Enough of you have asked me for my opinion on retrograde planets, so here goes.  No planet moves backwards.  It's just that sometimes the Earth is on the same side of the Sun as other planets that are moving at a different speed to us.  It's like being in an express train overtaking a commuter train going in the same direction.  Certainly having an inner planet (Mercury, Venus, Mars) retrograde in a sign of the zodiac is related to living the life experience denoted by the planet and sign in a way that is "out of time", compared to if the planet was moving forward.  Any retrograde planet in a house indicates that the lessons of that house are to be learnt internally, through reflection and retrospective analysis, unlike planets which are not retrograde, where events or actions are learnt and experienced in a more external and demonstrable way.  If you've got lots of retrograde planets, the chances are that you live in a different time zone to everyone else, and you spend a lot of time inside your own head.  The average is about two planets retrograde, sometimes up to seven, occasionally none.  I like retrogrades (except for Mercury).  They make for interesting time.   And the other questions of recent days.  Is astrology an art form?  Well, yes, to a certain extent.  Is astrology a science?  Well, yes, in that it has a mathematical rationale.  Is astrology magic?  Well, yes, in that it needs a sense of the intuitive and the uncanny.  Is it spirit or material? Both.  Is it natural or supernatural?  Both.  Is it a yheological or a scientific method of results? Both.  "Astrology is a unique divinatory and prognostic art embodying centuries of accreted methodology and tradition".  Patrick Curry, 2003.  Astrology is a combination of mathematics, geometry, symbology and intuition, and without all four the end is worthless.