What is a retrograde shadow period?

The shadow period is the warm-up before a retrograde and the cool-down after it. During these weeks the planet is moving forward, but it’s travelling over the same stretch of sky it will cover (or just covered) while retrograde.

The three parts of every retrograde

1. Pre-shadow: the planet moves forward into the zone it will later walk back over. Some people notice the themes of the retrograde starting to appear.
2. Retrograde: the planet seems to move backwards over that zone.
3. Post-shadow: the planet moves forward over the same zone a third time, until it passes the point where the retrograde began. Things slowly settle.

How long the shadows last

For Mercury, each shadow lasts roughly two weeks, so the whole cycle (shadow, retrograde, shadow) can stretch over two months. Slower planets have longer shadows.

Dates in US Eastern time

How it can feel

• Pre-shadow: you might notice a topic, a person or a plan that seems to “come up” out of nowhere. It often turns out to be the thing the retrograde is about.
• Post-shadow: a sense of things clicking back into place. Loose ends from the retrograde may tie up.

Lots of people never notice the shadows at all, and that’s fine too. They’re a gentle extra layer, not something to worry about.

See where each planet is in its cycle today: today’s retrogrades