Mars will retrograde this September 9th and stay that way for the remainder of this year, yes, even months into next year! This is going to be a flood of intensity and masculine energy, all turning inwards. This transit is strongly associated with reflecting on our personal will and drive, what battles we are fighting and how we are using our head (Aries rules it) to make quick logical decisions on what’s important in life. It’s time to turn inward and not rush into situations in our lives thinking that we’re just going to “wing it.” Are we acting and taking charge of our lives in a harmonious manner? Are we in alignment with who we have chosen to be this year?
Mars moves into retrograde while *deep breath*: Uranus, Chiron, Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn are ALL retrograde. Phew! The only planets that aren’t retrograde are Venus and Mercury, and obviously the luminaries, which never retrograde. Venus and Mercury are in masculine signs as well: Venus is in fixated fire and Mercury in cardinal air. I’ll get into what this really means later. But Mars in late Aries is where a lot of the intensity of the personal will, aggression and anger gets focused towards how we take our identity and put it towards accumulating resources and materials. This is a rough retrograde of Mars, but there is a saving grace.
Venus, Mercury and Sun are interchanging signs. Venus is ruled by the Sun. The Sun is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is ruled by Venus and so forth. Our ability to manage our lives, make positive creative decisions and stay consistent with what we’re looking to perfect and purify are powerful forces right now, despite the cruel war-like energy of the retrograde.
This transit shows immense social unrest and a deep need to cut through the bull crap in life. It’s about doing some pretty “harsh” or getting involved in what might seem like “rough” action in order to purify something in our life.
Mars likes to be in Aries. Any beginner astrologer can tell you that. Yet, what people often forget to think about is that in the modern age of civility and passivity, this kind of Mars isn’t necessarily a “good” place for Mars to be. This makes us quick to anger and quick to take impulsive violent action against perceived threats. A poorly aspected Mars in Aries, which this is, can put someone in jail for a violent crime. Remember that a TON of MMA professionals have Mars in Aries, if that tells you anything about this sign.
Saturn is in a tight square to Mars and is bringing up the pain and anxiety of not being able to meet our goals and take uninhibited action towards something. The retrograde makes us prone towards blocks and obstacles when asserting our will. This is either an incredibly violent time in our society. Or this can be a time when we focus our will to improve on ourselves and move past great obstacles set by our own limiting beliefs.
The retrograde begins in Krittika, a sharp and violent constellation, where the fire of Aries is very hot and moving into the earth. This is where we move out of the pure authentic self and into the first glimpses of sensuality, possession and enjoyment of the material world. Mars is our willpower, action and the battles we engage in (it’s a part of life). When it retrogrades, we may have to recalibrate how we are using our energy and asserting ourselves. Moreover, the retrograde can make us cut things out of our life that we actually need: relationships with others, possessions etc.
Mars Square Saturn and Pluto: Violent Resistance to Societal Structures
This is either going to push us towards self-destructive actions that are counter-productive to harmonious and peaceful relationships, or it can make us driven to transform, strengthen and discipline ourselves to better burden our karma and elevate our status in this world. We have a chance to rise higher in consciousness now. Fire rises, but it can also transform and destroy things indiscriminately. We cut the things that are no longer needed in life. It might be we cut ties with some family, friends, career, habits or what have you.
Mars is retrograding in the 8th sign from the Sun in Virgo: illuminating exactly what we need to purify, get structured and orderly in life. We are trying to work through our most primal natural instinctual part of us. Mars likes to be in the 8th position because it is now fighting an internal war. We are now going to be fighting a war, not literally but of the spirit.
Any 8th house planet denotes transformation and change from the qualities of the sign and planet that it is stationed from. In this case, since both planets are masculine (Sun and Mars) we might be involved with transforming how we use the strength in our intelligence or words to We are really aware of what obstacles and set backs lay in wait for us.
Sun in Virgo illuminates the things that go wrong, that need to be put in order, purified, organized and fixed. It also creates a lot of dryness. Ever heard of a dry personality? Sun in bad aspect of an earth sign perhaps. But in this case, the Sun is in the 6th house from retrograding Mars. We are building solidity and responsibility with the use of our anger and power. To do so, we have to reflect more and see within. September 9th might not be too good for that, since it is an emotional storm of confusion and scattered psychic energy bouncing around. But soon after, when Moon moves into Cancer and aspects the retrograde Mars…oh boy. This is a crisis point for us to be more sensitive and receptive to why we are triggered by the outside world and how we should be carrying out our goals.
With retrogrades, we have to reflect on how we are using our energy, willpower and action to fight battles that are necessary. What needs to stay and what needs to be cut out of our lives? All of the malefic planets are turning inwards, reflecting and analyzing, rather than forcing their will outward. The soft and receptive planets are in masculine signs direct. The harsh planets, except for Mars, are in feminine signs. The Sun is in the 6th house from Mars in the sign of Virgo, feminine and very prim and proper. Venus is hot and fiery. Mercury is airy and aloof. They both aspect transiting Mars.
Mars is in a weak square to Venus in early degrees of Leo
They are both in fire elements, however. This is where we reflect on how we take action towards our passions and how inspired we feel about the things we love. The more we take the time to calm our reactions and any impulsive heated desires that rise up from seemingly nowhere, the more we can enjoy resting and relaxing (Venus) in our own personal power and experiencing healing for the ego and our world (Sun Virgo).
The last time Mars was retrograde was when it transited Aquarius in 2018: a time when we had a lot of reflection on our larger culture, collective identity and social changes. It was a time for karmic return because of past life collective mob-fueled violence to forcibly change undesirable conditions, rather than change the underlining consciousness (mind/imagination) that gave way to the externalities to begin with.
