MARS IN CANCER (March 25-May 24)

After spending the last nine months in racy, mentally agile Gemini, Mars is finally ready to move on and enter emotionally touchy Cancer, where he’ll stay until May 24, 2023. Here we’ll see a shift in how we act out and how we pursue our most personal interests and desires.

During these next two months, it’s probably wise to watch being too reactive and overemotional when fired up. Every insult and offence is viewed through Cancer’s extremely subjective lens. Since Mars is in his detriment in Cancer, and still out-of-bounds, the slightest of slights can make us more defensive and easily triggered, leading to heatedly choked-up arguments and emotionally fuelled disputes, especially if others fail to take our feelings into account. Before flying off the handle, it’s best to take a breath, go away and cool off before coming back and trying to respond more calmly and rationally.

On the plus side, Mars in Cancer does bring nuance and texture to our defence, boosting intuition and emotional intelligence, allowing us to broach more tender subjects, make the matter more personable when asserting ourselves or dealing with annoyances. Being more connected to our feelings gives us the capacity to act on them more constructively, allowing us to focus on nurturing our inner child, be more protective in our relationships, and more mindful of the harmful impact our often unconscious actions have on others.

It’s worth warning against being too passive or avoiding conflicts altogether. Mars, through Cancer, makes us more hesitant to act, especially when confronting difficult situations. It’s probably not a good defence strategy to retract into the fetal position with thumb in mouth. Try finding a balance between assertiveness and sensitivity and avoid passive-aggressive behaviour.

Remember, you always have the power to choose how you act and react in your world. In any upset, choosing to be tender and kind, even under the harshest conditions, is not weakness; it’s courage.

At a more mundane level, Mars in Cancer does push out a heightened focus on domestic issues and a sense of pride in one’s country or home. We’ll see a rise in down-home culture and a push towards nationalism, with individuals and communities rallying around flags and totems that display their unique cultural and historical roots. There may also be an increased concern for the protection of family and local communities, with a focus on protecting and preserving traditional values and ways of life.

There’s every risk that this focus on the local and the domestic could lead to a narrow-mindedness or insularity, with a lack of respect and appreciation for diversity of cultures and interconnectedness of the broader world, and a sense of insecurity around foreigners coupled with nationalistic pride requires greater openness and willingness to engage with different perspectives, trends and cultures.

With Mars edging through the eclipse period towards the frightful May 21 T-Square, we will see the downside to getting too hung up on one’s own garb and stubbornly failing to see the consequences of our overly emotional reactiveness.

Decipher the profound wisdom of the universe with Ang Stoic, master interpreter of the stars. Learn how to use celestial insights to navigate life’s highs and lows with clarity and purpose. Join today and embark on a transformative cosmic experience.