From December 6, 2024 to February 26, 2025, Mars will retrograde from 06° Leo to 17° Cancer. As this is a personal planet retrograde and it encapsulates most of our winter holiday season, it is a fairly long term aspect that we should all keep our eyes on.
The SetUp
Due to its position in our solar system (close to the Earth but past its position relative to the Sun), Mars is the planet that goes retrograde the least frequently, roughly every 26 months. Although we know that its backward motion is an illusion, astrology always views planets in their relationship to our home, the Earth. When a planet moves in retrograde motion, it retraces its steps through the horoscope wheel, repeating degrees that it has recently passed through. This creates an opportunity for a cosmic do-over as the world experiences these repeating degrees thrice: once when the planet enters its pre-retrograde shadow, a second time during the retrograde, and a third time after it stations direct once more in its post-retrograde shadow. This puts intense emphasis on these areas of life represented both by where it falls in the horoscope wheel and how it interacts with every person’s natal birth chart.
Mars is our planet of action. It is the planet that governs our drive and our energy levels. It rules the sign of Aries and the 1st house and co-rules the sign of Scorpio and the 8th house, along with the planet Pluto. We all have Mars placed somewhere in our charts. This placement shows what motivates us and how we go out and get what we want. Mars is also considered to be the Lesser Malefic in Traditional Astrology because it governs anger and strife. Mars needs a purpose – generally to move forward and accomplish a goal – or else it can easily become a bad actor.
When Mars moves in retrograde motion, it moves backward through the horoscope wheel. This is unfortunate as Mars prefers to gain and improve constantly. Retrograde planetary motion is all about looking back over the path that has been traveled and making the necessary changes to correct course. Some Mars placements (Virgo, for example) tend to be more comfortable with this than others. The big flex is to lean into the energy of this retrograde energy and work with it rather than against it.
As this Mars retrograde stretches from 06° Leo back to 17° Cancer, it crosses from a fixed sign back into a cardinal sign. Mixed sign retrogrades are more challenging to understand until you have a good grasp of astrology. What I want you to understand right now is that this retrograde will affect people with personal planets between 00-06° and people with personal planets between 17-29°.
This Mars retrograde will most strongly affect the following groups in the order written. Remembering, this is a compounding effect; the more categories you meet, the stronger the retrograde will be.
- Those born with Mars from 00-06° Leo or 17-29° Cancer, and all Aries and Scorpio Sun, Moon, Ascendant, or Mars
- Those with Mars in Cancer or Leo that do not meet the above degrees
- Anyone with a personal planet (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) from 00-06° Taurus or Scorpio (square) or Aquarius (opposition), or 17-29° Aries and Libra (square) or Aquarius (opposition)
- Anyone with a person planet from 00-06° Aries or Sagittarius, or 17-29° Scorpio or Pisces (trine)
- Anyone with a personal planet from 00-06° Gemini or Libra, or 17-29° Taurus or Virgo (sextile)
- Anyone with Mars in the 1st House or Mars conjunct their Natal Sun
Keep in mind here that as a personal planet, Mars’ retrograde will impact everyone to a greater or lesser degree, and it will impact our daily lives as a collective as well. You can determine what area of life Mars will impact by looking at the retrograde and how it relates to your chart by sign, house, aspect, and degree.
The Nitty Gritty
I want to reiterate from the start that although traditional astrology says that retrogrades are Bad and Mars retrogrades, in particular, are bad, this is not a foregone conclusion. Retrogrades are a change in the energy output of the planet in motion, and it takes clever awareness to adapt and work with rather than against this energy. Mars retrogrades tend to be the most challenging for humans for one simple reason – humans are, on average, very adverse and reactive to change. Mars wants to charge forth and exert its will upon the world, whereas Mars’s retrograde moments tend to call for pauses and reflection before action.
It is to our advantage that this Mars retrograde coincides with Fallowtide and the retreating of the light. It is disadvantageous that it coincides with our greater holiday season with all of its rushing and potential family disputes.
There are some almost inevitable truths to a Mars retrograde cycle: anything that requires action (be it your job, physical exertions of all kinds, the court systems, etc.) will move much slower than average. There will inevitably be people who can’t handle this slow-down and will lean into emotional reactivity and violence. Along with Venus, Mars is one of our relationship planets, so its retrograde can lead to relationship issues and breakups. (it’s worth noting here that Venus will retrograde as well in the coming spring, which will exasperate relationship issues as these two retrograde cycles overlap with one another)
Mars retrograde cycles tend to illuminate the areas of our lives where we are not getting what we want. This may be because of misplaced goals or poorly thought-through strategies. Or, quite simply, life isn’t fair, and effort rarely equals payout. Mars retrogrades show us how we and our Others react when we are stymied. It may lead to pessimism or depression in those prone, especially as this cycle coincides with our dark season, so stay aware and practice the self-care necessary to weather this rough transit if necessary.
In particular, this retrograde cycle crosses from our fixed fire sign, Leo, backward into our cardinal water sign, Cancer. Immature Mars in Leo energy can be egotistic and self-serving; immature Mars in Cancer tends towards emotional manipulation to get what they want or need. These will be the two battles of this retrograde season. Immature Mars in Leo energy says, “I deserve this,” and immature Cancer energy says, “And I will do what I must to keep this.”
I intentionally use the word immature here because there is a mature form to both of these energies, and discovering this is part of Mars in retrograde energy. Mature Mars in Leo energy is “We ALL deserve this and I will work to make that happen,” and mature Cancer energy is “When we work together to accomplish our goals, we both win.” I also want to reiterate here that we all exhibit immature behaviors now and then, which doesn’t make us bad people. We are all imperfect human beings. The goal with retrogrades like this is to recognize when we are being immature or unfair to others, and to course correct.
As mentioned above, retrogrades all happen in three phases: the pre-retrograde shadow, the retrograde proper, and the post-retrograde shadow. This can explained through the silly analogy of falling in a hole:
- Oh no, I fell into this hole! I didn’t know that it was there. There was no way of avoiding it! (pre-retrograde shadow)
- Oh SHIT! Did I just fall into that same fucking hole? I should learn to avoid that. (retrograde)
- (and hopefully) Oh hey – look at that hole! I don’t need to fall in that – I can walk around it. (post-retrograde shadow)
In this way, many people will face a lesson somewhere in their lives around the themes of the specific retrograde. Of course, whether they learn from it depends on many factors, such as general awareness, ability to think critically, and general maturity level. A person who isn’t willing to change will never get much from a retrograde cycle; on the other hand, someone who is open and willing to look critically at themselves and their own actions may gain a great deal.
Mars makes several aspects to our outer planets, the lunar nodes, and our asteroid Chiron, which shows that this will likely be an especially momentous retrograde for many. During this journey, Mars in Cancer will sextile Uranus in Taurus, trine Neptune in Pisces, and square Chiron thrice and trine Saturn in Pisces twice. Additionally, Mars will oppose Pluto thrice (once in Cancer and twice in Leo) and trine the North Node thrice (twice in Leo and once in Cancer).
This switchover between signs is especially important here. While Mars is moving backward between Cancer and Leo, Pluto is entering Aquarius for good, and our lunar nodes are switching from the Aries-Libra axis to Pisces-Virgo. This is part of a greater story evolving throughout 2025 as both Neptune and Uranus will also change signs. We can see that the cosmic pause of this Mars retrograde is likely necessary because everyone on Earth is undergoing a drastic shift in energy. We need the space to realign, even if it doesn’t fit our perfectly crafted 5-year plan.
If you aren’t where you thought you’d be during this Mars retrograde, know you are right on time. Pay attention to what is going on around you and discern if perhaps it is where you are meant to be and you just haven’t realized it yet.
Some big changes may be in order; there is no denying that. But holding on (the immature Mars in the Cancer specialty) doesn’t really keep things the same, even when we want it to.
If you want to do magic to help with this retrograde, I would encourage work around Pathfinding and Discernment. When the roads fade away, you may need to pave your own or hedge-trim your way through life until the way becomes clear.
The Details
10/04 – Mars enters its pre-retrograde shadow 17° Cancer
10/06 – Mercury in Libra square Mars in Cancer
10/08 – Venus in Scorpio trine Mars in Cancer
10/13 – Mars in Cancer trine Chiron in Aries (1)
10/14 – Sun in Libra square Mars in Cancer
10/25 – Mars in Cancer sextile Uranus in Taurus (1)
10/28 – Mars in Cancer trine retrograde Neptune in Pisces (1)
11/2 – Mercury in Scorpio trine Mars in Cancer
11/3 – Mars enters Leo, Mars in Leo opposed Pluto in Aquarius (1)
11/17 – Mars in Leo trine North Node in Aries (1)
11/27 – Sun in Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo
12/06 – Mars retrogrades 06° Leo
12/12 – Venus in Aquarius opposed retrograde Mars in Leo
01/02/25 – retrograde Mars in Leo trine North Node in Aries (2)
01/03 – retrograde Mars in Leo opposed Pluto in Aquarius (2)
01/06 – retrograde Mars enters Cancer
01/12 – retrograde Mars trine Neptune in Pisces (2)
01/15 – Sun in Capricorn opposed retrograde Mars in Cancer
01/23 -Mercury in Capricorn opposed retrograde Mars in Cancer, retrograde Mars sextile Uranus in Taurus (2)
01/25 – Venus in Pisces trine retrograde Mars in Cancer
2/3 – retrograde Mars in Cancer square Chiron in Aries (2)
2/9 – retrograde Mars in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces (1)
2/23 – Mars stations direct 17° Cancer, Mercury in Pisces trine Mars in Cancer
2/26 – Mars in Cancer square Chiron in Aries (3)
3/08 – Sun in Pisces trine Mars in Cancer
4/4 – Mars in Cancer sextile Uranus in Taurus (3), Mars in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces (2)
4/6 – retrograde Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Cancer
4/8 – Mars in Cancer trine North Node in Pisces (3)
4/18 – Mars enters Leo
4/19 – Mars in Leo trine Neptune in Aries (3)
4/20 – Sun in Taurus square Mars in Leo
4/26 – Mars in Leo opposed Pluto in Aquarius (03)
5/02 – Mars exits its post-retrograde shadow 06 Leo