Mars, the planet of action, passion, drive, and aggression, stations retrograde on December 6, ushering us into months of reassessing our relationship to our goals, motivations, and desires. As the fiery planet of action, Mars provides the friction and motivation necessary to push us forward in pursuit of our ambitions. However, when Mars is retrograde we often find this planet’s friction lending towards a sense of frustration by slowing us down or even bringing our current goals to a halt. While this is very frustrating on its surface, Mars retrograde invites us to consider whether our current pace and actions are sustainable and aligned, leading us to burnout, or possibly even whether our current course of action is brewing conflict beneath the surface.
This Mars retrograde begins on December 6, starting in Leo, the sign of creative authenticity and expression, and brings Mars backward into Cancer, the sign of nurturing and tending to ourselves emotionally. This Mars retrograde will last until February 23, 2025, which means that this period of slowing down is transitioning us into the new year. While it may give off the feeling of starting the year on a sluggish foot, Mars retrograde is ultimately helping us to realign ourselves and move further into 2025 with an ignited sense of passion, drive, and excitement. However, to do so, each sign is asked to focus on some specific things to find that alignment and move forward. Read on to find out what your sign needs to bring into focus with this Mars retrograde to reset and move forward. Make sure to read your sun and rising sign!
Aries
AriesMars retrogrades are particularly challenging for you because you are a Mars-ruled sign. After all, you are a Mars-ruled sign. This Mars retrograde asks you to reassess your relationship to your creativity. More specifically, it asks you to focus on the connection between your sense of security in your life and how that supports your ability to be authentically creative. You’re being invited to rekindle your sense of joy to let your creativity fully shine by grounding into your home space and making it feel like the safe, nurturing space you need. When you can create from a sense of security, rather than a sense of urgency, you may find your creative output feels significantly more authentic and magnetic.
Taurus, this Mars retrograde is bringing your focus toward the role of communication within your home space and domestic spheres. How can you create stronger cohesiveness and connectivity between your family, friends, and loved ones by communicating more clearly, patiently, and compassionately? You may also find this Mars retrograde bringing attention to your social life, asking you to consider what kind of social activity leaves you feeling charged and excited and what leaves you feeling drained and exhausted. All of this together is important information for building a stronger network of support in your life.
For you, Gemini, this Mars retrograde may start with some struggles around communication with your friends, siblings, coworkers, or any other people you interact with regularly. This Mars retrograde may also require you to reassess your finances and income. Focus on recentering yourself in your own values and worth to navigate your way through both of these things. What do you bring to the table, Gemini, that enhances your community and network? And how can these things better bolster your sense of security by improving your finances and income? If you find yourself getting carried away with the bigger picture, remember that how you show up moment to moment, day to day, all add up to the bigger goals.
You’ve recently wrapped up a long-term transformation process that you’re still processing and integrating, Cancer. With that in mind, how can you take action moving forward as the person you have become? What does your sense of personal worth and values look like now, and what does that mean for the trajectory of your story from here? This Mars retrograde may have you reassessing your relationship between your creative gifts and your career. However, focusing on what it means to be the person you’ve become in action is the key to finding cohesiveness and forward movement in those two spaces of your life.
Leo
As we round out 2024, you’ve been moving through some challenging moments regarding your relationship with your authenticity and sense of self, Leo. As we end the year with this Mars retrograde, you may take a step back when it comes to what you thought you were sure about in who you are. This Mars retrograde demands some introspection from you, especially as we transition out of 2024 and into 2025. To move forward into the new year with your strong, signature Leo confidence, you may want to consider what you know to be true when you quiet down all the external noise. Bringing that into your focus might require some much-needed peace and solitude. However, taking the reflective space you need can be exactly the thing that reconnects you to yourself, allowing you to shine as the most authentic version of yourself truly.
For you, Virgo, this Mars retrograde is bringing your focus to your mental health and spiritual well-being, and how those things can feed into and support your greater aspirations and dreams for yourself. It can be easy to get caught up on the external day-to-day when making things happen, but what becomes possible when you tend to your mental well-being? You might find that stepping back and course-correcting your actions from a deep internal place, rather than constantly micro-adjusting your surroundings, brings you a momentum that feels all the more fulfilling, Virgo.
Libra, this Mars retrograde is bringing you a big moment of career reassessment. You may have been feeling quite a bit of burnout in that area of your life, or at the very least feeling disconnected from why you have put yourself on the track you’re currently on. Bringing your focus back towards your aspirations and dreams might be the key to helping nudge movement in those areas where you’re feeling stuck right now, Libra. Where can you bring your career path and your aspirations back into harmony? Where do they possibly need a bit of separation for you to categorizeake some pressure off? If you struggle with this, let yourself cut loose and have a little bit of fun with some friends to remind yourself of where a shared vision can create a sense of community and motivation in your life.
Scorpio, as a Mars-ruled sign, you’ll feel this Mars retrograde pretty personally. Because of that, it’s extra important for you to move slowly and pay attention to where you find yourself bumping up against the friction of frustration. This retrograde brings your attention to your perspective on the world and who you’re meant to be. As such, your focus needs to be carried towards what you build your sense of self upon and how you put that into action each day. In doing so, you may find yourself reconnecting with your greater calling in life in a way that allows you to find a meaningful path in your work and your life.
Sagittarius, for you this Mars retrograde is bringing about a spiritual reset. You may find your focus being pulled towards more shadowy aspects of yourself as this Mars retrograde demands you to confront the things you struggle with deeply, even subconsciously. However, by allowing yourself to focus on those things and give them your full attention, you may find an innate ability to alchemize those shadows into tremendous strength and wisdom. You are a natural seeker of wisdom and truth, Sagittarius, and by sitting with the things that are hard to sit with, your creativity, knowledge, perspective, and intellect will flourish in ways that ignite the spark you need to allow your passions to move you forward.
Capricorn, this Mars retrograde is bringing your relationships to the forefront. What role do intimacy and vulnerability play in your relationships? Where do you need to slow down regarding how your resources are intertwined with others in your life? You may find that for your relationships to move forward into 2025 steadily and sustainably, you need to bring your focus back to the foundations your relationships are built upon. It may be helpful to consider how you handle conflict in your relationships and where you can utilize the process of working through conflict to strengthen your relationships.
Aquarius, this Mars retrograde is bringing your focus toward the relationships in your life and how you can create a better sense of nurturance and self-care through your daily routines. While these two things may seem pretty unrelated, it may be helpful to consider the role that others play in your day-to-day routines. Who do you interact with daily and in what capacity? Where do you need to enhance your boundaries to nurture yourself better, and where do you perhaps need to soften your boundaries to invite more emotional connectivity in your day-to-day life? This Mars retrograde is ultimately asking you to slow down and consider what would bring a sense of emotional nurturance into your daily life, which can also help you show up in your relationships more authentically and supportively.
Pisces
Pisces, this Mars retrograde is bringing your focus towards reinvigorating excitement in your daily mundane. Where do things feel a little bit dry and stale, and how can you pull in practices and moments that foster your creativity and joy every day? Pisces, you thrive best when you can center your unique creativity and feel in touch with it at any given moment, so it should come as no surprise that losing sight of that creates a disconnect that has you moving through your day-to-day feeling unattached and unmotivated. By bringing your inner child and authentic sense of joy into focus, you stand to pull that sense of joy into your daily life in ways that encourage you to shine fully
