Mars retrogrades are about our independent actions. Mars is the planet of fighting, surviving and independent action. Getting what you need. Being a soloist. Cardinal fire. Single point releases of energy. Impulse. Mars rules the Aries zodiac sign and the natural house of Mars is the first house of the horoscope. The Ascendant marks the beginning of the first house. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and the Ascendant represents beginnings.
Mars retrogrades are periods when the planet Mars appears to be walking backwards from its normal direction. Retrogrades are karmic periods of time. If the normal course of action for Mars is to take off in a car at high speed, a Mars retrograde is hitting the gas and rolling backward or rolling forward with the brake still engaged. This is not going to be the time to roar off on a new project. Spinning out is a possibility. A Mars retrograde can easily end in frustration. Slow starts. Redos. False starts. And that is before anything is actually blocking Mars or opposing him.
Mars finds himself at 6° Leo on December 6, 2024 hitting reverse and backing up all the way to 17° Cancer on February 23, 2025. He won’t return to 6° Leo until May 2, 2025. Leo is the zodiac sign of the heart. Play. Drama. The retrograde Pisces Neptune lies on the Midheaven. The Midheaven is the culmination. This is the energy for the culmination of dreams. From December 6 until January 6, individuals playing the role of Mars will be attempting to culminate one of their heart’s dreams.
On the east coast of the United States, the 6° Leo Mars is in the second house. The Sabian symbol for 6° Leo is “an old-fashioned woman and up-to-date girl.” Out with the old and in with the new except…Mars retrograde, so in with old and out with the new. We are going back to the past. Mars is sitting in his own estate surrounded by his wealth. He is influenced by the Sagittarius Sun in the sixth conjunct retrograde Mercury. The Sun is trying to manifest something big that they have been thinking about or talking about forever. The Sun is blocked in a square by the Pisces Saturn. The Sun is influencing Mars to act so he can own his heart’s desire.
So long as action isn’t needed, Mars is comfortable but pressure is building on him. He needs to act and he has an audience. The Sun is telling Mars to act but Saturn is blocking the Sun (Sun square Saturn), now Saturn will oppose Mars (Capricorn planets opposing retrograde Mars around the end of December 2023 and early January 2025).
The Karmic Opposition
Mars has a major opposition for this retrograde. There is a Pluto-Ceres-Venus conjunction in the seventh house. This is the Persephone glyph (♇⚳) conjunct Venus. The opposition might be a marital partner or a legal partner and with the Persephone glyph they have taken something. Something or someone has been kidnapped. Venus rules Libra, the south node in the fourth house. The karmic element arrives in the form of an opposition. The opposition is not just about stopping the purchase of a flashy sportscar or another heart’s desire. This is about keeping the soul from their own will and the emotional trauma this has caused the soul.
It is time to confront the past. Someone has been working against the soul’s heart desires and this is just the replay of the real karmic incident. This is the time to assess how bad this karma might be. For some souls, it may just be opposition to some wayward spending or a lopsided business deal but for others this could be the tip of a proverbial iceberg of karmic coercion.
Mars is backtracking all the way back to the Cancerian past where the Aquarius Moon in the eighth squares the retrograde Taurus Uranus. How traumatized is that Moon? For some souls who resonate with this chart, this is about the deep inner emotional trauma that lies buried under this life.
The soul’s personal wealth, Taurus, is in play. Why has a soul taken away the will of the other soul? The Taurus elements says it is for their wealth. Retrograde Mars in the second. Ceres conjunct Pluto. The Taurus Uranus squaring the Aquarius Moon. The 0° Aquarius (30° Capricorn) Pluto is on the Sabian symbol “a secret business conference”. One soul is using coercion against the other to maintain their beloved lifestyle, their status and prestige (Capricorn). Pluto opposes Mars. This is ugly. That soul is not doing this once but is continuing their control and coercion from the past and there is no sign they intend to relinquish the other one now. Motivated by the Capricorn Venus the love of status and prestige. Toxic.
Retrograde Mars in Leo
In the end, Mars will leave the retrograde period on May 2, 2025. The Taurus Sun is now opposed by the retrograde Scorpio Vesta in the ninth. The second house is full and represents the native who owns the wealth dissolving this away again into Pisces. The Aries Neptune is giving them a new chance at a new type of life. Ruled by the Leo Mars, the natives who are playing Mars may not get the culmination of their heart’s desire in this life but they now have the keys to their vault and can place into that vault anything they desire.
The 3° Aquarius Pluto is still opposing the Leo Mars but Mars controls the future through the Aries Neptune conjunct the Pisces north node. The Aquarius Pluto controls the present retaining influence over the Scorpio Vesta that opposes the Sun.
The retrograde Leo Mars is about frustration, false starts, slow starts and redos. Any of those can be the ultimate outcome of this Mars retrograde period but a future new beginning is possible too.