Planets, of course, orbit the sun just like we learned in elementary school. Every planet has a regular orbital period depending on how far away it is from the sun. Astrologers aren’t arguing otherwise. However, since we’re here on earth, and astrology is about how planets and stars relate to earthly events, astrologers also use astronomical data from a geocentric (earth-centered) perspective. As we stand on the surface of the earth and look outward, the planets appear, from our view, to sometimes come to a stop, and then move backward.

A statistical analysis about retrograde movement over time. See how often are planets moving retrograde in time.

"Saturn is the outermost planet in the traditional hierarchy as he is the last planet that can be seen with the naked eye. In the traditional model anything beyond that has no light and therefore no power, and that which has no power cannot rule anything. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto therefore do not qualify for rulerships of signs or objects in the traditional scheme of things.

"Here is a new approach to understanding retrogrades. I would very much like to discuss this with anyone interested.

"Call me crazy, but Mercury retrograde doesn’t scare me. In fact, I may be one of the few astrologers I know who actually looks forward to those three weeks in every Mercury orbit when we here on this planet end up with a ringside seat to the most famous of cosmic optical illusions. Yes, illusion, because, as most of us already know, that’s what Mercury retrograde is. A three-week celestial “psych” in which Mercury, the astrological planet of the mind, cleverly messes with ours by appearing to travel backward in the sky.

"Mars is the planet of energy, action, desire, sports and wars.

When Mars turns retrograde, the overall atmosphere changes, people have lower physical energy, they get tired and feel stressed more easily and they need more time to relax and recover."

"If you have any interest in astrology at all, know an astrologer, or simply travel through astrology sites on the web, you know what a Mercury retrograde is!  We hear so much about it…we worry about when it is coming, how long it will last, and what in the world will happen to us this time!  First hand experience and awareness through the years can only serve to testify to the power of this little fast moving planet and his affects for us here on Earth.

"A planet that is retrograde means that the planet was making an apparent backward motion at the time of birth. If a planet was retrograde at the time of birth, then that planet is notated in the natal horoscope with an Rx by the astrologer. Planets never move backwards, hence the term apparent. The Sun and Moon never retrograde. Many people watch the motion of current retrograde planets, especially Mercury.

"As we devour our learning of astrology, our appetites tend to demand that everything we observe and measure must mean something, have analytical substance.

"As all the planets are moving at different speeds, there will be times when a particular planet will appear from Earth that it is not moving at all, and at times that a planet is actually moving backwards when viewed against the backdrop of a fixed star. In such periods, the planet is said to be in retrograde motion.