Retrograde planets

A planet is retrograde when, seen from Earth, it seems to stop and move backwards against the stars for a while.

What is really happening

The backward motion is an optical effect. Planets keep orbiting the Sun in the same direction. When Earth overtakes a slower planet, or is passed by a faster one such as Mercury or Venus, that planet appears for some weeks to go the other way, in the same way that a slower car seems to slip backwards as you pass it.

How astrology reads it

Astrology treats a retrograde period as a time when the planet's themes turn inward and slow down. Writers on the subject describe it as a time for review and reflection, and also for frustration and delay, and the idea is best known for Mercury and for communication.

The planets and their periods

• Mercury: About three or four times a year, for about three weeks. Communication, plans and travel. Read as a time to slow down, review and revisit what has been said.
• Venus: About every nineteen months, for around six weeks. Relationships, values and money. Read as a time to reconsider what is loved and valued.
• Mars: About every two years, for around two months. Energy and drive. Read as a time when action is slower and frustration is more likely.
• Jupiter: Several months each year. Growth and opportunity. Read as growth that turns inward.
• Saturn: Several months each year. Responsibility and structure. Read as a time to reconsider duties and limits.
• Uranus: Several months each year. Change and independence. Read as change that is felt from within.
• Neptune: Several months each year. Dreams and imagination. Read as a more inward, private life of the imagination.
• Pluto: Several months each year. Power and transformation. Read as a desire for change that is directed inward, or at others.

A retrograde planet in the birth chart

A planet that was retrograde at the moment of birth is called a natal retrograde. The tradition says it suggests a more inward experience of whatever the planet stands for. For example, a natal Pluto retrograde is read as a wish to transform things that is directed inward more than outward. Not all astrologers give natal retrogrades much weight.

Tarot, astrology and numerology are traditions of symbolism. This page says what the tradition associates with its subject. It does not predict anything and it is not advice.