Retrograde Planets 2023

As the sky shifts from day to night, we have a basic cycle of internalization represented by darkness and then we have the day to represent our external illumination after our internal explorations of the dark.

The end of August 2023 through the middle of September 2023 we will have 7 planets retrograde, along with Chiron an asteroid.

Retrograde motion is unique to the Earth and its positioning in our solar system. Planets look like they are creating a zig zag in the sky, back and forth and then forward one more time. This is just an illusion, but what this represents astrologically is an opportunity to go with-in and create space to reveal patterns in the psyche around each planets archetypal matter related to house and sign, along with its aspects to other planets. This retrograde motion is an opportunity to realign with the fundamental values of that unique person and expression of that planets archetypal nature.  So, we can relate it to the cycle of night and day. Going inside and then acting it out externally.

Each planet takes a certain amount of time to stand still in the sky and move, what appears to be back wards, and this threshold time period is very exaggerated in the unconscious and conscious. The opportunity for transformation is held in it’s entirety through retrograde motion of the planets and asteroids in astrology (My opinion).

Transiting retrograde planets or where the planets are in the sky in this moment retrograding, are not only affecting the collective unconscious and consciousness of each individual person but are also affecting culture, community, and all humans alive on Earth.

When there are planets retrograde in your natal chart or also known as your birth charty. These are more personal representations of archetypal dynamics that are being experienced through the entirety of your life. Each planet represents that theme and each planets aspects (mathematical angles) to other planets by house (one through twelve)  and sign ( zodiac sign) make retrograde planets more personal and unique to you. Its very important to know and understand your personal retrograde planets, because this is the points of personality evolution. Retrogrades, are re-experience, reexamine, repair, revolve, reinforce, responsible, restrict, resurrect, reflect, etc. You get the point.

So, now we make have a better understanding how retrograde will affect you and humanity we will move to an example:

Let’s use Mercury Retrograde as an example because it seems to be the most commonly recognized retrograde. Mercury represents communication, how you think, ideas, writing, language, obviously words, what forms of communication you use and because Mercury or Hermes mythologically moves through all realms and is a trickster and has unique qualities of genius, we can relate Mercury to expressions of internal dialogue that we then express externally. Mercury rules each side of the brain the left hemisphere and right hemisphere,  think Gemini,  which is the external ruler of Mercury, is a Masculine Mutable Air element, which gives clues to its nature. The inner side of Mercury is feminine Mutable Earth element and is exalted  in its highest expression in Virgo. When Mercury goes retrograde we may have the experience of limitations in all categories described above. We are meant to internalize the information we already “know” and let go of out dated ideas and beliefs around communications, or find new ways of communicating the new ideas which may become beliefs over time. We may experience break downs in communications with others and need to re-communicate several times the same topics, or have technology that focuses on communications break down to slow us down to push us to reevaluate what we wanted to communicate. Mercury retrograde natally means we experience this regularly and are focused on truly finding the right expressions ands words to communicate our unique self. When Mercury goes retrograde we always look to the zodiac sign, house, and aspects its making in our natal chart to understand the archetypal themes being played out, along with the current Zodiac sign, what house that sign falls into in you natal chart and the aspects its making towards planets and asteroids. So, lets use the current Mercury retrograde for further explanation.

Mercury went retrograde August 23rd, 2023 @ 21 degrees Virgo and will retrograde for 23 days until September 15th to 8 degrees Virgo.

Look at your birth chart and see where Virgo is. Do you have any planets in Virgo with-in 21 degrees to 8 degrees. you might experience this Mercury retrograde as very intense. Virgo themes would be details, discernment, organization of daily life, service, martyrdom, nutrition, health, criticism, now put the two concepts together Mercury and Virgo and you get the basis for the archetypal experience, now you look to your house it falls in and lets say its in the 6th house which is ruled by Mercury and Virgo so you would get a triple whammy of those themes and topics. Do you follow?

Retrogrades also show us were we resist change, so Mercury in Virgo, may be bringing up thought patterns where you are being very critical of yourself or putting too high of expectations on yourself towards perfection. These are all parts of that combination of the two, Mercury and Virgo. Now, you may have an experience that comes up like your neighbor says to you, your dog barked all morning while you were at work and an opportunity has arisen. How do we communicate back to the neighbor and what do we need to say to the neighbor about this new criticism? How can we communicate with discernment of the details? How can you communicate back and find resolution to this criticism?

Mercury takes 88 days to go around the Sun so we experience Mercury retrograde 3-4 times a year in the same element. 2023 we are experiencing Mercury in the Earth signs and it takes Mercury one day to station retrograde from a stand still position to moving direct in motion. The day Mercury goes stationary retrograde and stationary direct seems to be the most discombobulating.

Now that we are done with a basic example of retrograde motion and meaning using Mercury in retrograde, let us look at other basic retrograde ideas astronomically and then move into each of the 7 planets retrograde right now and what that may archetypally mean. Retrograde motion is really about that planets relationship to the Sun, the half way point of any retrograde time period is when either the Sun conjuncts that planet meaning its at the same exact degree for example, with this Venus in retrograde, which we are still in, when Venus conjuncted the Sun on August 13th we call this an inferior conjunction at 20 degrees Leo, so thats the peak, the ahhhh haaa moment hopefully to the lessons and meaning of Venus retrograde to you. Venus was behind the Sun in an inferior conjunction. The other astronomical relationship to the Sun and a planet retrograde is the superior conjunction and that is when the Sun is in opposition to the retrograde planet because these planets orbit outside of the Sun. For an example this last Sunday we had the Sun in Virgo in opposition to Saturn retrograde in Pisces at 3 degrees. Half way point between Sun and Saturn retrograde asks us what have you been taking serious or what delusions do you have to face. Every planet retrograde has this peak moment asking for a form of resolve or dissolution archetypally based of your unique natal chart.

Let us look at all the current retrogrades and get to the juicy stuff!!!

We covered Mercury so lets move to the lovely Venus. Venus retrograde started July 22nd at 23 degrees Leo and will be retrograde until Sept 4th at 12 degrees Leo. This Venus retrograde will last for 42 days and happens every 18 months in 5 signs creating a pentagram over an 8 year period or 584 days. Venus retrogrades on average is 40 days. Venus takes around 225 days around the Sun. Stationary retrograde and direct takes 2 days.  Venus retrograde in Leo is at its finest for romantic relationships. Venus really focuses on values, monetary and creatively. Love, music, art, sensuality, talent, relational listening, self worth, self love, feminine, and our deepest desires. I hope Venus has shown her light on your deep heart wounding as she passed into the underworld from a evening star to a morning star. Archetypally, Venus retrograde was profound to so many ancient cultures like the Mayans, Aztecs, and the Sumerians. Venus was not all love, she was also war and carnage as many know a scorned feminine archetype can be catastrophic to create means to bleed. Venus and her correlation to kingship and rulers was also very powerful, she yielded the not only over agriculture and ownership of land but the power to transform man into leaders. Where has your heart bleed out during Venus retrograde? Also, Venus is the rarest retrograde planet.

Next up is Jupiter retrograde, Jupiter takes 11.86 years around the Sun. Its retrograde is an average of 4 months, it takes 5 days to station retrograde and 5 days to go stationary direct. We are almost at Jupiter stationary retrograde. As Venus turns direct, Jupiter will turn retrograde maintaining this 7 planet retrograde. That in its self has interesting connotations to me esoterically. September 4th, at 15 degrees Taurus through Dec. 31st, at 5 degrees Taurus for 117 days Jupiter will be asking us what we believe in… around the archetype of values and really anything Venus. Taurus is Venus in away, so money independent actions towards self worth, self security, consistency, stable ground, Earth, fixed in nature. Beliefs around Animism, the senses, hidden talents, materialism and continued themes from 2022 into 2023 when the Lunar nodes were still passing through Taurus/Scorpio which just shifted in July just a hand full of days before Venus went retrograde. We are all still sweeping up through the themes of self sustenance and what pleasure really looks like for each individual.

Saturn in Pisces at 7 degrees went retrograde on June 17th, 2023 and will be retrograde until November 4th all the way to 0 degrees Pisces. Saturn takes 29 1/2 years to orbit around the Sun, its stationary retrograde and direct motion takes 5 days. Saturn’s retrograde for 2023 will last approximately 139 days. In the dreaming, of the womb, before we were born to breathe air we are faced with a very Saturnian process, the process of being pushed from the uterus into the cervix like a cave or harden passage, we must push ourselves through. This is my analogy of Pisces in Saturn retrograde, we must face the realm of matter from spirit and live a life in material solidification. Meaning, there are certain experiences of growth and devotion we must face and let go of delusions of infinite possibilities in a short time frame we call life. The space for dreams must be funneled and diligently worked on to succeed. Where have you faced the letting go of dreams to find what is practical and can be achieved? This is the hard truth of Saturn retrograde in Pisces.

Since I’m going in order of the planetary alignment we find ourselves breaking free with Uranus retrograde. On August 28th, just two nights ago we had Uranus turn retrograde after its 7 days of stationary motion. It takes Uranus 84 years to circle the Sun, and will be in retrograde motion for 151 days almost 5 months. Uranus will stay in retrograde motion until January 27th of 2024 from @3 degrees of Taurus to 19 degrees of Taurus. Richard Tarnas, related Uranus to the myth of Prometheus, the bringer of fire to humanity stolen from the Gods, and punished for his rebellious actions. Uranus asks us to acknowledge diversity of ideas, to create community with like minded people who seek to shift the current stagnant culture out of its limiting beliefs through shock and awe. Uranus is electrical in movement, its energy is stimulating and enlightening, if we allow space for the new. Uranus’s transit this time around has shown unique advancements in healing the body (Taurus), our relationship to plants and plant medicine, especially the growth of psychedelics in the main stream culture. Financial fluctuations and different forms of currency like bitcoin.

On to Neptune, Neptune has been in its own Zodiac sign of Pisces since April 4th, 2011 and will experience a total of 14 retrogrades until January 26th, of 2026. This current retrograde started June 30th at 27 degrees Pisces and will retrograde back to 24 degrees Pisces and will station direct after 7 days on December 6th 2023. Neptune is retrograde this time around 158 days, again almost 5 months. Neptune takes 165 years to orbit the Sun. Neptune was discovered on September 23rd, 1846 before that in ancient Hellenistic astrology, Jupiter ruled over Pisces. Personally, I like to look at both zodiac signs to represent Pisces so as not to limit perspective on the depth of archetypal influence on chart readings. I love Evolutionary Astrologer Maurice Fernandez’s book on Neptune and his expansive description, “Neptune, specifically, represents the actual essence of the Truth that is not conditioned by a specific place, time, culture, or perspective, but one that remains a constant through the course of time——the Timeless Truth.” Maurice, also talks about the loss of innocence that takes place represented by house, sign, and aspects to Neptune in your natal chart archetypally. I resonant so deeply with this loss of innocence and when I had this perspective shown to me, I felt so acknowledged in some of my life’s experience. I hope you can find that sense of peace through Neptune retrograde as you let go of what is not your timeless truth. I still ask myself on a regular basis, “Who would I be if I was not projected upon by this culture, time, and place?

Awwww Pluto, demoted from a planet. Of course we find away as humanity to downgrade the archetypal exploration, or the representation of the shadow aspects of death and rebirth. What we fear we want to denounce. What is ugly, crass, raw, and primal we want to look at as not civilized. Power and control are also a facet of Pluto, metamorphosis, mutation, and decay. When we are experiencing Pluto retrograde natally or by transit we have an opportunity to transmute some of the oldest stagnation in the psyche. We can feel so thwarted by our own selves creating space for the alchemical process of our deepest evolution in our subconscious Pluto has been transiting Capricorn since 2008 and this year, 2023 we had a sneak peek at Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius. How will we de-robe ourselves from the layers of technological advancement? How will the return of Pluto to the place of the birth of this country continue to fight to evolve itself? Capricorn the final degrees are being relived. Where do you desire to renounce cultural repression? The Nap Ministry came to mind, Rest As Resistance, stopping grind culture, the capitalistic grind or another is, Pleasure Activism an amazing book by Adrienne Maree Brown, focusing on pleasure as a form of rebelliousness which both of those concepts also fits into the archetype of Uranus in Taurus. Pluto retrograde takes 7 days stationing and in direct motion. Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the Sun. Pluto started its Retrograde at 0 degrees Aquarius on May 1st and will retrograde to 27 degrees of Capricorn for the last time in our life time on October 11th 2023. Pluto will retrograde for 162 days and will Square my natal Sun for the last time in Aries in the 8th house. Thank the Goddess’s and the Gods.