Retrograde Planets in your birth chart – what do they mean?

One of my wonderfully able students sent this in. I do feel so blessed with my students. You too can enroll on my psychodynamic and evolutionary western astrology course or one of my Vedic Astrology courses I teach several: choose the one that’s right for you: my Foundation Master Vedic Astrology Course, my Nakshatras course, or my five wonderful advanced Vedic astrology course options.

OR you can book in for one of my caring worldwide astrology readings, and learn all about your Retrograde planets and how best to shape your life around them, and so much more: my astrology readings are exceptionally learned, thorough and caring.

Retrograde planets are there to point to and attract attention to something in particular.  Their influence may also manifest in a twisted, crooked, stranger way (vakri) and may lead to problems.  The ultimate aim, as in anything, should be to become aware of such and observe what areas of one’s life are difficult as a result of this twist.  One can make harder effort to concentrate more and try to correct what the planet suggests.  There may also be a hidden gift / touch of genius / out of ordinary despite the trouble the retrograde position creates.  It may be an opportunity to become aware of such and get in touch with that part of oneself.

I personally have Mercury retrograde in my birth chart, and I have to really try to keep on top of filing and IT issues, especially when there’s a period of Mercury Retrograde coming up in the heavens as well.

A Planet is termed ‘Retrograde’ if it has backward motion in the heavens as viewed from Earth. You will have Retrograde Planets in your birth chart if one or more of your planets was travelling backwards in the skies at the moment you were born.
What effect does this have in your life?

Having these planets retrograde at birth gives us an extra challenge out of which we can arrive at a more spiritual use of their energy.
The energy and meaning of a Retrograde Planet in your birth chart is expressed more on an inner level. The easy expression and the needs and urges represented by the planet are held back or blocked in your particular life.

This is a Fate or a Challenge that is there for your learning. Your soul chose this learning when it chose to incarnate. The reasons lie in past lives. Retrogrades give us the chance to really get our teeth onto a matter, because we are forced to go over old ground again and again. This may get frustrating and tedious, but ultimately it is very useful, for tackling something karmic we may have been avoiding and that we have to address once and for all. In Vedic Astrology, the term for retrograde planets is known as ‘Vakri’ meaning twisted, crooked, roundabout, indirect, evasive or ambiguous. Vakra Asana in Yoga twists the body to strengthen the spine. Retrograde Planets twist their energies and meanings round, to make them unclear, to teach you their message in an indirect way, to strengthen you and correct the course of your lives. The negative potential you have to learn to move away from is that they can be twisted thinkers, crooked, hard to understand or even dishonest. This teaches you to use the planet’s energy in the right way. If you have a lot of Retrograde Planets in your birth chart, this means that you soul chose a broad spectrum of hard lessons in re-learning about the facets of life and existence represented by the planets, this time round.

So having inward-directed or blocked energies from one or more Retrograde Planets is not the end of the story, it’s an opportunity! By experiencing the frustrations and the handicaps, we can apply ourselves to learning that life lesson and grow. There will often be peak experiences in your life which give you second or third or further chances to learn to express that planet at its best in your life. We ‘absorb’ the energies of a planet if it is retrograde in our birth chart, rather than radiate those energies outwards. This is due to the need to learn more about that planet due to past lives.

From a karmic point of view, the Retrograde Planet represents a life lesson, a challenge that must be met in order to deal with unfinished business and clear the path for future progress.

Let’s take Retrograde Saturn in the birth chart as an example:

Many clients with Saturn Retrograde in their charts who report that they lacked a proper father figure in their lives when they were growing up. (The reasons varied, perhaps father was absent or very passive or perhaps he was overly strict, tyrannical.) Many of these people later became determined to be good parents and positive role models for their own children, to make up for what they themselves felt they had missed out on.

A retrograde Saturn makes the individual seek a different kind of responsibility and purpose in life. The person may be challenged by either the father or other authority figures to take more responsibility for their actions. Through the past life experiences, they answer their critics with a slow persistence of reaching their goals in life. Where the planet is by house and where it rules shows the area where they will have to strive hard for success. A retrograde Saturn builds the character to accept small gains in the long process of success. Security issues need to be addressed in their present life and only when the ego does not interfere, does the individual feel a sense of peace. Saturn’s sign in the chart is where the person needs to address the demands and responsibilities of life.

Have a look at this video on my Readings: 

Here’s a video on my Vedic Astrology Foundation Course: 

Have an Astrology Reading with Michael Conneely Today and see where your retrograde planets may be:

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