How often is Jupiter retrograde?

About once every thirteen months, for around 120 days. Jupiter is retrograde close to a third of the time, so a birth chart with retrograde Jupiter is common. A cycle often starts in one calendar year and ends in the next, and the table shows it under both.

Does Jupiter retrograde block luck?

No. Classical gochara judges Jupiter from the natal Moon and finds it favourable in the second, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh houses from there whether it is retrograde or direct. The retrograde makes growth reflective: a plan gets re-costed, a course gets finished, a belief gets tested.

Is retrograde Jupiter weak in a birth chart?

No. Phaladeepika counts retrograde motion as strength, and a retrograde Jupiter is usually a strong Jupiter with an independently built philosophy. Its sign, the houses it rules for your ascendant, its aspects and its dasha decide the result. Jupiter retrograde in Capricorn still sits in its debilitation sign and needs realistic plans; the retrograde does not lift it out.

Why does the table show a cycle starting last year?

Because Jupiter's retrograde runs about four months and often crosses the year's end. The table lists every cycle that touches the year you picked, with the year written on any date that falls outside it.

Can I start a course or a business during Jupiter retrograde?

Yes. The period favours consolidating and finishing over launching, so a course you abandoned or a business you want on a sounder footing suits it well. For a new launch, check the dasha and the muhurta rather than the retrograde alone.

What do Jupiter's aspects have to do with the retrograde?

Jupiter casts full aspects on the fifth, seventh and ninth houses from its position. Over a four-month retrograde those three houses are pressed repeatedly, so a review that starts in one house tends to reach children, partnerships and beliefs at the same time.

What is the shadow period?

The pre-shadow begins when Jupiter first reaches the degree it will later turn direct at, and the post-shadow ends when direct Jupiter passes the degree it turned retrograde at. For Jupiter the whole stretch runs close to ten months. The named shadow is a modern practice rather than a classical one, but a natal planet on those degrees is touched three times.

Why do these dates differ from another site by a day?

The dates here come from a daily sidereal ephemeris kept in Indian time, so each one is a calendar day rather than a clock time. Jupiter crawls near its stations, so a day or two of difference between sources is normal. The sign is sidereal (Lahiri), which is why it differs from a Western site's sign by about one sign.

Jupiter Retrograde in 2026

The Jupiter retrograde of the year, with the day it starts and ends, the sidereal sign it happens in, and the shadow period around it. Jupiter turns retrograde about once every thirteen months for around four months, so a cycle often runs across the year's end. Dates follow the Lahiri ayanamsha and Indian time.

Jupiter today

9 Oct 2026

Direct

Direct in Cancer

Jupiter is direct in Cancer today. The next retrograde runs from 14 Dec 2026 to 13 Apr 2027.

Motion: Direct
Sign: Cancer
Next retrograde: 14 Dec 2026

Jupiter retrograde dates in 2026

1950 to 2100

Each date is a calendar day in Indian time from a daily sidereal ephemeris (Lahiri ayanamsha): the first day Jupiter is seen moving backward, and the first day it moves forward again. The sign is the one Jupiter turns in; where it slips back into the previous sign, both are shown.

Cycle	Retrograde from	Direct from	Days	Sign
Retrograde 1Shadow 18 Aug 2025 to 7 Jun 2026	12 Nov 2025	11 Mar 2026	119	Cancerback intoGemini
Retrograde 2Shadow 18 Sep 2026 to 12 Jul 2027	14 Dec 2026	13 Apr 2027	120	Leoback intoCancer

Retrograde Shadow

What a Jupiter retrograde actually is

Jupiter never reverses its orbit. About once every thirteen months Earth overtakes it on the inside, and for about four months Jupiter appears to slide backward through the zodiac. In Jyotish this is Vakri Guru. The dates on this page mark the first day Jupiter is seen moving backward and the first day it moves forward again.

Jupiter is retrograde for close to a third of the time, so being born with it retrograde is common and not a defect. Phaladeepika counts retrograde motion among a planet's strengths. The useful reading is that Jupiter's agenda becomes strong but reflective: the question stops being how to grow and becomes what you actually believe, and whether the growth is wise.

Jupiter's subjects are teachers, faith, counsel, children, higher study, law, wealth and expansion. A retrograde sends them back for a second look. A course or a teacher returns, a plan to expand is re-costed, a belief is tested, a legal or ethical position is reconsidered. It is a good stretch for consolidating growth already begun. Which part of your life it lands in depends on the house it falls in from your ascendant, which the section below works out.

Jupiter through all twelve houses of the birth chart, with its signs, dignities and what it rules for each ascendant: Jupiter in the Houses.

What to do, and what to leave alone

A Jupiter retrograde does not block luck. Classical gochara judges Jupiter from the natal Moon and finds it favourable in the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th from there, retrograde or not. What the period asks is that expansion be made wiser rather than larger.

Do

Go back to the course, text or qualification you abandoned early. The period favours finishing it.
Re-cost any plan to expand, borrow, hire or invest before adding to it.
Check an advisor's advice against your own judgment instead of taking it on authority.
Settle the ethical or legal position you have been avoiding.
Spend time with the children in your life without an agenda.

Avoid

Overpromising, to a client, a partner or yourself.
Taking on a new guru, course or doctrine on enthusiasm alone.
Reading a delay in money or recognition as a verdict on your worth.
Lecturing people who did not ask.
Expanding on borrowed money so the growth does not seem to have stopped.

Jupiter's gift is judgment. Its retrograde is where judgment gets corrected.

Effect by ascendant

The sign Jupiter retrogrades in is the same for everyone. The house it lands in is not. Pick a cycle, find your sidereal ascendant, and read the house Jupiter is reviewing. Its full aspects on the fifth, seventh and ninth from there mean three more houses feel the review. Classical gochara judges Jupiter from the natal Moon, favourable in the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th, so count from your Moon sign as well if you know it. When a cycle slips back into the previous sign, the review moves to the house before it part way through.

Cycle

Aries ascendant
5th housethen4th
Children, study, mantra and creativity
Jupiter's natural ground and a favourable Moon transit classically. Education, children, teaching, romance and speculative judgment are revisited. Strong for deeper learning and returning to study; watch overconfidence in an investment or in what a child should become.
Taurus ascendant
4th housethen3rd
Home, property and inner study
Where and how to build security is reconsidered: property, residence, a family member's education. Good for study at home and repairing a family's beliefs; the classical Moon transit warns of discomfort and strain with relatives.
Gemini ascendant
3rd housethen2nd
Learning, writing and initiative
Communication, writing, marketing, study and personal effort get reworked. The Moon-based transit is a hard one classically. Excellent for revising a manuscript or a course and for learning by repetition; watch scattered plans and confidence without follow-through.
Cancer ascendant
2nd housethen1st
Wealth, family beliefs and speech
Savings, family beliefs, financial strategy and the way you speak come under review. Classical gochara likes Jupiter here from the Moon. Money may arrive late or on a revised plan; watch overpromising, overspending and moralising at home.
Leo ascendant
1st housethen12th
Worldview, confidence and direction
A reassessment of personal philosophy and where you are headed. People turn reflective, teacher-like or self-questioning. Good for redefining principles; watch overconfidence, excess and the belief that your judgment is right by default.
Virgo ascendant
12th housethen11th
Charity, foreign lands and retreat
Expansion turns inward or abroad: a pilgrimage, charity, a retreat, an overseas plan revives. The classical Moon transit is hard for material matters. Good for spiritual study; watch uncontrolled giving, expenses and an unrealistic foreign plan.
Libra ascendant
11th housethen10th
Gains, networks and ambitions
One of the most favourable Moon transits classically. Old networks, clients, ambitions and income sources reopen. Good for revising big goals and community strategy; watch chasing too many openings and measuring wisdom by gains alone.
Scorpio ascendant
10th housethen9th
Career, ethics and authority
Career plans get reconsidered, usually around whether success lines up with purpose. The classical Moon transit can be hard despite Jupiter's generosity. Good for correcting professional strategy; watch overexpansion, title-chasing and poor judgment around authority.
Sagittarius ascendant
9th housethen8th
Dharma, teachers and higher study
Jupiter's strongest house and a favourable Moon transit. A major review of teachers, faith, higher education or life direction. Excellent for returning to serious study; watch a quarrel with a mentor and rigid righteousness.
Capricorn ascendant
8th housethen7th
Inheritance, research and hidden matters
Jupiter's wisdom works in deep or uncertain territory: research, the occult, insurance, tax, inheritance, a crisis. The classical Moon transit is hard. Watch overconfidence with joint money and philosophy used to avoid a practical problem.
Aquarius ascendant
7th housethen6th
Marriage, business and counsel
Favourable from the Moon classically. Partnerships become the vehicle of growth and review. An existing commitment gets renegotiated; a past partner or advisor may return. Strong for counselling and fair settlement; watch the urge to teach the partner.
Pisces ascendant
6th housethen5th
Work, debts, disputes and service
Growth has to become practical service. Old debts, obligations, a legal dispute or a health routine returns to be sorted. Good for fixing routines and solving a problem with knowledge; watch overextension and too much optimism about a conflict.

Remedies that hold up

Do not reach for a Jupiter remedy only because Jupiter is retrograde; a third of all charts have it so. Ask first whether Jupiter in your chart needs support: its sign, the houses it rules for your ascendant, its dasha. Jupiter in Capricorn needs a realistic plan more than a mantra.

The habit that works for everyone is to test a belief before building on it. Write down what you expect a decision to produce, then check it against what happened. Read the source instead of the summary. Keep one teacher's advice long enough to judge it fairly. Give something away each week without telling anyone, since Jupiter grows through generosity that asks for nothing.

Traditional measures exist too: respect shown to teachers and elders, Thursdays kept for study or a temple visit, turmeric or chana offered, the Guru mantra. Yellow sapphire is worn only after a chart reading, never because of a date. Nothing here replaces a qualified teacher, a lawyer or an accountant.

Frequently asked questions

Dates, signs, shadows and what they mean for you.