RETROGRADE PLANETS AND THEIR EFFECTS
By Laurie Naughtin www.sublunar.co.za
During a retrograde cycle planets seem to be more emphatic or noticeable acting out the nature of sign the planet is transiting through. Wherever these planets retrograde in your chart they bring about periods of inevitable events that are out of your control.
These events are seemingly fated, thrusting upon us past issues that we are forced to deal with, rather than matters we are in control of and where we are in the position to consciously implement change and face the matters head on.
As a rule when a planet is retrograde it tends to bring up issues from the past that are not resolved, insisting that they are now dealt with. An aspect or connection with a planet will certainly demand attention from the particular area in your chart that it is retrograding through.
The retrograde cycle starts as the planet slows and stations before reversing its direction, should it station on one of your planets, this will become the focal point you will have to resolve. The stationary period is where a planet does not move for a long period of time making it extremely vulnerable.
The next stage of the cycle the planet will move backwards covering points that were initially triggered as a thought or situation before the planet stationed. These issues will come to a head as the retrograde planet moves back over them. The planet will slow and station on another point in its cycle before it moves in its natural forward motion at this point repairing or resolving these matters allowing us to let go and move on.
The slower planets will give us a longer period of time to resolve matters highlighted by the sign and house as well as any planets affected by the retrograde cycle. These issues come with a past history and seem to linger for a longer period than the shorter cycle of a fast moving planet.
The longer the retrograde cycle the more time we have to repair, revise or restructure the matter or area of life highlighted by the transiting retrograde planet in our birth charts.
Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter are the slow moving planets and the matters they force us to deal with are longer lasting and more chronic in nature as they tend to focus on one or at the most two prevalent areas in our lives.
Uranus retrogrades for approximately 4 and a half months in a year, Neptune will retrograde period is around 5 months and Pluto will retrograde for about 5 and a half month in a year. Saturn will retrograde for up to 5 months in a year and Jupiter for around four and a half months.
The faster moving planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars will connect with more of our personal planets in our charts bringing about quick and acute change affecting more than one area in our lives.
Mercury retrogrades 3 to 4 times a year, Venus every 18 months and Mars every two years.