Timing and cycles

Pre-Shadow Period

Direct answer

Pre-Shadow Period is the period before a retrograde when a planet crosses degrees it will revisit.

Transits & CyclesThe Great Almanac DictionaryUpdated 2026-09-26

Get my free personal reading

At a glance

Found in: Transits & Cycles
Related: Birth Chart, Zodiac, Transit

The planets on their engraved orbits before a brass armillary sphere — Celestial motion · visual guide **Pre-Shadow Period**
Pre-Shadow Period means the period before a retrograde when a planet crosses degrees it will revisit.
The orbit map distinguishes physical bodies, calculated points, and symbolic cycles where possible.

From the reference page to your own chart

What does your own chart say about you?

Choose love, work or purpose for a personal insight and a useful next step. Your reading uses your own birth details.

Get my free personal reading Free reading. No card needed. After your insight, you can choose a 7-day membership trial: payment details required, $0 today, then $12/month. Cancel before the trial ends to pay nothing.

Walk through Alex’s whole example first

The Road of AgesSee the turning points of your whole life, from your birth date Free first look

Prefer to explore first?

Member tools The 2026 book Lectures

School updates

Free opening announcements. Unsubscribe any time.

The Road of AgesThe turning points of your whole life, from your own chart Walk my road

Why Pre-Shadow Period matters

Pre-Shadow Period matters because it shows where review themes may begin before the station.

A one-minute story

The Wandering Stars

How the moving planets were watched, named and found, and what a transit is.

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

Track this timing window

Pre-Shadow Period in a book is one thing; Pre-Shadow Period in your own birth chart is your life. The Oracle casts your real chart and tells you what it means for your love, your work, and your year ahead, in conversation, free.

Speak with the Oracle

The Cosmic Codex reads a whole year of transits against your own chart, Pre-Shadow Period included where it touches your love, your work, your timing. Open the Cosmic Codex

Birth ChartA Birth Chart is a personal astrology map built from birth date, time, and place. ZodiacThe Zodiac is the twelve-sign wheel used as astrology's core sign language. TransitTransit means current planetary movement activating a chart.

More in Transits & Cycles

From the reference page to your own chart

Every word here
is in your own chart.

Your chart and numbers, read for you in about a minute
Ask the Oracle anything about them
Every personal tool and daily guidance

Get my free personal reading

Free reading, no card needed. Optional membership: payment details required, 7 days free, then $12/month. Cancel before it renews and you pay nothing.

Common questions

What is Pre-Shadow Period?

Pre-Shadow Period is the period before a retrograde when a planet crosses degrees it will revisit.

What does Pre-Shadow Period look like in a birth chart?

Pre-Shadow Period shows where review themes may begin before the station.