Retrograde

Retrograde describes a planet that appears to move backward through the zodiac as seen from Earth. The planet is not actually reversing; the effect is an illusion created when Earth and the planet pass each other in their orbits, much like a slower car seeming to drift backward when a faster one overtakes it. Every planet except the Sun and Moon goes retrograde at times. A retrograde planet turns its energy inward. Rather than expressing itself outwardly in the usual way, it works through review, reflection, and revisiting. The matters that planet governs tend to be reconsidered, internalized, or experienced in a more private, personal manner. Mercury retrograde, the best known example, is associated with rethinking, delays, and going back over communication and plans. In a birth chart, a retrograde planet often shows an area where a person processes things internally and may relate to that part of life in an unconventional or intensely individual way. As a current transit, a retrograde period invites slowing down and returning to unfinished matters. The work of a retrograde planet is reflection, using the inward turn to review and refine rather than to force forward.