Retrograde Planets: Another Perspective by Rohini Ranjan

Our geocentric vantage-point enables us to witness the phenomenon known as retrogression as

planets go around the sun in their cyclical orbits. Planets that normally appear to move from Aries
towards Taurus, at times, appear to move backwards, from Pisces towards Aquarius and so on.
The Sun and Moon are immune to this apparent backward motion. The mean lunar nodes always
move backwards, but the true nodes describe a bi-directional motion somewhat like other planets;
though the nodes are mostly retrograde but at times travel forward - what is known as direct
motion in astrology.

The reason for this apparent retrograde movement of planets varies. For the inferior planets,
Mercury and Venus, when they are between earth and the Sun, they appear to move retrograde;
however, when they are on the other side of the sun (Sun is between the planet and earth), they
appear direct.

Superior planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are retrograde when they are in signs opposite to the
Sun, in other words, when they are just ahead of the earth and we are trying to catch up with them
until such time when they are a bit behind the earth in the ever going orbital race. The remaining
time they are in direct motion. It is perhaps an interesting astrological symbolic clue that the
phenomenon of retrogression is not a real one, but a product of our perspective or vantage!

Many views exist on the astrological implications of such apparently retrograde phases of
planetary motion. Most astrologers agree that at least subtly different effects are produced by the
same planet when it is in direct in contrast to retrograde motion. Retrograde Mercury is
anecdotally associated with communication breakdowns, more computer troubles, etc., and causes
much anguish in certain circles! Some astrologers tend to put too much emphasis on the
retrogression phenomenon.

In Vedic astrological treatises, retrogression has been considered as an indication of strength

(chestabal is the technical term used for the strength when a planet is retrograde). Some experts
qualify further by saying that the natural benefics such as Venus, Mercury and Jupiter are strong
while natural malefics such as Saturn and Mars are weak or evil when retrograde, unless Saturn or
Mars happen to be ascendant lords or yoga karakas (by virtue of being lords of angular and trinal
houses). Nothing more elaborate is generally made of the phenomenon of retrogression in most
classics.

In practice, retrograde planets generally seem to affect the mental plane more than the physical or
worldly plane (perception of what is apparent is often a 'mental' thing!). During the dasha
(planetary period) of a retrograde planet, one would be hard pressed to find a difference in the
types of events that occur or other physical effects; however, the person with the dasha lord
retrograde in his chart may react to the goings-on differently than another individual undergoing
the dasha of the same planet in direct motion.

Those with retrograde planets often respond to 'time' in a nonstandard way. This is perhaps
symbolically linked with the concept of their being related with "other spheres of time," the brave
romantic thinker may stretch that to include the past; even earlier reincarnations that expose the
nativity to "karmic" influences. The concept of karma generally is considered to be associated with
linear time. The retrograde planets expose one to influences that are not a part of the currently
perceived reality, in other words, sensory and other 'inputs' emanating from "other" realities are
able to make it through normal barriers and are able to affect "existing perceived reality" and
ones decisions. In a sense, retrograde planets open up, or at least perturb some kind of a "temporal
reality-boundary". This in itself is neither good nor bad. Contrary to popular opinion, I have not
come across an instance when the dasha of a retrograde planet produced a major "transforming"
influence that could be unequivocally attributed to "retrogression" itself. Some believe that
retrograde planets only manifest strongly in the lives of those who have advanced sufficiently on
the spiritual path and have the heightened inner capability and sensitivity to perceive and express
the energies that the retrograde planets represent. Others experience the effects in a more subtle
manner.

Each planet represents certain attributes and natural portfolios. Likewise, each planet holds sway
over certain houses in a horoscope. By viewing retrograde planets against such a background of
information, interesting insights can often be achieved.

Taking retrograde Jupiter as an example, a notable thing about nativities with a retrograde Jupiter
almost anywhere in the chart but particularly in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 11th is that they are
presented with opportunities in life to bring to fruition other peoples' failed projects. Also,
retrograde Jupiter may sometimes affect the gonads and/or growth-related hormones, particularly
the pituitary and thyroid. Obviously, there would not be an obvious disease or defect in all, but, in
many the functioning of these glands might lie closer to the extremes of the normal range
indicating a borderline or latent disorder that may remain clinically unnoticed and perfectly
compatible with normal growth, etc.

From the perspective of karma, expansion seems to be one of the significant 'life-tasks' for
nativities with a retrograde Jupiter. The symbolism is obvious! The individual is presented with
opportunities for expansion (of body, mind, spirit, ideologies; of boundaries in general). Indeed one
is almost 'forced' into situations that would cause expansion. What one does with that 'expansion'
is where the arguably present faculty of freewill perhaps comes into play, leading to either a
promotion to the next grade in the school of life or an opportunity to take another go at the task
perhaps through reincarnation.

Retrograde planets signify a mental state that contains certain highlighted areas or unusually
heightened traits. With Jupiter retrograde, there is seen a tendency towards over utilizing of the
psychological defense mechanism known as "reaction-formation". This makes one take an
exaggerated "opposite" stance to whatever it is that triggers discomfort or anxiety. A retrograde
Jupiter can often affect in ones inner life an area that has remained unattended, undeveloped or
unexpanded! A diametrically opposite area in such a situation may be seen to be overemphasized
as if to compensate for the deficiencies. Obviously, the placement and ruler ship of Jupiter in such
charts would give a clue as to the areas that are so affected. With recognition of such areas, some of
the psychic energy can be diverted from the zone of abundance to that of deprivation. In a sense,
one might say, that a retrograde Jupiter could reflect some of the traits and vibrations that are
representative of the spectrum of the "energy" that we normally associate with the resonance
characteristics of the planet Saturn, in it being an equalizer, a re-distributor, a leveler.
We may visualize each planet as having a certain energy that flows easily through certain channels
or 'jurisdictions', these 'areas' are recognized in astrology as the natural significations of the
planets. Mercury, for instance, enables 'cosmic' energy to flow into pursuits that are intellectual,
that depend on reasoning, sequential intellectual processes, demonstrating a connectivity that
strikes many of us as a logical A to B to C to D sequence and which most of us generally find easier
to follow. Mercury does not very comfortably handle an A to C or A to D jump or even a C to A
back flip (a C to B to A would be handled easily by it though). Therefore, the prime issue is not the
direction of logic but the sequential steps involved. Rapidly commuting from A to B to C to D in a
typical mercurial fashion would appear to be governed by intuition. However, if we were to take
away one of the intermediate logical pegs, then Mercury would begin to stumble becoming
increasingly unable to process information effectively. When Mercury stumbles, being intrinsically
impatient, it might be tempted to fill in the gaps with assumptions or even by confabulation (at its
worst, an afflicted Mercury has been known to represent a habitual liar, a liar that actually
believes in the lies he or she is telling at the moment).

Some astrologers consider a retrograde planet as a 'blocked' or deficient responder! By that token,
one with retrograde Mercury would not find logical thinking very easy or even something within
one's capability. The retrograde planet appears to move backward in the zodiac due to our
geocentric viewpoint and it is easy to fall into the "similia similibus" trap and consider the
apparent backward motion as something 'negative' because of its symbolic parallelism with the
connotation of the term 'backward'! Perhaps it is not very simple and the retrograde planet is
merely shifting its modus operandi to an alternate modality. Perhaps during the periods and
transits of retrograde planets, one need to undergo a "paradigm shift", in other words, to embark
on an alternate approach, using a very different viewpoint of looking at the same thing. Would
retrograde Mercury, then, be more 'comfortable' in using an A to C or even an A to D approach,
rather than the usual A to B to C to D that it is 'expected' to? A 'normally' logical, sequentially
thinking scientist with a retrograde Mercury may find such 'intuitive' jumps a more efficient way
of overcoming 'blocked progress' when doing an experiment or examining a hypothesis.

There are in allegories (dry facts presented in a more interesting and palatable format!) a hint of
the possibility of reasoning and logic (Mercury), and intuition (Moon) together forming a complete
information sensing and processing unit. Indeed, the mind that has harnessed and can utilize both
sequential reasoning and intuitive jumps, progresses a lot faster, better and deeper than one that
has only mastered either mode of gaining information. It must be noted that Moon and Mercury
can only bring facts to one through different channels or means, but one still needs the blessings of
Jupiter to incorporate such 'information' into wisdom. It is often seen that the individual with
retrograde Mercury is more comfortable or more accepting of modalities of fact-gathering and
presentation that do not necessarily rely on the usual sequential approaches.

It is important to remember that the end result or the core-nature of what a planet represents
remain the same regardless of its apparent motion in the radix. The direct Mercury would be more
comfortable with sequential processing of information; whereas, the retrograde Mercury would
tend to explore the dimension of non-sequential intuitive processing. In either case, Mercury would
still be gathering and processing information. In other words, regardless of its apparent motion,
Mercury remains associated with thinking and information-processing. The difference between the
direct and retrograde versions being in the way the mode of processing and thinking (reason and
logic vs. intuition) operates.
Retrogression could represent an intrinsic strength in ones being or may represent armor with
cracks in it, the outcome depending upon how well the retrograde planet is connected with other
factors in the chart. In the end, polemics and occasional flashes of intuitions aside, the 'weight-of-
evidence' approach is what saves the day for most astrologers. Curious as it might be, retrogression
is but a single factor or phenomenon and not the critical card moving which topples the entire
structure. After all, neither the horoscope nor the human life experience is a house of cards!