Retrograde (vakri)

Seen from Earth, the planets from Mars outward and Mercury and Venus sometimes appear to slow, stop and move backward through the zodiac for a few weeks. This is an effect of the changing viewpoint as the Earth and the planet travel at different speeds. In Sanskrit it is called vakri.

Tradition gives a retrograde planet extra strength and a more inward, repeated or delayed expression. Rahu and Ketu are different: they are points rather than bodies and are treated as always moving backward. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde.

In a chart, a retrograde planet is marked with an R, as on the live sky panel. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are retrograde for a few months in each synodic cycle, Mercury for about three weeks three times a year and Venus for about six weeks every nineteen months or so. Many readings also note when a planet turns retrograde or direct, because that moment is read as a turning point.