{"id":3215,"date":"2025-03-13T16:35:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T20:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.astrostyle.com\/?page_id=3215"},"modified":"2025-03-13T16:35:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T20:35:36","slug":"retrogrades","status":"publish","type":"as_learn_article","link":"https:\/\/astrostyle.com\/astrology\/retrogrades\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Retrograde: Retrogrades Meaning In Astrology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
You know those times when everything goes haywire and you can’t figure out why? Look up, stargazer: A planet could be\u00a0retrograde<\/em>.Here’s what you need to know about retrogrades in astrology (spoiler: it’s more than just Mercury!)<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Unless you live under a hunk of fallen meteorite, you\u2019ve probably heard about Mercury retrograde<\/a>, the quarterly mayhem that occurs when the messenger planet passes the Earth, appearing from our vantage point to go backward. For three weeks, we can blame every Internet outage, petty fight and canceled brunch plan on a spinning rock 48 million miles away<\/a>. Even die-hard astrology skeptics start to waver in their stances during Mercury retrogrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But did you know that every single planet goes retrograde at some point? With the exception of Venus<\/a> and Mars<\/a>, the planets all have retrograde cycles every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is retrograde?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Retrograde literally means moving backward. That’s what appears to happen when a planet turns retrograde\u2014it appears to move in reverse through the sky, and through the zodiac. You’ve probably heard of Mercury retrograde<\/a>, which happens three times each year. Guess what? The other planets in the solar system (except Earth) have retrogrades\u2014appear to back up through the zodiac from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s really happening during a retrograde? Well, the Earth is completing its orbit around the Sun faster or slower than other planets outside its orbit. Periodically, one will outpace\u00a0the other\u2014and that’s when retrograde mayhem\u00a0breaks loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, when a planet passes the Earth in its orbit (or vice versa), it is said to be going retrograde. From our vantage point on Earth, it is almost as if the planet is moving in reverse. This is an illusion, but it\u2019s a bit like two trains passing at different speeds\u2014one appears to be going backwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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