MARS IN RETROGRADE: Oct 30, 2022 – Jan 12, 2023 ‘Trying to make up for past mistakes, insults and regrets’

Mars symbolises personal action – the energy and drive to obtain that to which we are attracted and to resist that which is undesirable or a threat. Our desires generate powerful drives to demonstrate our competency, sexuality and the power to assert or defend our unique identity, often at any cost.

The dynamic effect of Mars is often experienced through our physical relationship to the exterior world and, both in the natal chart and by transit, Mars indicates how we must apply ourselves in our struggle to survive against the adversity of nature and its foes, and how we strive to meet our individual needs for carnal, worldly and spiritual fulfilment through physical engagement.

In its highest, most conscious-minded operation, the action of Mars can be employed as a defender and preserver of the Higher Self, thus ensuring our best possible chances to complete our ‘soul mission’ here on earth.

Mars does this whole ‘defender-of-the-self’ thing regardless of whether we know our ‘higher purpose’ or not. The little warrior within becomes immediately aroused and inflamed for action whenever we feel threatened on any level. The potential for destruction through aggression and war must not be underestimated when Mars is under stress.

MARS IN RETROGRADE: Oct 30, 2022 – Jan 12, 2023.

Transiting Mars spends an average of 8 weeks in each sign. However, during retrograde periods, Mars could spend up to 7 months in one sign, applying particular intensity to the affairs governed by that sign and its dispositor. In this case, Mars spends its full retrograde period in the sign of Gemini, ruled by Mercury.

Mars enters its retrograde shadow at 8°Ge08′ on September 3, 2022, turning retrograde on October 30, 2022, at 25°Ge37’. Mars turns direct on January 12, 2023, leaving his retrograde shadow on March 15th, 2023.

What can we expect?

When Mars turns retrograde, his fiery energies are directed inwards. We start to reflect back on events or incidents where we feel we failed to act, assert or defend ourselves appropriately.

During the retrograde period, any significant event – whether recent or historical – could become the trigger to our ego becoming suppressed, twisted, distorted, denied or betrayed. In any sense, we are reminded of times when we have let ourselves down by not asserting ourselves suitably. Conflicts during this period could instigate an intensely personal journey as our inner warrior seeks to restore his connection to the Higher Self.

Look to points/planets in your chart activated by Mars between 8°08′ and 25°37′ in mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) as potential sources of conflict.

Mars in Gemini highlights our capacity to talk ourselves out of a situation or at least find out the facts before we choose to take action. We are easily aroused into an argument and prone to point-scoring using well-timed, cutting observations, wit and sarcasm.

During his retrograde, we may be internally driven to reflect upon past efforts and instances where we have felt unsuccessful in upholding boundaries by using our logic, reason and words. We may start to ruminate upon matters in which we have not been diligent in applying our minds. Rather than asserting ourselves outwardly, we might be seething internally with the fires of regret, embarrassment, self-reproach and suppressed anger.

Motivated by an incentive for personal retribution or ‘setting matters straight’, those affected by this ‘backwards’ transit might be tempted to make a valiant but ill-timed attempt to ‘correct’ any past actions that did not sit well.

What could go wrong?

Typically, the less consciously we react under the impulse to ‘right the wrongs’, the more we appear to others as either coming on too strong, too late, or driven by totally disproportionate means, gestures and desired results.

Unfortunately, a square to stationing Mars from Neptune only distorts this process.

Under such unwelcome circumstances, amid facing further rejection, as if sensing the danger of humiliation or defeat, we quickly pull back, retreating yet deeper into an inward state of anger and disgust with ourselves. In this, we may become exasperatingly trapped in a recurring spiral of self-condemnation and discontent.

Familiar with such cycles? Perhaps you were born with a retrograde Mars yourself.

During the next few weeks, it is this process which needs to be checked since individuals who become prone to act in this mode are most inclined to express Mars energy in a subjectively desperate, wild, and hostile manner, exhibiting all sorts of destructive behaviour, particularly upon themselves or even towards their own kind.

How to make the most of the retrograde:

Driven to make amends for any actions perceived as ‘failures’, ‘disappointments’, or for our reticence to take any action at all (when action seemed most necessary), there could erupt a sudden tendency to over-react, in the cause to ‘undo a wrong-doing’, or to over-compensate for any under-performed deeds.

So goes the desperate recourse of the individual who becomes dangerously trapped in the destructive cycle of the ill-expressed Mars in retrograde.

1. Sensing bitterness for past actions
2. Feeling driven to making amends
3. Being blocked or rejected by others
4. Anger becomes internalised
5. Mental/physical/spiritual/emotional annoyance.
6.  Surfacing later as mistimed aggression (expressed as inflammatory symptoms/reactions)
7. Seething over-reaction and blame (as blind rage)
8. Residual anger at one’s world

On a higher note, the more mindful, less self-absorbed individual can process this inward-turning journey of Rx Mars more constructively, taking a less subjective or personal course of action.

Keeping a meditative or reflective view of instances where you may have acted with the sole intent to satisfy ego desires, you may come to own how these may have served to aggravate situations for you and the world around you.

In this particular instance, Mars retrograding in Gemini teaches us to trust our gut instinct about what makes sense, both logically and intuitively and take action on harmful lies, deceptions and cover-ups. Recognising where we failed in this will activate our urge to no longer put up with this behaviour, but this requires being honest with ourselves and not acting like it didn’t happen. Where there has been a past violation, insult or betrayal, a confrontation awaits, and we must speak out that we will not tolerate duplicitous behaviour any longer. If others continue to lie, we must assert that we are leaving them, forcing them to deal with the consequences of their lies by themselves.

By integrating past regrets into purposeful attempts to close off, resolve and dispel any disputes or hostilities, we set the ball rolling for real repair work. This can be achieved by offering our energy resources towards a project, cause or rekindling relationships based on cooperation rather than competition, fighting or wars. Beginning with self-forgiveness, we can release blame and hostility, focusing on overcoming selfish tendencies in our desire complexes that seize control over our mental acuity, eventually becoming more outwardly engaged in ways and means that align with the higher self and its purpose.

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“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”

~ Buddha

Summary

This is a critical time, when misinformation, propaganda and fake news have the potential to disturb and distort the way our minds operate, polarise our opinions, agitate us into violent extremism, hate speech and, ultimately, undermine personal and collective trust in fair and equitable democratic processes.

Our fight (as indicated by Mars) is in improving our analytical and critical thinking, our knowledge and critical understanding of the world, including the role that language and communication play in asserting ourselves in such a way that we do not leave behind or are left behind with any regrets and unresolved anger. These unacted-upon ills, when internalised, make us behave in the most radical ways, as we may see during a period where Mars is not only in retrograde but also out-of-bounds.

If you recognise the unintegrated or radicalised expressions of Mars energy and cannot handle these directly, be super-mindful that conflict is natural and is now happening in every ongoing relationship. Not having the energy to deal with it, and not possessing the skills or capacity to take on adversity does not mean you must automatically give in.

Although surrender is the higher way, it must be conscious and willing, with clear parameters of what we are sacrificing in the fight to maintain our autonomy and personal well-being. We must not allow ourselves to be duped nor act in ways which gloss over or deceive others. This is the key danger of this Rx Mars, where harboured resentment becomes a potential incendiary for later destructive behaviour.

HOW DOES THIS Rx MARS AFFECT YOUR SIGN?

Below is the horoscope reading for LEO/LEO RISING posted here as a gift to our readers. Cosmic Tribe members may access all 12 readings at this link:

Empowering Horoscope Messages for Mars Retrograde in Gemini

LEO/LEO RISING

Not only are you heavily drawn towards daydreaming, but it is possible when Mars is retrograding in Gemini that, you get all swept up with trying to relive the past.

It would appear to others like you are caught up in your own little world, ensconced in mental activities which seem largely impractical and just a bit self-indulgent. In truth, much of your energy is being increasingly directed towards your dreams of returning to more communicative times when things were more fluid (at least in your recollection). However, because you are dissipating much of your energy, you may struggle to be convincing in how any of those dreams could come to fruition in the present.

Notice how your fantastical visions for tomorrow can easily float away into the clouds? This is because you know that it will take an incredible effort to ground these visions into some present-tense reality. This is the point of sabotage right here. This stops you from doing what you need to make it happen.

Don’t worry. Through Mars’ retrograde in Gemini, you will soon learn how to energise these goals and ambitions so that you can overcome the one thing that seems to be holding you back from truly manifesting your romantic notions.

That one thing? Breaking the mental barrier, transcending delusional inadequacies and building enough force to smash through any psychological blocks. When you can finally bring yourself to apply your actions in a clear direction forward, you can convincingly lead others towards a far more fulfilling prospect of future achievement.

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