Retrograde planets: what vakri means
Seen from the Earth, a planet sometimes seems to stop and drift backwards against the stars for a few weeks or months before moving forward again. Jyotish calls this vakri (वक्री), retrograde. Nothing actually reverses: the effect comes from the Earth overtaking an outer planet, or an inner planet overtaking the Earth on its smaller orbit. The turning points, when the planet seems to stand still, are called stations.
How often
| Planet | How often | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Mercury | about three times a year | about 3 weeks |
| Venus | about every 19 months | about 6 weeks |
| Mars | about every 26 months | about 2 to 2½ months |
| Jupiter | once a year | about 4 months |
| Saturn | once a year | about 4½ months |
The Sun and the Moon are never retrograde. Rahu and Ketu, in the mean-node version used here, always move backwards.
Stations
Around a station the planet barely moves for several days, which is why astrologers treat the days either side of a station as the most intense part of a retrograde. Mercury, for example, stands within a degree of the same spot for about a week as it turns. On our planetary events page, the date given is the first day the planet's noon position shows the new direction.
What tradition says
Classical Jyotish counts a retrograde planet as strong: it gains chesta bala (motional strength), and some texts say it acts as if it were exalted. Popular and financial astrology tends to read retrogrades as times of delay and reversal: Mercury retrograde for miscommunication and erratic trading, Saturn and Jupiter retrograde for pressure on steady, established companies.
In a birth chart, a planet that was retrograde at birth is read as working inwardly or with delay before it delivers, and some schools treat a retrograde benefic as especially generous.
What we tested
Four of our twelve claims are about retrogrades, each checked against 2,000 shifted calendars:
- H1: Saturn retrograde makes steady stocks fall.
- H2: Jupiter retrograde makes steady stocks fall.
- H5: Mercury retrograde makes volatile stocks fall and jumpier.
- H6: Mars retrograde makes volatile stocks fall.
From 2016 to 2023 none of them held. In each case the stocks did slightly better on retrograde days, by amounts well inside what random dates produce. "Mercury retrograde hurts markets" is probably the best-known claim in financial astrology; on NSE data volatile stocks rose a little and were calmer during it.
Upcoming retrogrades
The planetary events page lists every station for the next twelve months, and you can subscribe to it in your calendar. The daily Panchang shows which planets are retrograde on any day.
For learning and curiosity, not investment advice.