Astrology events

Retrograde planets

No planet actually moves backwards. It only looks that way from Earth as we overtake it on the inside — a trick of perspective that can be computed exactly. Astrologically the phase reads as a time of repetition: reviewing, correcting, revising.

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Uranus Retrograde

September 10, 2026

Why a planet appears retrograde

Picture overtaking on a motorway: for a moment the other car seems to roll backwards even though it is still moving forward. That is exactly what happens in the sky. So retrograde motion is not a force that "does" anything — it describes a position in the relationship between Earth and planet, and astrologers interpret that position.

The fast and the slow retrogrades

Mercury is retrograde three or four times a year for about three weeks — the best-known and shortest phase. Venus and Mars take their turn less often but for longer. The outer planets from Jupiter to Pluto spend months retrograde every year; because it lasts so long it is rarely experienced as an event, more as a background tone.

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Reviewed by Stina Garbis · Tarot & Astrology Reader