Mars Retrograde ♂ Winter 2024

artist: Phyllis Shafer

Mars in Cancer: Sep 4 – Nov 3, 2024

Mars in Leo: Nov 3 – Dec 6, 2024

Mars Retrograde in Leo: Dec 6, 2024 – Jan 6, 2025

Mars Retrograde in Cancer: Jan 6 – Feb 23, 2025

Mars in Cancer: Feb 23 – Apr 17, 2025

Mars in Leo: Apr 17 – June 17, 2025

Planets in retrograde are not spinning backwards – it is an optical illusion as seen from Earth due to the fact that planets travel at their own respective speeds around the sun. In astrology, this illusion manifests as a “backwards” functioning of the planetary roles. Click here to learn more about retrograde.

Mars turns retrograde for two months every two years. We last experienced Mars Retrograde in late 2022/early 2023. This next retrograde falls in both water sign Cancer and fire sign Leo. Starting at the beginning of December, it will span the rest of the year and finally wrap up in late February 2025.

The first month of Mars Retrograde falls in Leo and the last portion in Cancer. Let’s start by talking about Mars Retrograde in Leo. The first leonine month of the retrograde will help us cultivate profound inner strength. In these flames we are more resilient and independent. We will improve our relationship with ourselves, not just on a self-care level, but also in the way that we see ourselves.

Mars shapes our drive and ambition. With Mars in Leo, we are motivated by a need for emotional security, just like with Mars in Cancer, but we are less sensitive here and more sure of ourselves. We can ride the waves of our emotions without falling.

Mars Rx in Leo is also motivated by loyalty. Leo holds his friends and family close. Though he is a social butterfly, the lion’s inner circle is actually very small. To these people he is fiercely devoted, and in return he expects love and respect.

 friendship ~ creativity ~ loyalty

Now behold Mars Retrograde in Cancer, a sensitive warrior poised to risk all in the battlefield of love. Mars in a water sign promotes creativity, emotional release, and self-care. I do want to gently say that this process of reconnecting with ourselves can be slow and painful. Mars Rx in Cancer exposes our most tender yearnings for love, home, security, and belonging. The body & mind, too, are soft, tender, vulnerable.

It is time to nurture and nourish so that we can feel at home within and without. Cancer is the mother from whom the waters of the zodiac flow. With tiny pincers we reach for healing and understanding. And what about your matrilineal roots?

With Mars Rx in Cancer, we are motivated by a deep need for emotional security and stability. We will move through the world with radiance and caution, acutely sensitive to changes in our bodies & surrounding environment. Expect to feel sweet and loving when you’re up, crabby and lethargic when you’re down. Cancer is a moody queen!

Food and sleep are important. Our mood will entirely depend on whether or not we are rested and well-fed. In the body, Mars rules the intestines and digestive system. This is the perfect time to delve into gut health and nutrition to find out what your body needs.

home ~ comfort ~ nourishment ~ femininity ~ beauty ~ snuggles

Mars rules the body as well as our yang energy. Mars Retrograde means physical recalibration. Food, sleep, exercise, health – all of these and more will be thrown off as we digest new changes that arise.

Anything that has not been properly healed will resurface so ferociously that we will be forced to finally address and heal it. That is the power of Mars Retrograde: identifying the connection between body, mind, and spirit and the ways in which emotional/spiritual pain shows up in the body.

Mars Retrograde often feels like madness. Mars, God of War, is the planet of action. When he is retrograde, we don’t know how – or when, or where – to act. And yet paradoxically we will feel immense cosmic pressure to hurry up and do something – but what? It appears that none of our options are ideal. So we need to reframe: how to make the best of a shitty situation?

Mars Retrograde is a confusing transit, much like Mercury or Venus Retrograde. This is not a time of action, but rather of absorption, inundation, synthesis. Listen for the whispers. To find your personal Mars sign and whether this planet was retrograde when you were born, click here.

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