Planets in Retrograde -- The chance to back up and try again ...
All the planets astrologers use to decode the spiritual language of the cosmos exhibit a phenomenon called "retrograde motion." Simply put, there are times from the perspective of Earth when each of the planets seems to back up in its orbit, to actually reverse course for a time, before eventually going forward again. This is due to their differing orbits and the differing speeds.
The mechanics aren't important, but as a simple example, imagine this. If two trains on parallel tracks move forward at different speeds, people on the faster moving train will perceive the slower moving train as moving backwards -- even though it's not.
If the paths of these parallel tracks are circular -- as is the case with the orbits of the planets -- sometimes people on both trains will see the other as moving forward (which is always the case), but sometimes one or the other will appear to be moving backward.
The mechanics are only a matter of curiosity as far as astrology is concerned, so take my word for it. This thing called retrograde motion (abbreviated as Rx) happens -- or seems to from where we stand in the midst of all this celestial movement.
Despite being physically impossible and thus an optical illusion, the consequences of retrograde motion in astrology -- in real time, as part of a Solar Return or as part of a Natal Chart -- are important as human affairs and each individual's life evolve.
The life-energies, depicted by the planets, assume altered and more subtle meanings when a planet goes retrograde. This also is significant for someone with retrograde planets in his natal horoscope -- planets Rx at birth.
The Sun and the Moon do not go retrograde -- and anyway, they're not planets.
Rx energy means the matters represented by that planet become more subjective as people re-think, re-consider, re-evaluate and re-build. They process experience and information inwardly. They reach an altered, expanded perspective and incorporate this into their beliefs and responses. They relate to what this planet represents ... differently. The examination process changes them.
When a planet is Rx -- in your natal chart or in real time -- you re-work what its energy means to you. You get a new take on how it affects your life and what its experiences mean. It's like re-arranging furniture, to accommodate new needs, replace worn-out pieces with something better, to give the place a whole new look, to make improvements you hadn't considered or which weren't necessary -- or possible --before.
Despite the seeming delays and aggravations it brings, Rx energy smooths out your life -- eventually. It gives you second chances, lets you incorporate new talents and information, makes you do things over and do them better. More than anything else, in the long run, Rx energy helps you grow.
Rx energy shows the process of learning by experience -- and a lot of its work is subconscious. It happens in daydreams, reverie and memories. The results of Rx energy are things you embrace through casual thought and the passage of time. You don't work with it directly. Rx energy brings different things to different people, and its messages can be quite personal, part of life's wonderful diversity that makes you uniquely, delightfully different from every other soul around.
A Rx planet will pass three times over a particular spot in the astrological wheel, once while moving forward, once while backing up, and for the last time going forward again. It's like writing a word, erasing it and writing in a word you like better. You've worked with, fussed over, scrubbed across and reused the same little spot on your paper three times before moving ahead.
When a retrograde ends, the energy of that planet is different. Arguably, it has improved. But you certainly have another perspective and more ways to use it. Best of all, you've learned something.
When a planet is retrograde, it travels over a very specific part of the astrological wheel. If you know where this small slice of the sky is located in your Natal Chart, you know what issues and what part of your life are being revised. You can consciously help reconstruct these concerns. That's a wonderful advantage of understanding Astrology.
The planets closer to the Sun move in and out of Rx more quickly than those farther away. They are also Rx more often. Mercury will retrograde about three times a year, for example, covering 18° or so with each episode lasting a little over three weeks, while Pluto retrogrades once a year, stay that way between five and six months and covers about 3°,
Rx energy can be very frustrating in real life, but if you can be objective and see what it achieved when things go direct, you'll learn to respect the meaning, significance and greater purpose behind this whole process.
You may even appreciate the two-steps-forward-and-one-step-back cycles of change that are constant in the sky and in our lives, accomplished while all the time ... moving forward. That itself is an interesting metaphor -- the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.
Questions about any of this? Talk to me in comments. It's a terrific way to build value for yourself and the community ... and it will give me ideas of what to write about in future posts. Believe me there is lots to say about the way The Sun, The Moon -- and all the other elements in a horoscope, all the other components of Astrology -- work together to interpret you and your story -- and what it all means to the person you've become.
Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/msvg/7625192368/
Original images used under this Creative Commons license or this Creative Commons license and modified by added text.
This post has received a 1.04 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.