Spirit Grooves Blogs

Published on December 16, 2013

Astrologers are not unlike their more psychic cousins, the psychometrists who use various objects to get in touch with different types of interpretive information. However, instead of handling some personal object belonging to the person in question, we astrologers tend to use all the available astronomical facts as a touchstone or pointers to whatever meaning or interpretation we are searching for.

In fact much of modern astrology is concerned with our paying close attention to the observed facts as determined by the science of astronomy and astrophysics. Perhaps early in the 20th Century astrologers were a little fuzzy as regards the science of astronomy, but nowadays most astrologers are interested in learning all they can about the hard facts of deep space, the planets, and what not.

My point here is that it seems that the more we understand the actual facts, the better directed we are to any inner meanings they may indicate, or point to. The real facts of any situation are the ultimate talisman or key to any meaning or directionality that may be involved. With this in mind, let us take a look at the very important phenomenon of planetary motion, in particular the fact that the planets appear to go forward and backward thru the zodiac -- the retrograde phenomenon.

Astrology has often been called “Cultural Astronomy,” and the phrase rings true to me, in particular that accent on the second word “Astronomy.” We could rephrase that to say that astrology is the “meaning” of astronomy, in the sense that astrology for the most part is based on astronomy, like the accurate positions of the planets, the lunar cycle, and all the other celestial phenomena.

Most astrologers like to be as accurate in their calculations as the astronomy will permit. In other words, astrological interpretations are based on accurate astronomy, as just mentioned. In this sense, our astrological imagination is limited by the facts that astronomy delivers to us. In fact, most astrology has to do with the meaning or interpretation of the astronomical facts, and these astronomical facts have had centuries of time to be absorbed and interpreted by astrologers.

However this is not true in all cases, and the “retrograde phenomenon” is a good example of an astrological technique where we have not yet exhausted the astronomical framework or facts. All planets move through the familiar zodiac in the same direction, from Aries to Taurus, and so on. However, periodically a planet will pause in this forward motion, and begin to move backward through the zodiac, against the grain of the zodiac. Such a backward-moving planet is said to be retrograde. Depending on the planet, a planet can be retrograde from 7% (Venus) to over 44% (Pluto) of the time.

In the history of astrology, retrograde planets tend to be interpreted in somewhat of a negative way, perhaps because the backward motion itself of the planet lends itself to ideas of (literally) retro, backsliding, falling behind, and so on

Perhaps no astrological factor has more different opinions and less agreement among astrologers than the phenomenon of retrograde motion, the fact that from the earth's view all planets appear to move backward in reverse motion through the zodiac, one or more times a year. The astrological expert's opinions range from there being no perceived effect whatsoever when a planet is retrograde, to their being a very dramatic effect. But then, even if an effect is indicated, there is a wide range of declarations as to what that effect might be. What follows is an presentation of a somewhat radical way to view retrogrades that takes into account all of the actual astronomical facts.

With that in mind, for those who would like to better understand retrograde planets and how to use them in astrological reading, here are two links. The first is an extended video with graphics and charts that will explain how to use retrogrades in your chart readings. The second link is a free book on the topic that does the same thing.