What retrograde means
A planet is retrograde when, seen from the Earth, it appears to move backward through the zodiac, from east to west against the stars. No planet actually reverses. The effect comes from our own motion: the Earth and the other planets circle the Sun at different speeds, and whenever one passes the other, the slower one seems to slide backward for a while, like a car you overtake on the highway. Each loop starts and ends with a station, when the planet seems to stand still before changing direction.
Inner and outer planets
Mercury and Venus orbit inside the Earth's orbit and go retrograde when they swing past us on the near side of the Sun: Mercury three or four times a year for about three weeks, Venus every 19 months for about six. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto orbit outside ours and go retrograde when the Earth overtakes them, around the time each is opposite the Sun. Mars is overtaken only every 26 months, but the outer planets move so slowly that the Earth laps each of them about once a year, so each is retrograde for four to five months of every year.
Retrograde seasons
Because the outer planets' loops overlap, retrogrades come in seasons. From 2000 to 2034 there are usually two or three planets retrograde at once, at least one 91% of the time and five or more about 4% of the time. The table below gives every planet's loops for 2026 and 2027, with each station to the minute in your own time zone, and the table after the guide shows how often and how long each planet goes retrograde. The station times agree with the Swiss Ephemeris within ten minutes for Mercury, Venus and Mars, and within an hour for the slow outer planets, whose stations are the hardest to pin down.
What astrologers read into it
Astrologers read a retrograde planet as that planet's themes turning inward: a time to review rather than launch. Mercury's retrograde is the famous one, for communication and travel. Venus is read for love and money, and Mars for energy and conflict. Jupiter's and Saturn's yearly retrogrades are read as chances to reassess growth and responsibility, and the outer planets' as slow background shifts. These are readings from tradition, not predictions.
Retrograde planets in your birth chart
The planets that were retrograde when you were born are marked ℞ in the birth chart. Because the outer planets are retrograde so much of the time, most people have at least one retrograde planet. Astrologers read each one as a part of the chart that works inward, reflecting and revisiting before it acts. The transit chart shows where today's planets, retrograde or direct, fall in your chart.