Timing and cycles
Post-Shadow Period
Direct answer
Post-Shadow Period is the period after a retrograde when a planet crosses the same degrees again.
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At a glance
- Found in
- Transits & Cycles
- Related
- Birth Chart, Zodiac, Transit
Post-Shadow Period means the period after a retrograde when a planet crosses the same degrees again.
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What sets Post-Shadow Period apart
The post-shadow runs from the second station until the planet again reaches the degree where it stationed retrograde. It is the leg in which the planet re-covers ground it has already crossed, now moving direct. Its end is fixed by the degree of the first station, so the whole episode, pre-shadow, retrograde and post-shadow, is bracketed by that one degree on the way in and on the way out.
- Starts: at the second station, the end of the retrograde
- Ends: when the planet reaches the degree of its first station
- Mercury: commonly counted as about two weeks, closing a cycle of roughly seven weeks
- Speed: slow at first, since the planet leaves its station gradually
- Origin: modern almanac term; the classical sources do not use it
Often mistaken for something else: Post-shadow is the recovery of old degrees after the loop. Direct Motion has no such limit and simply continues until the next station.
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Why Post-Shadow Period matters
Post-Shadow Period matters because it helps describe integration after the formal retrograde ends.
What does Post-Shadow Period mean for you?
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Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Transits & Cycles
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
Related terms
More in Transits & Cycles
- Saros Cycle
- Synodic Cycle
- Transit Trigger
- Waxing Moon
- Direct Motion
- Jupiter Cycle
- Mansions of the Moon
- Outer Planet Transit
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Common questions
What is Post-Shadow Period?
Post-Shadow Period is the period after a retrograde when a planet crosses the same degrees again.
What does Post-Shadow Period look like in a birth chart?
Post-Shadow Period helps describe integration after the formal retrograde ends.
