-December 4	July 1 – December 6
Pluto	Pluto	Pluto	Pluto	Pluto	Pluto	Pluto	Pluto	Pluto
April 17-September 25	April 18-September 26	April 20-September 28	April 22-October 1	April 24-October 3	April 25-October 4	April 27-October 6	April 29-October 8	May 1-October 11
2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023

 

Retrograde planets at birth

If you were born in a planet’s retrograde period, it means that in your natal chart this planet is retrograde from the beginning. This is an interesting position, as the planet does not express itself in the usual way. However, not only the retrograde motion but also the planet’s position relative to the Sun plays a crucial role in determining how exactly its influence manifests in a unique way. In addition, people with a retrograde planet in their natal chart can use the current retrograde periods much more successfully and effectively, because in some ways this is a situation they are already familiar with from birth. I am currently preparing a detailed article on this topic and plan to gradually expand this section. So if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to reach out—I’ll be happy to respond. And I wish you success in passing through the loops! After all, we all need such periods – for pausing, rethinking and returning to ourselves.