Mars Enters Cancer
Mars’s Long Road through Gemini
We have been living with Mars in the sign Gemini since August 20th of 2022…! This weekend, Mars makes his grand exit from the sign of the twins, and sweeps into the watery realms of Cancer, the cosmic crab, bringing a serious shift to collective attitudes to anger, bravery, action, and conquest.
Mars was so long in Gemini, of course, due to his retrograde which lasted from October 30th, 2022 to January 12th, 2023, with Mars dragging his battle boots backwards from Gemini 25° - 8°. Those of us with mutable placements in that degree range have been worked over, tested, irritated, poked and prodded by our warrior planet, who detests his retrograde motion as much as we do. The warrior wants to move forward always. His direct station on January 12th brought some relief, but his ingress into Cancer on March 25th, this Saturday, will bring a true change in his expression.
Mars enters Cancer
When I think of Mars through the various signs, I like to envision the signs as giving Mars different forms of armor and weaponry to use on his journey through the zodiac. Some signs give ample resources for carving a path forward, others offer the tools of strategy, or the warmth of courage.
In Cancer, Mars dons armor made of hollowed out crab shell and claw. Protected by materials that are made by the sea, he wafts salt winds down the fields and roadways he traverses. His sword hilt decorated with the claws and spines of crustaceans, he is here to walk the side-ways path of the crab.
Cancer is not thought of as a typically comfortable sign for Mars, in fact, it’s his sign of “fall,” a place where he is not as well resourced for the typical modes of violence and conquering he loves most. Some may say that the move from Mars in Gemini gives us an “out of the frying pan, into the fire” feeling (or perhaps into the sea is more apt!?). Regardless of our understanding of planetary dignity, the fact that Mars is changing signs at all must have our attention.
When Mars walks the realm of Cancer, his sword and shield are to be used for the purposes of turning inward, exploring the inner emotional realms. Cancer is a water sign ruled by the Moon, and so themes of nurture, and ancestral weight, are held here. Mars in Cancer sees the warrior turn his attention to the long-held storyline of familial experience, and asks us to be brave and stalwart as we use emotions, intuition, and care as the tools that cut the deepest.
While our attempts at making change may not be very direct—after all, the crab herself has a sideways gait—the change of pace is welcome, and seeks to get us back on track as far as our Mars journey goes. Stay attuned to this shift, which happens at 4:45am PST on 3/25, and welcome Mars into this new zodiacal expression. For those of you in Mars-ruled profection years, take note, as your time lord changing signs brings a deep energetic shift for you. Same goes for my friends with Mars-ruled ascendants (Aries, Scorpio rising).
