Retrograde

Filed under Astrology Intro Topics on December 23, 2016

For some reason, people get so excited when Mercury is retrograde. I’m not sure when this started happening or why, but the truth is that every planet undergoes retrograde at least once a year.

It’s important to review that we are to look at all of the planets as angels who want to offer their energy to a situation. Planets like Jupiter want to help, while Saturn wants to take things away. A planet’s dignity, position, and speed will tell you how much that planet can offer. Sometimes we don’t want Saturn to be strong, like if it’s representing an antagonist stealing something from you in a reading. Sometime we don’t want Jupiter in a strong position, like if it’s representing a disease, as Jupiter would expand and grow the problem. However, most of the time we like planets to be strong so they can deliver growth (Jupiter) and uphold justice (Saturn).

A retrograde planet is a weak planet that cannot serve its purpose. Even when Jupiter is exalted in Cancer, if retrograde, it really can’t do much for you. Actually, sometimes it’s even more frustrating because there can be all of these opportunities in front of you that you can’t touch.

Another common misconception is that each planet universally owns an area of life, that Mercury represents communication and travel and, when retrograde, no one can communicate. The only planets that will truly affect you are your current time lords. If Mercury is your current time lord, then a retrograde will severely impact you. Otherwise, it won’t.

So a little more about how this actually works. You have to think about how the planets orbit the Sun at different rates. The interaction of Earth and a passing planet create the illusion that the other planet slows down and reverses. Take a look at the graphic above from LunarPlanner.com.