Blog / Jyotish
March 25, 2017

Planetary retrograde April 2017

201703retrogrades2

To those who are thinking that things are not going as quickly and smoothly as they want these days.

 

Planets turn retrograde. They do not truly turn and move in the opposite direction – they keep on circling the Sun, but as the Earth is also circling around the sun, and as the speed is different from planet to planet, seen from the earth some planets look as though they are going backwards.

If anyone is interesting in knowing more from an astronomy viewpoint, please look here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_retrograde_motion

 

Venus turns retrograde once every two years for 41 days, and it is currently retrograde in Pisces from March 4 to April 15 (all planetary positions use the Sidereal Zodiac but the dates for the retrogradation are the same whichever zodiac we use)

Jupiter is also retrograde from February 6 to June 9 in Virgo.

Mercury turns retrograde from April 10 to May 4 in Aries, but as Mercury turns retrograde three times a year for three weeks, it is not a rare occurrence.

Saturn has a longer cycle than other planets so although the date it will turn retrograde is April 6, it remains on the same degree from early March to early May. It takes a long time for a big ship to turn around and it is the same for Saturn. It decreases its speed slowly, stations, then slowly starts moving. Saturn will turn direct on August 25.
Therefore, during the period between April 6 to 15, six planets out of nine are retrograde. Given that Rahu and Ketu are always retrograde and the Sun and Moon never go retrograde, we can say that most retrogradable planets will be retrograde during those 9 days.
Each planet is in charge of a specific area of one’s natal chart. If a planet is retrograde, some things related to the area the planet is in charge of might be delayed. For example, if a planet who is in charge of the house of work is retrograde, things related to work might not progress quickly or become delayed or be subject to uncertainties. Of course, there is a reason for everything – the situation might need rethinking, reworking, redoing. But when we are not aware of these circumstances, we can become irritated (like me!) because things do not go forward like we’d want to.

So during this period of April 6 to 15, it might be advisable not to start something radically new but make it a preparation period so that things will go more smoothly later. The Sun will go into Aries on April 14 where it is very strong, so for a month, the strength of the Sun might give you some energy to go forward, but it would be good to be aware of the other planetary movements too.

The plants and flowers in Iceland wait patiently for the Sun to give them some sunlight.
They wait in the cold but then they bloom beautifully. A bit of patience might be required. Please spend this time in awareness.
Om Shanti.