Speaking of retrogrades, let’s talk about this upcoming Mars Retrograde.

Mars is retrograde from Sep 9 to Nov 13, give or take a day based on time zone. Retrograde is an adjective meaning “moving backwards”—the planet’s movement in the sky appears to stop and turn around.

Mars retrograde happens roughly once every two years and lasts roughly two months. The last one was from Jun 26 to to Aug 27 2018 and was in Aquarius and Capricorn. The one before that was from Apr 17 to June 29 in Sagittarius and Scorpio.

Mars’s cycles are rough and inconsistent. When Venus goes retrograde, the pattern is neat, orderly, and beautiful, forming a slowly rotating five-pointed star over the course of years. Mars’s retrograde cycle lacks that consistency. Venus is orderly; Mars is chaotic.

But what does it all mean for you?

First of all, what planets do you have in Aries and Scorpio, and what houses do those signs fall in for you? Mars rules those two signs, and since this retrograde is entirely in Aries, your Aries house will be especially affected.

I’ll get to the specifics of that shortly if I can do so before breakfast, but generally you should expect: Extreme swings in energy levels, expression of anger, and libido, and men and masc folks from your past trying to hit you up.

Mars is also square Saturn the whole time this retrograde, so expect repeated thwarted efforts to be a theme. Attempts to get stuff done meeting with repeated obstacles.

“Important planets” here means: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. (Astrologers consider the Moon and Sun planets as a term of art within the field.) The Ascendant and Midheaven are also important here.

If you don’t know where any of those are for you, you can calculate it for free via: http://astro.com , http://astro-seek.com , the iPhone apps TimePassages or AstroGold, but please don’t use co-star or cafeastrology.

If you have Moon in Aries or Scorpio, expect your sense of physical and emotional security to be going through some challenges. If you have Mercury in Aries or Scorpio, it may be challenging to think things through clearly or stay organized. Venus, love life, joy, and desires.

If your Sun is in Aries or Scorpio, health, vitality, and self-expression will face some challenges. If you have Mars in Aries or Scorpio, just double down on the basic significations above re: energy levels, anger, libido, dudes from the past.

If you were born during a Mars retrograde or close to one, problems with inconsistency around these things have likely haunted you most of your life. Congratulations, you get to experience high-quality Mars function for a bit while everyone else loses it.

If you have Jupiter in Aries or Scorpio, the effects will be more subtle. Think challenges regarding big-picture thinking, your relationship with religion and/or spirituality, academics, and luck in general.

Saturn in Aries or Scorpio, expect challenges regarding your ability to maintain discipline and routine, relationships with old people, sense of time and structure, and the like. Jupiter and Saturn are more abstract in their impact on a chart / life.

I use whole sign house as I find they’re better for prediction, so the following is best shown based on that:

If you have Cancer rising, the main challenges will be around career, with additional challenges around sex, creativity, and children.

If you have Leo rising, the main challenges will have to do with academia and/or foreign places or people and/or travel and/or religion/spirituality. There will be additional challenges around home and/or family, particularly a risk of water damage in the home again.

If you have Virgo rising, the main challenges will likely be around darker emotions like fear, anxiety, and shame; and the desires, resources, and finances of your partners or clients. There may also be challenges involving your siblings, vehicles, or neighborhood.

Libra rising, your partners or clients may be having a hard time, or you may be getting into more arguments with them than usual. Money is likely to be a concern as well.

Scorpio rising, you’re likely to have stuff come up around identity and health, but it’ll be tied closely to work you do for others. If you have pets, they may have health issues as well—take them to a vet quickly if something seems amiss.

Sagittarius rising, your main challenges will involve sexuality, creative energy, capacity for joy, and/or children. There will likely be additional challenges involving how you get in your own way, bad dreams, and any enemies you’ve been dealing with this year.

Capricorn rising, your main challenges will involve the home and family. While arguments at home or with family are the most common way this manifests, make sure you’re extra careful about fire safety these next two months.

Aquarius rising, your main challenges will involve siblings, vehicles, and/or your neighborhood. There will also be challenges around career, or your boss may be having a bad time.

Pisces rising, be mindful of your finances. Watch for sudden expenses and keep a careful budget. Challenges around big-picture thinking, travel, academia, and foreign places or people from foreign places are likely to come up as well.

Aries rising, your main challenges will be around your core sense of self/identity as well as your vitality and energy levels. Give yourself permission to let who you know yourself to be change. This will likely bring up fear, anxiety, shame, and concerns re: what others want.

Taurus rising, your partner may be having a hard time, or you may find yourself being in conflict with your partner and/or clients more often. Your dreams may be disturbed, and you may be forced to confront the ways you get in your own way.

Gemini rising, your main challenges will involve friends and groups of people, and/or money and resources that come from your job or benefactors drying up. There will likely be challenges around work you do for others and/or pets as well.

Forgot to mention for Capricorn rising: There may be additional challenges around friends and groups of people and/or money and resources that come from your career or benefactors. https://twitter.com/ursularising/status/1301873126985420802

Yeah if your natal Mars is retrograde in Aries, Scorpio, or Capricorn you’re gonna have the easiest time of anyone. https://twitter.com/gemjones666/status/1301868960279912448

Honestly, sometimes life is hard. Sometimes it’s harder than others. Things falling apart does not mean the end of the world, you’re doomed, etc. Let this spur you to take action to prepare for the challenges ahead rather than despair. Knowing what’s coming makes it easier.

Saying this again: 2020 is a hell year with lots of difficult, painful astrology. But this too shall pass. There will be good times in the future to balance the bad. Things will be hard for a while, and then they’ll get better.

You’ll be okay. We’re in this together. https://twitter.com/average17/status/1301920765218926592

MC affects career and your boss, primarily. https://twitter.com/emilielegrand2/status/1301977213420568577