RETROGRESSION OF PLANETS

In Sanskrit Retrogression of planets is known as Vakra gati.  Vakra means twisted, crooked, winding, roundabout, indirect, evasive and ambiguous.

An apparent backward motion of the planets is called a "retrograde" motion. It occurs in several stages. At first the planet seems to stand still, then it backs up through the signs, stands still again, and then resumes its forward motion. The amount of time that a planet spends in retrograde motion depends on the planet's orbit, varying from about 22days for nearby Mercury to about 140days for distant Saturn.

A retrograde planet prolongs the influence of that planet in its sign and house of a horoscope. If that influence happens to be an unpleasant one, the prolonged unpleasantness will be blamed on that retrograde condition.

The Sun and Moon are never in retrograde motion.

Whereas Rahu and Ketu are always Retrograde

Planets go around the sun in their cyclical orbits and normally appear to move from Aries towards Taurus, at times, appear to move backwards, from Pisces towards Aquarius and so on. All the planets, whether inferior or superior while moving in their orbit reaches a particular position in its orbit, where from the point of view of on observer on Earth, the planet will slow down in its direct motion; becomes stationary in the sky, and then appear to yes appears to reverse the direction of its motion in moving backwards in the sky. It is this latter motion which we call retrograde motion.

Since we look at them from the Earth, they appear to retrogress. The apparent motion of a planet backwards in the zodiac is due to the motion of the earth in its orbit. When a planet appears to begin to move backward in the order of the signs it is usually (but not always) denoted by an (R) marked with its degrees in the Ephemeris.  When it apparently turns direct in motion, it is usually indicated by D at the date.  A planet is said to be stationary when neither moving direct nor retrograde.

Saturn is retrograde for 140 days/year and stationary approx. 5 days before & after.

Jupiter is retrograde for 120 days/ year and stationary approx. 5 days before & after.

Mars is retrograde for 80 days and is stationary approx. 2 or 3 days before & after.

Venus is retrograde for 42 days and is stationary approx. 2 days before & after.

Mercury is retrograde for 24 days (three times in a year) and is stationary approx. 1 day before & after.

Planet	Retrogression time	Stationary before  and after	Duration
Saturn	140 Days	5 Days	Once every year
Jupiter	120 Days	5 Days	Once every year
Mars	80 Days	3-4 Days	Once in about 2 Years
Venus	42 Days	Approx. 2 Days	Approximately once in 19 months
Mercury	24 Days	1 day	Three times a year

Retrogression is a condition depending upon geocentric vision and distance,

You will know that Venus or Mercury are about to turn retrograde when you see them move far ahead of the Sun.

Mercury turns retrograde when it is about 14◦ ahead of the Sun

Venus turns retrograde when it is about 30◦ ahead of the Sun.

 Mercury is retrograde for 3 weeks three times each year and Venus is retrograde every 19 months.

Superior Planets can become Retrograde when they are 120 to 240◦ in the 5H to 8H from Sun.

Inferior Planets Venus and Mercury can be 47 to 27◦ apart from Sun Respectively.

The maximum Longitudinal distance between Mercury and Venus can be 74 degrees.

 It is said that

From Aquarius to Taurus, Mercury moves along with the Sun,

From Gemini to Virgo before the Sun and

From Libra to Capricorn after the Sun.

There are, therefore, three occasions during a year when Mercury crosses and re-crosses the path of the Sun causing retrogression.

Mars, Saturn and Jupiter become retrograde when posited in the 6th, 7th and 8th from the Sun.

Mercury and Venus are retrograde anywhere within 15◦ from the Sun as their Maximum distance from the Sun can be only 29◦ and 47◦ respectively.

The reason for this apparent retrograde movement of planets varies.

Inner and Outer planets:

The planets Mercury and Venus have their orbits between the Sun and the earth. They are called inner or inferior planets.  These planets cannot go far away from the Sun. Mercury can only move a maximum of 27 degrees from the Sun and Venus a maximum of 47 degrees from the Sun.

The planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, whose orbits lie outside the orbit of the earth, are called outer or superior planets.

For the inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, when they are between earth and the Sun, they appear to move retrograde; however, when they are on the other side of the sun (Sun is between the planet and earth), they appear direct. Retrograde motion for the inferior planets occurs as the planets pass in front of the sun – thus, they are not visible for the duration of retrograde motion as the superior planets are.

Superior planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are retrograde when they are in signs opposite to the Sun, in other words, when they are just ahead of the earth, and we are trying to catch up with them until such time when they are a bit behind the earth in the ever-going orbital race. The remaining time they are in direct motion.

Retrogression of inner Planets

First of all, we take up the case of an inner planet. Let it be Mercury. 

The Sun is in the center around which all the planets, including the Earth, are moving. Mercury is nearer to the Sun and it completes one revolution in 88 days. The Earth is away from the Sun and completes one revolution in 365 days. So, the angular velocity of Mercury is faster than that of the Earth. The arrows in the figure are showing the direction in which Mercury and the Earth are moving. 

The arrow on zodiac indicates the direction in which the longitudes among the fixed stars are increasing.

As the longitudes are geo-centric, suppose the observer on the Earth is stationary and Mercury is moving in the direction of arrow with a relative speed of the Earth (i.e. Mercury's speed - Earth's speed).

Let the observer be at O. (considering the observer and the Earth to be stationary and Mercury moving with a relative speed) 

let the Mercury be at A and it will be seen at A₁ in the zodiac, 

It moves further to B and seen at B₁ in zodiac, 

C₁ D₁, are the corresponding positions of C and D. 

Here, longitudes are increasing. 

When it comes to E, the longitude is increasing at E, which is nearly the position of a tangent from the observer to the orbit of Mercury. 

At E₁ the planet will appear stationary (as it is going to change its motion from direct to retrograde.) 

It can be well understood by an example that a boy runs straight and touches a point and runs back. 

He will have to stop for a moment for reversing the speed. Similarly, here the planet will appear stationary at E.

Consider its further positions F, G, H and I. 

It will be seen that the corresponding background at the zodiac will be seen backward at F₁, G₁, H₁, and I₁ till it reaches J and its corresponding position J₁ is seen at the zodiac. 

It is seen in retrograde motion as its geo-centric longitudes are decreasing. When it is at J and the line OJ₁ which is nearly tangent to the orbit of the planet, it will be seen as stationary in the zodiac as the longitudes will neither increase nor decrease for some time. 

Afterwards it goes to K etc. when the corresponding position in the zodiac will be K₁ etc., It will be further seen that the longitudes have started increasing i.e. the planet has become direct.

Retrograde Motion of Outer Planets

Retrograde motion of  Mars

 

(By Eugene Alvin Villar (seav) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4662202)

Superior Planets show retrograde motion when they are in opposition

Earth travels around the Sun in 1 year while the more distant Mars has a sidereal period of 1.88 Earth years, it is clear that the Earth will periodically "catch up" to its more distant neighbor. 

As the Earth moves forward in its orbit, Mars will appear to slip backward compared to its more common eastward march across the sky.

When the observer is at a₁ and it sees Mars at a. when observer on Earth reaches b₁ the longitude of Mars is increasing and he see it at b.

Longitude of Mars increasing observer reaches at c₁ see it at c

But when observer is at d₁ he see Mars at d and it shows that Longitude of Mars is decreasing.

Observer reaches e₁ but the longitude of Mars still decreasing seems Mars is moving backward in the zodiac.

Observer reaches at f₁ sees Mars at f again showing an increase in longitude as seen from Earth.

when observer reaches g₁ can see Mars at g showing the direct motion again.

Retrograde motion of  Jupiter

Effect of retrogression on Native:

When Mercury is retrograde, the thought processes are introspective, deliberate and internalized.

Retrogression of Mercury

Mercury governs intellect, communication and thinking abilities in a person. It goes in retrograde state about three times a year for three weeks of time period each. During the retrogression of Mercury, all lines of communication seems to go haywire. The information provided by the native is misinterpreted. Although the native may come out with brilliant ideas during this period, but he may suffer from anxiety and nervous breakdown very frequently.

The native should not sign any contract even if it means a verbal commitment when Mercury is in retrograde state. He should not rely on any information which comes to him and should think, watch and analyze because the information presented in front of him may be a false one if not totally unnecessary.

Retrogression of Venus

The retrograde state of Venus is related to our luxuries in life and to our relationships with our near and dear ones. Many great conflicts, dissatisfaction, joys, pleasures and strides in relationship might take place behind closed doors during this period. It is also the time we should reconsider our material gains in life. Also, this is the time to be watchful as it is a period for strong emotional ups and downs.

If Venus is retrograde in birth chart, it indicates emotional and material difficulties. If it is well-placed and is retrograde, it indicates extreme emotional attractions and repulsions.

Retrogression of Mars

Mars primarily governs anger and aggression. We may face issues involving these emotions, either within ourselves or with others. The native may become unusually sensitive to disagreements, conflict and power dynamics around him. He might feel it difficult to deal with aggression, anger, hostility, fear, threats and displays of power. The primary instinctive responses to fear are fight, flight or freeze.

Hence, the person needs to control his control his anger and needs to maintain an equilibrium between his anger and his composure.

Retrogression of Jupiter

Jupiter is the planet of growth and expansion in career. When this planet is in retrogression, a lot many projects may get delayed or stop altogether. Moreover, the native might become committed to the political parties and religious sects which promote and carry out violence.

This is the time for a person to think about his or her own resources and ways to utilize it. In this period, you might come up with a conclusion that the work you stopped was not exactly necessary and there are better resources available.

Retrogression of Saturn

A person either will not know when to stop working or may not like to work at all when Saturn is retrograde. This period can cause unexpected delays and interruptions. Unthought obstacles can spring up taking up your priority. People with a retrograde Saturn appear shy, uneasy, introvert or lacking in self-assertion. They feel alone, isolated, separated from their friends.

This is the right time to sit back and reconsider all that you are doing. It is not a proper time to make new starts but make sure that you learn from the failures of the past.