When a planet is retrograde, it looks like it’s reeling backward through the zodiac. In truth, the planets move forward constantly, but that’s not the way it looks.
It’s amazing how many people there are who can’t cast a horoscope, don’t know their rising signs, and yet practically have panic attacks over the retrograde movement of Mercury. These supposedly sinister periods, during which that little planet appears to travel backward, arrive regularly three or four times a year. And yes, they do usher in a volley of setbacks, misunderstandings, irritations, and minor disruptions. While the outer planets shape the longer trends and the far-reaching transformations of your life, the inner planets—AKA personal planets—function in a very different way. Including celestial bodies such as the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, the inner planets tend to influence your life on a much more direct level, affecting the day-to-day operations of your life. That’s why Mercury retrograde tends to be so disrupting, because Mercury "literally' rules over communication! And while Neptune retrograde might disrupt your dreams, you might not even notice.
Worse yet, they stir up a storm of fear and anxiety in the hearts of astrology fans everywhere. The word retrograde tends to trigger a great deal of nervousness, fear, and worry, but whether talking about Venus, Mercury, or any celestial body. But is this reaction called for? In a word, no. Retrograde motion isn’t a tragedy. It isn’t a disaster. It isn’t even a cause for alarm. It’s a respite and a gift from the cosmos — but only if you understand its purpose and use it appropriately. It's important to remember that these transits are just a part of the universe's "regularly scheduled programming" and serve a crucial purpose: to take a step back and tie up loose ends related to the themes that the planet in question deals with. As much as you might love to be ploughing forward 24/7/365 every year of your life, retrogrades remind you that it's okay to take a break — especially in order to reassess and edit key areas of your life.
Retrograde Revealed
When a planet is retrograde, it looks like it’s reeling backward through the zodiac. In truth, the planets move forward constantly, but that’s not the way it looks. Although the Sun and the Moon clearly revolve in the same direction all year every year, the planets seem to follow a less consistent pattern. On a regular schedule, each of the planets appears to slow down, reverse direc- tion, and retrace its path, arcing backward across the zodiac. For weeks or months at a time (depending on the planet), it wheels against the planetary tide. Then once again, it seems to slow down, turn around, and resume normal movement (which is referred to as going direct).
When ancient astronomers saw the heavenly bodies whirling backward, they invented all kinds of schemes to account for the phenomenon. In the second century B.C., for example, astronomers in Greece were convinced that the planets looped around their usual orbits on little spheres carved from the purest crystal. Needless to say, they were wrong. The planets never actually switched direction.
Retrograde motion is solely a perception — an illusion caused by the fact that the planets, including Earth, are always in motion, tracing arcs across the sky as they loop around the Sun at varying speeds. You can experience the same disconcerting effect in a train. If two trains pull out of the station together but your train is moving faster, the train on the adjacent track appears to slide backward. That backward motion, like the retrograde motion of the planets, is an optical illusion.
Retrograde Mercury
Here’s a typical scenario from my life: The phone rings. I pick it up hesitantly. And indeed, it’s one of the usual suspects calling in a frenzy after having experienced one frustration too many. The final straw may be a lost ATM card, an endless wait in the doctor’s office, a missed appointment, a computer crash, the inability to rent an apartment at 2004 prices, and a voice mail disaster. Listening to the litany, I know what’s coming. Everybody is about to ask this question: Is Mercury retrograde? Often, the answer is yes.
Tiny Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, appears to change direction more frequently than any other planet. To wrap your head around exactly what Mercury retrograde entails, it can help to understand how the planet functions when it's moving forward (aka "is direct"). Typically, Mercury, the messenger planet, speeds up our ability to connect, supports our mental energy, and keeps technology and transportation running smoothly. But three to four times a year, for three weeks at a time, it appears to slow down and move backward through the zodiac. During those irksome interludes you can expect small mishaps, petty annoyances, and all sorts of miscommunication. When Mercury is retrograde, messages disappear in cyberspace, straightforward statements are misinterpreted, people forget appointments and lose papers, and answering machines, faxes, copiers, computers, and cellphones threaten to strike. Don’t try to fight the Fates. Forcing things to happen on your schedule only creates further mayhem.
Most people don't feel the effects of Mercury retrograde until it enters the storm period though. The storm period of Mercury retrograde is when Mercury is moving at its slowest, less than 40 minutes per day. Mercury is a fast-moving planet and hates it when it's moving slowly. There's usually two storm periods, one around the time Mercury turns retrograde, and one around when it turns direct.
Yet, it's not all doom and gloom. The planet of communication's frequent slowdowns encourage us to rest, recharge, reflect, reimagine — basically, take a step back and contend with the past in order to fully embrace the present and step even more confidently into the future.
Retrograde Venus
The planet of love, which oversees how you relate to others, how you flirt and express yourself artistically, how you experience pleasure, and what you value and see as aesthetically-pleasing, is a personal planet that spends about a month in each sign. It also goes retrograde — in other words, slows down and appears to be moving backward — every 18 months. Astrologers today generally see retrograde Venus as a time of uncertainty, distraction, misinterpretation, passivity, and unfulfilled desires in two areas: romance and finance.
When moving direct (aka when it's not retrograde), Venus colors how you externally relate to others (not only romantically but platonically or collegially), experience love, romance, and beauty, and think about money and material possessions. One of the benefic planets (the other being Jupiter), which are thought to bring good fortune, Venus has a pleasure- and charm-boosting effect on anything it's interacting with. Say it's in your third house of communication; because it's such a social planet and the third house is all about connecting with others, you'll be especially charming, curious, and capable of hitting it off with a variety of people, possibly brainstorming artistic ideas right and left. If it's in your tenth house of career and public image, you'll be particularly magnetic when you step into the spotlight and especially capable of making a winning impression on higher-ups.
And when Venus is retrograde, which occurs for about six weeks, you can expect delays, confusion, and a nudge to go inward in regard to the areas of life the romance planet rules. Like Mercury retrograde, Venus' backward turn is a time to go back to the drawing board, reflect, revise — but specifically in terms of relationships, creative projects, and financial endeavors.
Your focus — aka your Venus retrograde mission, if you will — is based on the house of your natal, or birth, chart that Venus is retrograde in. For instance, if it's in your first house of self, you'll be reflecting on your personal brand and how you want to be presenting yourself in the world. If it's in your seventh house of partnership, you'll be meditating on your closest one-on-one relationships.
It seems to me that life is too short to worry excessively about this particular transit. Venus retrogrades are not to be treated as huge, fear-mongering red flags for moving forward on anything related to love, beauty, and money, it's not the ideal time to tie the knot (unless perhaps you and/or your partner were born with natal Venus retrograde or it's a remarriage, which would be fitting), get a bold makeover, buy a new wardrobe, or make a major financial investment. Instead, this transit's all about addressing and nurturing Venusian business that's already well underway. For example, if your love life is less than spectacular — if it’s nonexistent — then retrograde Venus gives you license to forget about it for a while and turn your mind to other matters. What a relief.
Retrograde Mars
Mars stimulates activity, prods us to take the initiative, and fills us with courage. Mars is enterprising, dynamic, determined, and dominating. True, it’s also the planet of hostility and war. But without it, nothing would ever get done. I like to think that in my chart, and in yours, the energy that motivates Mars can be funnelled in positive directions. If nothing else, it thrives at the gym — and I’m not talking about yoga or the stationary bicycle. Mars prefers kickbox- ing. Let’s be honest: Mars wants to fight. The harder you work out, the better.
But when Mars is retrograde, that energy is diverted. Roadblocks pop up out of nowhere, and the anger and belligerence associated with the warrior planet are driven underground. So progress slows down, even at the gym. Instigating new pursuits leads nowhere, and taking the offensive — or trying to — can create unanticipated consequences.
Past Mars, the planets are retrograde for months on end, and the whole matter becomes unimportant. Most of the time, there’s no reason to get bent out of shape about retrograde planets beyond Mars.
Jupiter Retrograde
In order to understand what happens when Jupiter is retrograde, it can help to first wrap your head around how the planet functions when it's direct. Whether it's hitting a placement in your chart or another planet or luminary in the sky, Jupiter's job is to push for more, more, more of whatever it's connecting with. The planet of abundance overseas expansion in every sense - especially when it comes to cultivating knowledge and broadening your horizons.
Jupiter transits will push you beyond your boundaries (the same ones that Saturn often inspires you to set), encouraging you to have faith and go with your gut. It's basically the planet of YOLO, bolstering optimism and a desire to leap into the unknown for the sake of having an extraordinary experience and broadening your consciousness. The flipside of the great benefic is that it can sometimes encourage you to bite off more than you can chew. Just like any planet, Jupiter's effect when it's moving forward can be most felt in an external way.
When it's moving backward, it's less concerned with affecting the things happening in your world - your work responsibilities, your love life, your living situation - and more interested in inner work and self-reflection, especially that related to the house that it's moving through in your chart. Say it's currently in your fifth house of romance and self-expression (looking at you, Sagittarians and Scorpios!). While direct, Jupiter in your fifth house can set your dating and love life ablaze - think: more matches, hookups, flirty texts, fireworks - it can also make for more creative projects and spontaneous fun with friends. But while it's moving backward, Jupiter nudges you to see the big picture. For instance, you might find yourself realising that while you might be having a blast, it's still important to work toward what you ultimately want to achieve romantically and creatively.
Because Jupiter oversees knowledge and wisdom, the planet's retrogrades also spur a lot of philosophising and questioning the rules associated with the area of life that it's magnifying. Let's say Jupiter is in your eighth house of joint resources. During that time, you could be questioning whether you and your partner should be saving up for a down payment on a house - or maybe exploring different investments that speak even more to your shared values.
It bears noting that as with any astrological event, you may not feel this Jupiter retrograde as acutely as you might experience, say, a full moon or Mercury retrograde. That's because Jupiter's effects tend to build over the course of its long-term transits versus throwing you for a loop with any kind of dramatic, in-your-face series of events.
Saturn Retrograde
In order to understand what happens when Saturn is retrograde, it can help to consider how the planet affects us when it's moving forward. The planet of structure sheds light on the areas of your life that require putting your nose to the grindstone to achieve a particular goal. When Saturn syncs up with, squares off against, or opposes other planets in the sky or in your birth chart, it can spur a certain level of serious, industrious — and yes, even somewhat gloomy — vibes. Its purpose is to give you a reality check in an effort to promote personal growth, wisdom, and maturity. Just like any other planet, Saturn's effect when it's moving forward can be most felt in an external way.
When it's moving backward, however, it's less concerned with affecting the things happening in your world — your work responsibilities, your love life, your living situation — and more interested in inner work. It'll push you to think about the foundations you've set and why you've set them and what you've accomplished and why, and possibly to question — and rework — it all over the next few months.
Think of Saturn retrograde as an opportunity to get real with yourself. Depending on how Saturn has been hitting your natal chart, this period may be about acknowledging how far you've come and challenging yourself to take your emotional work and growth to the next level. But if you've been brushing off its prodding, this period could feel like a bit of a wake-up call.
It bears noting that as with any astrological event, you may not feel this Saturn retrograde as acutely as you might experience, say, a full moon or Mercury retrograde. That's because Saturn's effects tend to build over the course of its long-term transits versus knocking you off your feet over the course of one particularly dramatic weekend.
I recommend paying attention to the retrograde motion of the outer planets under only two circumstances:
i) When five or six planets are retrograde at once. Those are times when new endeavours inch forward at glacial speed.
ii) When a planet turns retrograde or direct right on top of (or opposite to) your birth planet. For instance, if Saturn (or any other planet) goes retrograde at 10° Leo and you happen to have a planet right there, you can expect to suffer the consequences. A problem from the past, something you thought was totally over, could arise. You’ll have to contend with the same issues all over again. Your best and only move, taking your cue from Saturn, is to face reality.