how personal is this retrograde?
a guide to understanding which retrogrades are relevant for you, personally, and an expansion on this 2021 instagram post. this expansion was first shared to Patreon.
While everyone and their mom talks about Mercury retrograde this, Pluto retrograde that, not all retrogrades are created equal, and not all retrogrades are going to have a demonstrable personal impact on you in your individual life.
Fortunately, a little bit of thinking can clarify whether a particular retrograde is particularly relevant. There are also ways to ascertain how a retrograde will be relevant for you personally, but that’s beyond the scope of this particular article!
There are five questions you can ask to assess the significance of a given retrograde for yourself:
How much time does this planet spend in retrograde motion, on average?
Do I have this planet in a significant position in my own natal chart?
Is this planet activated for me using a timing technique like annual profections?
Is this planet currently forming a tight conjunction, opposition, or square to important parts of my own chart? Will it do so during the retrograde?
Have I cultivated an affinity for, attunement with, or relationship to this planet?
Let’s get into each of these questions on their own.
HOW MUCH TIME DOES THIS PLANET SPEND IN RETROGRADE MOTION?
Generally speaking, the MORE OFTEN a planet is retrograde, and the MORE TIME a planet spends in retrograde motion, the LESS IMPACTFUL its retrograde will be.
Think of it like this: if you live someplace where there’s a solid layer snow on the ground for 6 months of the year, whenever it snows, it’s not that big of a deal. However, if you live someplace where snow is a rarity, it can be quite the event for just 2 inches of snow to fall.
The Sun and the Moon never retrograde, so if, heavens forbid, either of them were to move backwards in the sky, it would honestly be a bit apocalyptic!
Mercury has 3 to 4 retrogrades every single calendar year, making it the planet that stations the most frequently. Each retrograde lasts about 3 weeks. It spends about 20% of the time in retorgradation, and 80% of the time in direct motion.
Venus retrogrades every 18 months or so, and spends approximately 40 days in retrograde motion; every other year, we’ll have a Venus retrograde. Venus spends 7% of the time in retrograde motion, and 93% of the time in direct motion. This is the smallest proportion of time that any planet spends in retrograde motion, and generally speaking, Venus retrogrades are therefore felt by pretty much everyone.
Mars retrogrades every 26 months or so, and spends 2 months in retrograde motion. Approximately 8% of its overall cycle is retrograde, and 92% of the time it is direct. Similar to Venus, this proportion means that Mars retrogrades are more felt by folks, even if other personal chart factors are less significant.
Jupiter retrogrades every single year, and it spends 110-120 days (about 4 months) every year in apparent retrograde motion. This means that it spends 30-33% of the time retrograde — a full third of every year!
Saturn also retrogrades every single year. Like Jupiter, it also spends 33% of its time retrograde — a solid third of the year retrograde every year, with 130 days of Saturn retrograde annually.
The outer planets Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto also all have annual retrogrades. Each spends approximately five months in retrograde motion, that is to say, 40% of the time retrograde.
To recap: the planets that spend less total time in retrograde motion tend to make a bigger commotion whenever they are retrograde.
Mars & Venus retrogrades tend to be the most generally significant and notable, while the retrogrades of the trans-Saturnian outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto) are generally less personally impactful. Mercury is, generally, “medium-spicy.”
DO I HAVE THIS PLANET IN A SIGNIFICANT POSITION IN MY OWN NATAL CHART?
If the planet that’s going retrograde happens to be personally important to you based on your own chart, you are more likely to notice the impacts of its retrograde motion.
A planet in the natal chart becomes more significant when:
it is conjoined the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, or IC, also known as “the angles” of your chart.
it is conjoined your Moon, Sun, or the planet that rules your Ascendant.
it IS itself the ruler of your Ascendant
For example, if you are a Gemini or Virgo rising, Mercury rules your Ascendant, and you are more likely to notice the effects of Mercury retrograde more than others who do not have Mercury ruling the Ascendant.
If you have Venus conjoined your Midheaven, Venus retrogrades will be more personally obvious in your life.
If Saturn is conjoined your natal Mars and you’re an Aries rising, Saturn retrogrades are likely to be more personally notable for you.
I extremely recommend using the traditional or classical rulerships of the signs when assessing the relevancy of a retrograde! This is primarily because the classical planets have responsibility over their signs, whereas the outer planets have affinity for signs. Obviously, you can do what you want, but at the very least, do experiment with using the classical planets as sign rulers and compare to whatever results you might get using the modern planets.
Classical rulership is as follows:
Sun: Leo
Moon: Cancer
Mercury: Gemini & Virgo
Venus: Taurus & Libra
Mars: Aries & Scorpio
Jupiter: Sagittarius & Pisces
Saturn: Capricorn & Aquarius
When it comes to Jupiter, Saturn, and the outer planets, keep in mind that these are planets that spend 30-40% of every single year in retrograde motion. If Jupiter or Saturn rules your Ascendant, or any of these slower-moving planets are otherwise important in your chart, remember that you’ve been getting practice in navigating their retrogrades for several months every single year. This is one way to understand why life areas associated with Saturn & Jupiter can often improve with age — practice over time results in skillfulness.
IS THIS PLANET ACTIVATED FOR ME USING A TIMING TECHNIQUE LIKE ANNUAL PROFECTIONS?
Nearly all forms of traditional astrology have “time lord” techniques, that is to say, ways to discern when specific planets become more important, authoritative, or otherwise noisy in someone’s life.
One of the simplest & most beginner-friendly time-lord techniques is annual profections. You can learn more about annual profections via my colleague Jo O’Neill’s website here, via this episode of The Astrology Podcast, or via this Patreon lecture from Ali Olomi.
If, via a timing technique, a particular planet is rendered noisier & more important, that planet’s retrograde station will be more notable for you, and is likely to further emphasize the themes of that time period.
For example, if you’re in a Taurus profection year, a Venus retrograde will be extra-impactful.
If you have Jupiter in Virgo and are in a Virgo profection year, then the Jupiter retrograde that year is likely to be more significant.
In my own practice, I’ve personally found that planetary decades (aka decennials), profections from the sect light (not just from the Ascendant), and secondary progressions can add volume to retrogrades.
IS THIS PLANET CURRENTLY FORMING A TIGHT CONJUNCTION, OPPOSITION, OR SQUARE TO IMPORTANT PARTS OF MY OWN NATAL CHART? WILL IT DO SO DURING THE RETROGRADE?
Retrogrades involve a planet traversing a segment of the zodiac at least 3 times (for Neptune & Pluto, it can happen 5 times!)
Whenever this happens, any bits of your own chart that are aspected by the retrograding planet will receive that aspect three times, or triple the transit than “usual.”
So-called “hard” aspects — the conjunction, opposition, and square — are more likely to be disruptive, or at least noisy and notable.
You can check to see if a retrograding planet is making this kind of aspect by first paying attention to the signs of your natal placements.
A planet that retrogrades in a fixed sign will form hard aspects with the fixed signs. The fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, & Aquarius.
A planet that retrogrades in a mutable sign will form hard aspects with the mutable signs. The mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, & Pisces.
A planet that retrogrades in a cardinal sign will form hard aspects with the cardinal signs. The cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, & Capricorn.
To add precision, you’ll also want to pay attention to the degrees of your natal placements and the degrees the retrograding planet will traverse.
If, for example, say you have your natal Venus at 15º Aquarius. The 2023 Venus retrograde features Venus traversing 12º Leo through 28º Leo. As such, your natal Venus in Aquarius will experience Venus opposing it three times — once when Venus is direct prior to its retrograde station, a 2nd time during the Venus retrograde, and a third and final time when Venus is direct again.
The most reliable way to find the exact degrees planets will station retrograde & direct is by referring to an ephemeris, though a Google search or an astrological almanac like those made by Honeycomb are useful as well.
A good practice is to draw your chart by hand and mark in the next year’s worth of retrogrades on it. This can be a great way to familiarize yourself with the pattern of retrogradation for the year, as well as help with any pre-retrograde preparation you might want to engage in.
HAVE I CULTIVATED AN AFFINITY FOR, ATTUNEMENT WITH, OR RELATIONSHIP TO THIS PLANET?
If you have developed relational or energetic proximity to a planet through ritual action, meditation, research, theurgy, altarwork, or other forms of deliberate connection, you are primed to notice any changes in its celestial movement regardless of how that planet is situated in your birth chart, and regardless of whether that planet is activated for you by timing techniques.
Generally speaking, cultivating a relationship with a planet can improve the experience of that planet’s retrogradation. However, sometimes it just increases the volume in a neutral way, making “negative” manifestations more noticeable at the same time “positive” consequences are making themselves obvious.
OKAY. NOW WHAT?
If you answered YES to any of the above questions, there is an increased likelihood that the retrograde in question will matter to you on a personal level. The more YESes you have, the more the retrograde will show up for you and in your life.
If you answered NO to all of the above questions, the retrograde you’re assessing is unlikely to be noisy for you on a personal level. Venus & Mars retrogrades will likely still show up due to their relative rarity, but in a relatively subdued way.
BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The most honest answer to this is: IT DEPENDS!
Each planet has its own personality & spheres of influence. The setup of your natal chart adds nuance to what each planet signifies for you personally. Combined with the complexity of your individual life, it takes a lot of knowledge & synthesis to say what a given retrograde is likely to bring forward for you personally. Studying, retrospecting on past retrogrades, & observing are all super helpful in developing a deeper understanding of the effects of retrogradation.
If you’re feeling especially nervous about an upcoming retrograde, the very best thing you can do for yourself is book a 1:1 session with an astrologer you trust. My session calendar opens on my Patreon on a quarterly-ish basis, and I also have a list of recommended folks available here.
And if you’re reading this during the 2023 Venus retrograde in Leo, I cannot overstate how helpful Pallas K. Augustine’s workbook Where is Your Heart is!
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REFERENCES & RESOURCES
Retrograde Planets, book by Erin Sullivan
Pallas Augustine’s work on the Venus cycle https://www.nineofwands.com/blog/venus-cycle-calculator
Jo O’Neill on annual profections https://www.jomakerofways.com/writing/intro-to-profections
TAP annual profections episode: https://theastrologypodcast.com/2018/04/26/annual-profections-a-basic-time-lord-technique/
Ali Olomi on annual profections: https://www.patreon.com/posts/lecture-in-of-63120379
astro.com's digital ephemeris: https://www.astro.com/swisseph/swepha_e.htm
TAP episode on how to use an ephemeris: https://theastrologypodcast.com/2021/05/20/how-to-read-an-ephemeris/
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