As I sat down to consult the sky and examine the transit of Mars going retrograde tomorrow, I was paralyzed as all the AH-HA moments finally clicked in my brain and I made sense of not only what was happening in the sky, but why certain events are happening to me in my own life. A lot of the time, we read articles just like this one, and hear the warnings and advice on what to expect as far as the energy shift goes and how to handle it best, but yet we still have no idea how that is going to manifest in our own lives.Some people may think that because I am able to understand astrology and make sense of it, and because I'm able to do readings for others and provide them with information and guidance on how to best navigate what's going on in their world, that my life is a breeze! That couldn't be further from the truth.Most people who are of service and provide healing and comfort to others only have that ability due to their own pain and suffering. Many other healers, along with myself, have had such horrible hardships in their lives and have great amounts of pain and suffering in their past. They say that most healers must endure that pain and suffering, and live and breathe the darkness to fully follow and appreciate the light. It's in our own experiences and darkness that we can truly find ourselves; our strength, and then share our gifts and wisdom with others in their time of need.I have struggled with sharing my gifts with others for the past 10 years. I have spent more energy repressing my own story and hesitating to share it on a public level, than I have trying to accept it and embrace it. Everything that has happened to me; both good and bad, has been a part of my Soul's plan to push me out into the world to help others. As a human, who really enjoys and values privacy, I have been avoiding taking responsibilities of that role for far too long. I share this with you now, because I'm tired of fighting. My world has been shaken up once again, rattled to it's core, forcing me to make the changes necessary to switch directions, all because I have been fighting against my true calling.Instead of me writing an article about Mars going direct and the effects it will have on you, I am going to use a beautifully written article by AstroButterfly and break it down and tell you how it's effecting my life, and in turn, maybe, you can better see how it can manifest in your own. If nothing else, you will be able to clearly see that astrology really DOES impact our lives.WARNING: In no way is your experience going to be the same as mine. We all have an astrological blueprint that makes us experience life, learn the lessons, and feel the astrological shifts and transits differently. If you are interested in learning more about yourself through your astrological birth chart, please click here.Let's get into it! It's going to be lengthy, so if you want to skip my experiences and just read the article by AstroButterly, please click here.AstroButterfly writes:Mars goes retrograde on 26 June 2018. Mars is retrograde for two months and goes direct again on 26 August 2018. Mars is the planet of action, so expect major things to happen this summer.My thoughts:Summer just started. Last Thursday, we had the Summer Solstice with the Sun moving Into Cancer. You can read about it here. The very next day I had my life kicked out from under me. I received a phone call that changed everything. Within an hour, I was forced to quit my job, and give up my home. The Summer Solstice is about illuminating parts of your life that aren't working, and that you've been ignoring pretending that there is no issue. The Sun in Cancer means the focus was on the home, and also the Mother energy was in the spotlight. How you are being nurtured, and how you nurture yourself, and others was being examined. In my crisis, my Mother stepped up to the plate to rescue me, and took me and my family unit - my fur babies - into her home. Mars retrograde happens at the same time with this year’ eclipse season so you can bet this summer will bring life-changing events in your life. Karma (eclipses) and action (Mars) act as one. You will have the feeling you cannot escape your destiny.Eclipse season is JUST about to begin, and the planets are aligning themselves to lend us the energy we need to prepare for such events. It's at this particular point in my own journey that I'm hearing the Universe SCREAM at me "YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE!" I know from my own personal birth chart that my karma in this life is directly connected to being of service to help others through their own darkness, which I have been through myself. Mars, taking the action necessary in my life to DIRECT my energy and FOCUS on fulfilling my karmic duty is on the center stage now. Without my normal, stable, reliable, secure income, I would not focus on this blog, and offering the services I do with as much passion and drive as I am now. When there are no other options on the table you make the best of what you can. And right now, with my plate being cleaned of my daily distractions, I have nothing else to focus on other than my blog, my services, my future projects, and my own personal healing.Of course, you can try to run, but with Mars retrograde, it will be difficult to hide. He will find you – when retrograde, Mars takes his time.Didn't I JUST say this exact line a few minutes ago?! I obviously feel that energy force very strongly!
Contrary to beliefs that things slow down when Mars is retrograde, Mars retrograde intensifies action. Things may slow down in your life, but you will take action more forcefully than usual, and from a more authentic place.Intense alright!! In my own life, I have had the pause button pressed. I am now waiting for reports and testing to help determine my next direction in life. I'm literally at the mercy of external forces, and the time frames in which THEY operate. For the next month or two, I am suppose to be patient, not moving in ANY direction. So the only control I have is focusing my energy into something good, which is my writing, and sharing my story and experiences with others.You will embody Mars, you will act like Mars – you will BE Mars. You will finally act on your true desires, and do what you wanted to do since Mars started its cycle on July 26, 2017.Think back to what was happening in your life last July. Chances are you are dealing with the themes of what was on your mind back then, right now. For me at that time, I was in a horrible relationship that gave me the beautiful lessons and experiences I needed to see my own worth. We are always being shown how we really feel inside our Souls by the reflection of those we have around us. They are essentially a mirror to your inner world. At that time, my inner world was pretty dark. But through that darkness I found my light again. I learned how to love myself enough to leave a bad situation, and I did. I drove myself across the country with the help of my Dad who came to rescue me. The further away from the darkness I got, the more I rediscovered my light. It's been a struggle to rebuild my life since then. Full of hardships. But I finally got myself out on my own again, healing, and getting to know and love myself again. And then it all came crashing down, with one phone call. When Mars is retrograde, it is always opposite the Sun. It is closest to the Earth and shines at its brightest. The Earth is basically between Mars and the Sun, becoming the mediator between the divine consciousness (the Sun) and action (Mars). Mars retrograde is manifestation in action!This inner conflict is huge! In my Soul I know I'm suppose to help others on a grander stage than what I've been doing. I know my true calling, and have been running from it for years. So it is no surprise to me that Mars exercised its intense action by clearing the way for me to fully embrace my role in the world.Mars opposite Sun is like a Full Moon of Mars and intensifies, brings to culmination whatever Mars stands for in your natal chart.For me, Mars stands for my sense of Self. Being true and authentic and making sure my outer world starts to reflect what's going on in my inner world. The truth is, my inner world has been chaotic, and cluttered. It's been rittled with conflict trying to suppress my knowledge of knowing what I should be doing versus what I have been doing. Inside, I KNOW I need to focus on healing, myself AND others. It's through other people that I heal myself. But I've spent YEARS secluding myself, and isolating myself from others, when I should be doing the opposite. I have tried so hard to maintain a "normal" outer image, with a normal job, and normal thoughts, feelings and desires. When really, my inner self is so far away from being normal and conformative, that there is no wonder why the events that are currently taking place in my life right now, are unfolding.
Why Mars Retrograde Is So Important
Mercury retrograde might be more popular, because it happens more frequently (Mercury goes retrograde every 3-4 months and is retrograde 20% of time), but Mars retrograde is more important, because it happens only once every 2 years. Last time Mars was retrograde was April – June 2016.Think back to those dates. What was going on for you at that time? For me, I had just tried to escape my bad relationship for the first time. I packed up my belongings and my animals and made the 3 hour venture to the airport by myself. I am not a traveler and suffer from severe anxiety when I have to drive, especially in unfamiliar places, and yet I was successful. I navigated myself through an unfamiliar province to make the second trek of a lifetime, back to the East Coast. I failed my first attempt at leaving. After checking my animals in at the airport, checking in my luggage, and returning my rental car, the airline called me to tell me they were refusing to fly my dog as she freaked out in the holding center and caused herself harm. She literally tried to chew her way out of her kennel, breaking some teeth and creating a bloody mess. I fell apart. In a frantic effort to run to the aid of my baby, I was in hysterics. I sat there in the airport, with an amazing airline representative who sat with me, covered in blood and tears. I held onto my dog and they made the arrangements to hold the flight long enough to retrieve my belongings. They replaced my rental with another, and covered it in plastic for me to return to my crappy life and relationship. Having to call my ex and ask to come back was one of the most awful feelings I've had the pleasure of experiencing. We were so close to being free. But sitting in that airport, with a bloody dog and defeat written all over my face, I had no one to lean on and had to go back. Thinking about how Mars was at play for those events and now seeing what this retrograde has stirred up, thank goodness this only happens every two years!It’s the rarest of retrogrades and also the longest of all the personal planets. That’s why the most significant events in one’s life tend to happen when Mars goes retrograde.Mars goes retrograde at 9° Aquarius, and goes direct at 28° Capricorn. This means Mars spends two months covering only 12° of the zodiac. Have a look where you have 28° Capricorn – 9° Aquarius in your chart. There is something about that part of your chart you need to understand, to revise, and ultimately take action upon.For me, Aquarius is my ascendent and rules my first house of Self. Capricorn calls itself home in my 12th house of spirituality. Capricorn is all about business, seriousness, responsibility, and the fact that this reigns over my spiritual sector just demands the attention to my career taking the spotlight as a spiritual advisor. Aquarius, the house of Self is definitely lit up, making this retrograde take action and focus energy on the responsibility I have to be my true authentic self, and be the spiritual advisor that my Soul signed up for. All of these details are too coincidental to think that they "just happen". Divine timing is very real, and I am being faced with that truth now, more than ever!These are the most important aspects Mars makes during the retrograde:
- Mars goes retrograde June 26
- Mars is conjunct the South Node on July 20
- Mars opposes Sun on 26 July 26
- Mars is conjunct the Total Lunar Eclipse in Aquarius on July 27
- Mars is square Uranus on August 1
- Mars re-enters Capricorn on August 12
- Mars goes direct on August 27
These transit times provide a comforting timeline for me to hold onto, knowing that this life altering shake down will only last a short time, before I'm able to move forward to restructure and rebuild.
Mars – The Hero, The Warrior
Mars is the archetype of the hero and the warrior. Whenever you are fighting for something, whenever you say ‘no’ to what goes against your will, you are embodying Mars.Mars has free will. The only personal planet that travels across the zodiac on its own (not along with the Sun) is Mars. No other personal planet (Mercury, Venus) has really a will on its own, because both Mercury and Venus never travel too far away from the Sun.But Mars does. When you act from your Mars power, you have the ability to make it on your own, against any rules and obstacles. Mars brings transformation in your life. If Pluto, the higher octave of Mars brings long-lasting, complex transformation, Mars brings rapid transformation. Your life gets changed when Mars is strong in the sky, like it is now.This inspires me and gives me the drive I need at this time. I HAVE TO make it on my own! It's great to have people who can help you in your time of need, but nothing fulfills my heart and Soul more than providing for myself does. Not having to rely on other people for income and security offers a sobering realization that I just got wiped clean of being employed and now it's up to me to create a life for myself. Other people aren't a "for sure" thing. Even a stable income with job security, a secured guaranteed payment, can disappear in a phonecall. Because I'm a Scorpio and both Mars and Pluto are my rulers, I understand fully that this "crisis" is actually working in my favor, providing me with long lasting, deep, transformational changes, that may be painful for a short amount of time. This is my band-aid analogy: Rip it off quickly, take the pain, and get it over with so you can give the wound the space and air it needs to heal.Mars goes retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn. The signs Mars is transiting will give you deeper insights into what this transformation is about.Aquarius is a paradoxical sign. On one hand, it’s a fixed sign, which means it’s stable and inflexible. On the other hand, Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, which is the most unpredictable planet in the sky.Aquarians are known to be unique, special and original – like no one else. In the same time, Aquarius is all about teamwork, groups of people and working towards a greater goal, rather than an individual goal.How can we reconcile these apparent conceptual conflicts?Aquarius is a fixed air sign. Fixed air is not an easy concept to grasp. You can probably relate to fixed earth (Taurus) – and you can instantly picture a piece of land. You could also eventually picture fixed fire (Leo) and see the Sun, or fixed water (Scorpio) and picture some ice (BTW, did you know that Scorpio’s ruling planet, Pluto is covered in ice?). But what about fixed air? (Aquarius).
Aquarius And The Invisible Threads
A good way to think about fixed air is invisible (air) threads (fixed). Aquarius is what is stable (fixed) yet invisible (air) to the eye. Invisible ties are the unwritten rules of the society. It is what keeps people together and makes them loyal to each other. It is what makes friends stay friends even if they live in different parts of the globe.
This is why Aquarius seems unpredictable…but just because you don’t see these invisible ties, it doesn’t mean they are not there.Remember how Uranus, the ruling planet of Aquarius has been discovered? With a telescope. Uranus was always there, but people couldn’t see it, within the technological limitations of the time. This is a good way of thinking about Aquarius.There is another apparent conflict with Aquarius – does Aquarius make an individual unique, or a team player?A good example for this is team sports: each player has an individual role: quarterback, center, linebacker, cornerback. But all players work towards a common goal – to win the game. Aquarius is exactly about putting the unique creative energy of each individual into use, to create something greater than the sum of its parts.Aquarian teamwork is not the assembly line workers who may work towards the same goal, but perform the same repetitive activity. Aquarian teamwork is more like an agile scrum team, or a boardroom: each person has their unique role, yet they work towards a common goal, a goal that is beyond their personal concern.Mars retrograde spends most of the time in Aquarius, however, it does go back into Capricorn from August 13 until August 26.For all of us, this means we will have the spotlight on 2 different areas of life. For me personally, the first part of this retrograde will be in Aquarius which is in my first house of Self. This means that the first part of this retrograde will be spotlighting on embracing myself and my own truth, so I can implement it in the second half of the retrograde. The focus shifts to putting my efforts into taking on the responsibility of embracing my spiritual position in the world and how to accept that it is my calling.
Go Back To The Drawing Board
When a retrograde planet moves back in the previous sign, is giving you a second chance. This is when things from the past come back to you so you can finally deal with them. Mars’ journey back into Capricorn is your second chance to get it right in the matters of the house where you have Capricorn.Let’s take an example: let’s say Aquarius is your 8th house, and Capricorn your 7th house. In the first 2 months of Mars retrograde, 8th house themes will come into focus: maybe you need to get your joint finances in order, ask for a loan, or pay your taxes. You will be busy with this from 26 June (when Mars goes retrograde) until 12 August. From 13 August on, your focus will shift to the 7th house. You will have a second chance to fix some issues related – this time – to your relationships and partnerships (7th house themes) which in turn, will help you with your 8th house matters. Maybe you need to set better, fairer rules in the relationship (7th house) so you can proceed to the next level (8th house). This is how this retrograde works.Capricorn and Aquarius have many things in common (they are both traditionally ruled by Saturn) but the fundamental distinction is that Capricorn sets the vision.Capricorn is the Manager who sets the vision, who sets the strategy. And Aquarius is the Team who makes it happen.Mars going retrograde from Aquarius to Capricorn means you need to go back to the drawing board and re-adjust your strategy.If something in your life is not working (look where you have Aquarius, to get some clues about what exactly is not working), then this retrograde is your chance to make it work again.Clearly, for me, this attempt to live a "normal" life, free of physical limitations, keeping up the "ideal life", working a "normal" job, isn't working for me. I have spent so much energy in fighting my calling that I'm constantly being shown my path even if it means I only see it because nothing else stands around it. There are no distractions, nothing, EXCEPT it... Standing there, staring me down. As if the Universe is looking down at their wrist, tapping their watch, as if to say "Enough is enough. Time is running out." I SEE it now. I can't run anymore. I can't fight it.Instead of getting stuck in doing the same thing over and over again, go back and revise your strategy. Go back to the drawing board.Ask yourself: What battle am I fighting? What am I really trying to achieve? What is my true goal? What is my strategy?Mars is the planet of action, drive, and decisiveness. Is about acting from your instinct. In the past, acting from your instinct usually meant acting against someone’s else instinct. It meant going to war. Things have changed, and with time we learned to work with the energy of Mars without causing too much harm to others, but ultimately Mars is about acting form your instinct, even if it goes against the whole world.
Haka – The War Dance
If we put all the symbolism together – Aquarius (teamwork), Capricorn (strategy), Mars (action) that flows from Aquarius to Capricorn, I cannot NOT think of the Haka.Haka is a ceremonial Maori war dance that has been popularized by the New Zealand rugby team. The All Blacks (New Zealand rugby team) perform this war dance before every rugby match. Haka is a posture dance with shouted vocal chanting accompanied by hand actions, foot stamping, and facial expressions.It is very powerful to watch and it looks like it’s working. Despite its small population, New Zealand has the most successful rugby team in the world.Haka is a war dance, meant to warn the opponent that they are better off to stay away from trouble. Haka is an honest war dance – the team shows the opponent that they are up to, what their goal is. It’s a territory marking activity: “You can’t cross here”.Who knows how many wars could have been avoided if the opponents have been straightforward about their intentions and about their abilities. When Mars slows down and gets closer to the Earth like now, he is very straightforward about his intentions.Ultimately, the upcoming Mars retrograde will ask you to perform a war dance and get to the core of what you want.Questions to reflect upon when Mars is retrograde:
- Am I crystal clear about what I want to achieve?
- Do I act with integrity?
- Does my goal serve a higher purpose?
- Is there any way I can avoid ‘bloodshed’ and still, have my objectives met?
- Which areas of my life need honest, decisive action?
You will feel the Mars retrograde energy stronger if you have planets or angles between 28° Capricorn – 9° Aquarius and 28° Cancer – 9° Leo. You can obtain this knowledge from obtaining your birth chart.If you are still reading this post, I want to thank you! Thank you for following my blog and showing me love and support to continue doing what I'm doing. The fact that 1000 people actually read my blog every month and want to hear what I have to say, gives me goosebumps, as well as the validation I so desperately need right now. As I walk my path, I am taking steps, baby steps, to walk into the light of my calling, to be of service to others on their darkest day. I hope you aren't feeling these shifts to the degree that I am, and if you are, just know that this too shall pass. You're not alone, and you're going to be okay!Much love & many blessings to you during this time! Marlee - Resident Reader at The East Coast Energy Boutique