Mars retrograde
Mars Retrograde in Aquarius
Mars retrograde in Aquarius is when Mars appears to move backward through Aquarius, drawing its drive into groups, causes, and the impulse to rebel.
Modern
Aquarius aims Mars at the collective: the cause, the movement, the urge to break with how things are done. When a planet appears to move backward through the zodiac from our view on Earth. Its energy turns inward, slows down, or revisits old ground rather than pushing ahead., that energy turns inward and uneven, and friction shows up in groups, alliances, and your own convictions about change. This is not the time to stage the dramatic break or push a reform on others by force. It is the time to rethink your part: revisit a cause you drifted from, reconsider a falling-out with a group, and test whether your rebellion serves the goal or just your frustration. Work with people rather than against them, and let the next stand take shape from steadier ground.
Traditional (Hellenistic)
Mars in Aquarius drives toward reform and the company of others, set on changing the established order by will. Retrograde, older readers would warn against discord within groups and against reckless defiance for its own sake, and recommend the patient reweighing of one's alliances and causes over any sudden or forceful break.
- groups
- causes
- rebellion
- reconsider
- alliance
Lean in
Revisiting a cause you drifted from and mending a falling-out within a group.
Watch for
The dramatic break, forcing reform on others, or rebelling out of pure frustration.
Sources
- Sullivan, Retrograde Planets: Traversing the Inner Landscape (2000)A book-length study of retrograde planets as an inward turn of the planet's function.
- Hand, Planets in Transit (1976)The standard modern reference on how transiting planets, retrograde included, are actually experienced.