Astrology
Retrograde planets
Why planets seem to move backwards, and how astrologers read those times.
What retrograde means
From the Earth, the planets usually move forward through the signs. At times one seems to stop and travel backwards for a while. That is called retrograde.
It is how things look from here, because the Earth is moving too. The 1927 book explained it the same way, and noted that the Sun and the Moon never go retrograde.
How retrogrades are read today
Modern astrologers read a retrograde as a time to go back over things: to review, revisit and finish, more than to start something new.
Mercury goes retrograde about three times a year, for about three weeks each time. Many people notice crossed messages and delays then. Venus and Mars go retrograde less often. The outer planets spend months of every year retrograde.
A planet that was retrograde when you were born is often read as turned inward, its energy worked out privately before it is shown.
Sit with this
Going back is not always going backwards. Sometimes you return to pick up something you missed.
If life feels slow right now, ask what it wants you to look at again.