On Retrogrades
(Boogah-Boogah)
March 2014
by Tim Rubald, C.A.
NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR
 |
| Oh, no! Now MARS! |
A lot of astrologers, astrology
writers, and speakers that I know of seem to love retrogrades because those
provide a reason to pull out a box of clichés that help inject something
different into their words about a particular planet. The idea is that a
retrograde serves to take the wind out of the sails of the retrograde body, or
to weaken, twist, or impede its message. We are in a period now when we can
evaluate four planets’ retrogradation to see just how much the clichéd approach
holds up.
Mercury retrograde is famous for
communications problems. My phone went on the fritz, and that’s interfered with
my communications in very obvious ways. Demonstrably, some Mercury retrograde clichés
are supported. But there’s a yang to that yin. In the same period, of my phone
trouble, I’ve had some of the best and most inspired spurts of all sorts of
communications that I’ve ever had; writing, consulting, speaking, and communicating with others in general. On the other hand, some of those “brilliant” bits have
been completely misconstrued to the extent of me singing the classic, “Please
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”* to more than one person during the retrograde.
* Writers:
Sol Marcus, Ray Charles, Gloria Caldwell, and Bennie Benjamin by whom it is
copyright.
Much of what writers and speakers say about
retrogrades holds up; but often for the wrong reasons. Fifty years of
observation have taught me that a retrograde planet is not weakened, and it is
certainly not going the “wrong” direction.
An astrologers’ group of which I am a
life member, the Organization for Professional Astrology (www.opaastrology.com),
poses a question to the membership each month. This time, fittingly, the question
was about retrogradation.
The retrogrades referred to are (USA
dates):
Mercury
Rx February 6 03°
20’ Pisces
Mercury
D February 28 18°
10’ Aquarius
Mars
Rx March 1 27°
32’ Libra
Mars
D May 19 09°
02’ Libra
Jupiter
Rx November 6/7, 2013 20°
31’ Cancer
Jupiter
D March 6 10°
26’ Cancer
Saturn
Rx March 2 23°
19’ Scorpio
Saturn
D July 20 16°
39’ Scorpio
“Since we
have an incredibly packed retrograde period, with 4 stations [the body or
point appears to stand still as it moves from direct to retrograde motion or
vice versa] this week (Mercury and
Jupiter go direct, Saturn and Mars go retro), and ... [we] are in the midst of a back to back retro
season, (Venus retro in January, Mercury retro in February, and Mars going
retro in March), well the question BEGS to be about Retrogrades!” --- Maurice
Fernandez, OPA Community Outreach Director
Question:
What in your view is the most important thing to consider or apply with
retrograde cycles?
There is a long, even traditional,
misunderstanding of retrograde motion in the astrology kingdom. I say kingdom
for metaphorical emphasis, not by accident. I’d say that some of what still
holds with many astrologers, and even in recent books, may be correct, but for
the wrong reasons, and some of what’s offered is just wrong. After more than
fifty years of observing (observation is the best astrology teacher), I’ve
learned to try and not fit astrology into the molds given historically. It’s a
dance, without the historical track we’d have nothing, and since much offers a
framework for understanding, I don’t for a moment suggest that we toss
everything out and start over. I respect and am deeply grateful to my
predecessors.
You can get an idea of my approach by
reading some of the articles I’ve put on my blog, http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/
There’s a search box under the name of the blog. For relevant articles, put
“Mercury retrograde” in the box, and search. I’ve focused primarily on Mercury
in my writing there, but retrograde misunderstanding applies to all of the
planets’ retrogrades. While we generally assume that the Sun and Moon don’t
retrograde; due to the Sun’s wobble about the barycenter (the center mass of
the solar system), it does; not that often though (seven times in the last 3400
years). There is much to say about
retrogrades. When someone comes up with a challenge to long-held beliefs as I
do, resistance is human. There’s a sort of fear factor, like “Oh, am I wrong?
Is my teacher or the highly respected astrologer who wrote this book wrong?”
 |
|
DOCTOR
WHO
Just kidding, Nicolaus
Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and
astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe which placed the
Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center. |
The change I am proposing is subtle. What
happens when perspective is shifted just a little? Why a body sometimes appears
to retrograde has been known as long as a heliocentric solar system has been accepted.
There are no retrogrades around the Sun at the center. It is the geocentric
view that creates the phenomenon. Somehow a shading of “bad, backwards,”
remains in astrologers’ retrograde delineations, even though most of them know
that the Sun is the center (almost) and that the planets always move in one
direction around it. A slight shift of viewpoint and I hope that we lose the
problematic emphasis on retrogrades and increase our understanding. Then astrologers
can impart a better refinement of life processes in work with clients (for
those who do the interpersonal thing).
 |
| Nothing really goes backwards. Thanks, Nicky! |
The basics:
1)
The planet is nearest Earth when retrograde (or the Earth is nearer the planet,
Tweedledum/Tweedledee).
2)
There are 3-5 “hits” of a particular longitude (the Signs are measures of longitude)
that retrograde motion allows. That means that a point in your chart may be
aspected or “hit” by a retrograde planet three to five times due to
retrogradation.
Let's see what happens when we bring
those two factors to greater attention, and give a little less attention to a
planet’s “negative qualities” due to its apparent backward motion
 |
| 2003 but you get the idea. The ECLIPTIC is a great circle the plane of which passes through the center of the Sun as well as through the center of the Earth. The Ecliptic also corresponds closely to the plane of the orbits of the other major planets around the Sun. The Sun is always smack in the middle of the Ecliptic. The Sun is behind us as we look toward Mars from this starship observation deck. Another way to say that is the Sun is opposite Mars, or, the Earth is between the Sun and Mars, or, the Earth and Mars are on the same side of the Sun. All of those are equivalent. This example works for all of the planets outside of Earth's orbit. For how it works for the planets inside Earth's orbit, Mercury and Venus, see the illustration in this article http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-cope-when-mercurys-retrograde.html |
Question: Do
you have anything to share about the coming Mars Retrograde cycle in Libra?
As suggested, a retrograde planet may
be (to me it is will be) in greater focus. While my mentor (one of several I’ve
been blessed with), Zip Dobyns, would say, “There’s no such thing as a bad
planet.” When you are talking about Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, I
think you may notice, at least, experience out of our comfort zones.
From the “handed down realm” here’s
this from Devore’s Encyclopedia: “This proximity of Mars to the Earth . . .
considerably augments the strength of its reception ... signal strength ...
Wilson ... attributes it to a wave of robberies, vicious murders and calamities.”
I don’t throw these notions out, but look to appreciate them in the entire
range of Martian expression, that of the traditional malefic, as well as from
Zip’s notion of no bad planets. [I hope to write more about Mars Rx soon.]
Question: Do
you pay attention to planets beyond Mars’ (from Jupiter and on) retrograde
cycle?
All planetary motion interests me.
Question: The
Nodes natural motion is retrograde; do you find any different significance to
the Nodes going DIRECT?
Our Moon nodes’ mean motion is
retrograde; their “true” motion includes a kind of stuttering that includes
stations and bits of direct motion. While I’ve opted for True placement in
chart work, as far as transits go, I find the changes or “effects” if you will,
of the True Lunar Nodes, unremarkable. I may be missing something, but I’ve
found no reason to delve more deeply there. All of the planets have a nodal
axis but I’m assuming the question is about the lunar nodes. Planetary and
lunar nodes have much to contribute, but one can’t focus on everything.
*
See Tables of Planetary Phenomena,
Neil F. Michelsen, page 6.
Copyright
© Tim Rubald 2014
Tim
Rubald, C.A. NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR
http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/
facebook.com/Tim.Rubalds.Astrology
tweeting @startalker
