also: a spread for mars retrograde

Happy new year, friends! I hope you enjoyed your last days of Yule and that your transitions back to work or school (or other people’s transitions that impact you) have been as easeful as they can be. While the new calendar year is fresh, the seasonal vibe is still very much the same—slow and steady—so if you’re not feeling raring to go quite yet, that’s completely understandable.

mars retrograde (dec 6th-feb 24th)

It’s especially understandable because we’re still in the thick of Mars retrograde. Since December 6, Mars has been retrograding back through the first six degrees of Leo until today when it shifts back into Cancer.

Key Mars Retrograde Dates:
October 7: Mars enters the pre-shadow period at 17 degrees of Cancer
December 6: Mars stations retrograde at 6 degrees of Leo
January 6: Mars Rx enters Cancer
February 24: Mars stations direct at 17 degrees of Cancer
May 4: Mars reaches 7 degrees of Leo, exiting the post-shadow period

Mars is associated with taking action, expressions of will, and conflict. In our nervous systems, Mars also reflects our responses to conflict: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. So when Mars is in retrograde, the mood of the moment might indicate a sudden lack of energy, as well as repression or dispassion. Mars in Leo is outwardly brassy, warm, and affirming. So as Mars pulls that energy inward, what normally might feel natural to express might take a lot more energy, especially creatively.

On a personal level, depending on how closely this transit is impacting your chart, you might have felt a defensiveness—especially around matters related to pride, confidence, or what matters most to you. As a deeply exaggerative example, I think of the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, who picks fights and snarls at those who deems weaker, but when confronted by Dorothy, crumbles into tears, admitting he lacks the necessary courage. His quest, and Mars’s retrograde quest through Leo is to find heart.

Mars Rx in Leo asks us what *really* stokes the fire of our hearts—and gives us the courage to take action?

As I mentioned, today Mars retrograde shifts into Cancer, moving from the heart, which is associated with Leo, to the stomach, which is associated with Cancer. When Mars is in Cancer, we are reminded of the verb tender, which means “to present for acceptance” as in tendering one’s resignation. While the stuffiness of this context doesn’t immediately bring typical Cancerian feels to mind, Mars in Cancer wants to present something for acceptance as well—and it’s probably whatever (and whoever’s) precious feelings it is currently holding space for. When Mars in Cancer tenders, it is making emotional bonds possible through an offering of understanding and acceptance. (On the flip side, Mars in Cancer knows where to poke at the most tender point if it feels threatened.) Either way, Mars in Cancer acts relationally, finding power in the act of tending to emotional bonds—nourishing and nurturing—and fiercely protecting that which is tender.

Mars Rx in Cancer asks us, out of all the bonds that nourish us, what most feeds us, what most tends to our souls, so that we might move beyond our shells?

Given Mars’s relationship to conflict, it’s a time, if possible, to move slowly and intentionally with our energy and personal power—ground our nervous systems, cut away at unnecessary expenses to our energy, and be mindful about where we would most like to distribute our attention. When we don’t tend to these shifts in energy through our mindfulness and choices, Mars has a way of letting us know there is imbalance: through sudden bursts of frustration, resentment, and tenderness.

For those who enjoy specific dates as points of reflection: As Mars Rx traverses Cancer from January 6 through Feb 24, think back to October and November. What might be bubbling up that has not yet been confronted?

When I think of what Mars retrograde invites us to consider, I am also reminded of Elphaba in Wicked. Ridiculed and discouraged from claiming her personal power all her life, her magical powers can’t help but boil to the surface when she experiences extreme emotion, particularly when it comes to her frustation about injustice, defending those she cares about, and anytime she utters no. Mars retrograde invites us to confront the unresolved conflicts, that if brought to the surface, might release a part of ourselves we have been holding on to for too long.

So while it might be in low supply, extra patience is precious gift to yourself and others during this time. Conflict contains deeply valuable information about what we want and how we go about getting it, and so is an important way of understanding ourselves and each other.

If parts of this resonate, you might check your birth chart to see if Mars retrograde has been or will be aspecting any planets in your birth chart.

For Mars Rx in Leo: Creatively challenged planets would be within 1-9 degrees of Leo (conjunct), Taurus or Scorpio (square), or Aquarius (opposition).

For Mars Rx in Cancer: Creatively challenged planets would be within 14-29 degrees of Cancer (conjunct), Aries or Libra (square), or Capricorn (opposition).

Even if you don’t have any aspected planets, Mars Rx is still transiting the house containing Leo and Cancer in your birth chart. Check your rising sign below for the corresponding house containing Leo and Cancer, and if you don’t know your rising sign (also known as Ascendant), feel free to calculate your birth chart on my website.

Leo risings: 1st house & 12th house
Virgo risings: 12th house & 11th house
Libra risings: 11th house & 10th house
Scorpio risings: 10th house & 9th house
Sagittarius risings: 9th house & 8th house
Capricorn risings: 8th house & 7th house
Aquarius risings: 7th house & 6th house
Pisces risings: 6th house & 5th house
Aries risings: 5th house & 4th house
Taurus risings: 4th house & 3rd house
Geimini risings: 3rd house & 2nd house
Cancer risings: 2nd house & 1st house

Each house is related to a group of topics that might be activated by Mars’s transit, some of which you can find in following image.

a spread for mars retrograde

In case it can provide some additional support, I also want to offer this spread for Mars retrograde. Feel free to draw cards from your favorite tarot or oracle deck, or even pull quotes from your favorite book.

Card 1: What Tenders the Heart
What are you being invited to consider about your relationship to your personal power? Deep down, what drives you? Deep down, what feeds you?

Card 2: What Is Bubbling to the Surface
What might have been previously unexpressed that is now bubbling to the surface?

Card 3: Where You Can Find Support
Where can you find support as you confront this information?

Thank you, as always, for reading, and I’m sending you good wishes for the week ahead. ✨