Stationary (planet) — Astrology glossary

A planet is stationary when it appears to pause in the sky, neither advancing nor retreating, just before it switches between forward and backward motion. This happens at the turning points on either side of a retrograde period: the station retrograde, when it stops to go backward, and the station direct, when it stops to resume forward motion. The pause is an effect of perspective, as Earth and the planet realign in their orbits. In a natal chart, a stationary planet is read as unusually emphasised, because its motion is concentrated rather than dispersed. Someone born while Mars is stationary, for instance, is often described as having a focused, persistent drive in whatever that Mars governs, rather than a quick or scattered one.