At 4:45 am PDT March 25, Mars enters Cancer. What does this mean for all of us?

It means that how we generally “attack the problems of life,” or how we “take the initiative” leaves the adaptable and curious Mutable Air of Gemini and now expresses it through the Cardinal Water of Cancer.

Having discovered many things in Gemini, Mars now leaves its multi-tasking mode and enters the more cautious sign of Cancer. This will help us consolidate many things through our ability to play good defense and protect what we’ve accomplished so far.

Mars continues to speed up after its long retrograde in Gemini, and in Cancer anticipates what we’ll experience this Summer when the inner planets transit that sign. Mars in Cardinal Cancer is cautious, but “sure in its insecurity.” Mars in this sign takes the initiative to shift gears, shift direction, shift allegiances, and shift methods to ensure security first, last, and always! What presents itself over the next few weeks paves the way for our experiences in May, June and July.

Mars is now moving at about 29 minutes a day and continues to speed up. By late May when it enters Leo it will be at 34 minutes per day and still gaining speed. This indicates a gradual speeding up of our ability to use the transiting Mars energies in diverse, sensitive, and creative ways.

Mars’ Path To Where We Are Now

We’ll begin with Mars’ last transit through Cancer in the Spring of 2021, which brought shifts in allegiance and direction and the need to integrate these new directives in our lives to make us more secure. It then moved through Leo between mid-June and late July 2021. Fiery Leo is another element Mars is familiar with. Mars in Leo offered new initiatives wherever we have Leo in our charts, allowing us to know what our hearts were into. Mars in Leo is a time to show style in whatever we do, as well as playfulness.

As Water (Cancer) and Fire (Leo) are elements integral to Mars’ nature, Mars is comfortable in those signs, even if it doesn’t grow that much in Cancer. Mars does very well in the Fixed Fire of Leo, as the Aries part of Mars is Fiery, and the Scorpio part of Mars is Fixed. Mars in Virgo was also favorable, since the Earthy Virgo is related to its exaltation Earth sign of Capricorn.

Between mid-September through late October 2021 we experienced another transit of Mars through the idealistic Cardinal Air sign of Libra, shifting the ruler of the houses and planets we have in Aries and Scorpio from Virgo Earth to Libra Air. After that period of it not “being at home,” it then moved from the idealistic Air of Libra to its natural Water element in Scorpio where it stayed all of November and the first half of December. This affected planets and houses where we have Aries and Scorpio, shifting the emphasis from Air to Water.

Mars was in Sag from mid-December through late January 2022, and was in Capricorn from then to early March, when it entered Aquarius. Mars in Capricorn is in its sign of “exaltation,” helping whatever we have in Aries or Scorpio to become more efficient and practical. Mars was in the Air sign of Aquarius from early March to mid-April 2022, and returned to Watery Pisces between mid-April and late May.

In Pisces, especially during the time it was conjunct Neptune, was a time to flow, bless, and forgive much, since we were dealing with the vast ocean of Neptunian collective consciousness. When it left the Water of Pisces and entered the Fire of Aries in late May 2022, it transitioned to an inspirational emphasis and moved our Aries and Scorpio planets and sectors into a Fiery expression. It entered Taurus in early July, and then entered Gemini in late August, where it’s been through now, giving our Aries and Scorpio sectors a Gemini emphasis.

Mars’ entry into Cancer throws the primary focus of activity in the house where we have the first 10 degrees of Cancer from now through April 14. From April 14 through May 2, the focus of activity will be in the house where we have the second 10 degrees of Cancer, with the focus on 21-30 Cancer from May 2 through May 20.

The Mars Challenge Since January 2019

The Mars Challenge For All Signs

When Mars was in Aries, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra, and fulfillment to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer. (This last happened between July 2020 and January 2021. This cycle was re-set most recently from late May to July 4.)

While Mars was in Taurus, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Taurus, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aquarius. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Scorpio, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Leo. (This last happened January and February 2021. This cycle was re-set from July 4 to now.)

While Mars is in Gemini, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Gemini, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Pisces. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Sagittarius, and fulfillment to those with Sun or Ascendant in Virgo. (This happened between early March and late April 2021, and the current transit of Gemini will re-set the energy anew between now and late March 2023.)

While Mars was in Cancer, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra. (This cycle was re-set between late April and mid-June 2021 and won’t renew until March/April 2023.)

While Mars is in Leo, it brings new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Leo, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Taurus. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aquarius, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Scorpio. (This cycle was re-set between mid-June and late July 2021.)

While Mars is in Virgo, it brings new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Virgo, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Gemini. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Pisces, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Sagittarius. This cycle was re-set between late July and mid-September 2021.)

While Mars is in Libra, it brings new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn. (This cycle was re-set between mid-September and late October 2021.)

While Mars is in Scorpio, it brings new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Scorpio, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Leo. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Taurus, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aquarius. (This cycle was re-set from November through mid-December 2021.)

While Mars was in Sagittarius, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Sagittarius, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Virgo. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Gemini, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Pisces. (This cycle was re-set from December through late January 2022.)

While Mars was in Capricorn, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries. (This cycle was re-set from late January through early March 2022)

While Mars was in Aquarius, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aquarius, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Scorpio. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Leo, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Taurus. (This cycle was re-set from early March through mid-April 2022.)

While Mars was in Pisces, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Pisces, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Sagittarius. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Virgo, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Gemini. (This last happened from mid-May through late June 2020. This cycle was re-set from mid-April to late May 2022 .)

Obviously within these transit spans there are other “phase relationships” between transiting Mars and all the planets in our charts, but to go into all of them would make this article a book. For example, Mars makes aspects to your other planets which are different than aspects to your Sun and Ascendant. All aspects, waxing and waning, fall within “The Whole Cycle” of each planet to every other planets and our Ascendant. You can find out more about the Whole Cycle in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. where I explain the various phases in the planetary cycles in terms of the Whole Cycle for various generations.

Mars Links to the Past, Present, and Future

While Mars now initiates a new time of activity wherever we have Cancer, it activates the information the inner planets will bring us when they transit Cancer in May, June, and July. Mars activates what the other planets have set into play with their transits, which in turn affects what springs forth when Jupiter subsequently transits those points.

When Mars conjuncted Jupiter in Aries on May 29 at 4 Aries, it began a new two year cycle of opportunity and expansion wherever that falls in our charts. That sets the pace for the rapidly unfolding developments of Jupiter in Aries, which is active from late May through late October, with a rapid return between late December and mid-May 2023.

Mars Set the Pattern of the New Age in 2020

Mars conjunction with Saturn at 1 Aquarius in March 2020 launched a totally future oriented period of human existence which began to take shape in a new 20 year Aquarian Era with Jupiter’s conjunction with Saturn on that same degree in December 2020. And here it’s important to note that this is the last transit of Saturn through Aquarius before we “slip across the edge of the Age” after 2050.

I explained how various Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto transits over the past 3 centuries each strengthened the advent of the Age of Aquarius in the article Uranus Awakened the Age of Aquarius, Neptune Dreamed It Into Collective Consciousness, and Pluto Will Sprout It Into Life, as well as why we are not yet fully into the Age of Aquarius yet, but will be in the third quarter of this century. Of course, living on the cusp of a Great Age means we will be dealing with the dying echoes of the Age of Pisces for some time to come, since many who were born under those dying assumptions will try to perpetuate them as long as they can.

Just remember that the Capricorn cycles set into motion by Mars in March 2020 will have far reaching implications, some of which won’t be completed until 2053! We won’t have another Saturn conjunct Pluto for over 30 years, nor another Jupiter conjunct Pluto until early 2033. These Capricorn cycles will play out until the next transit of the outer planets over the conjunction points as a finish to what just began, and as prelude to the next cycles beginning then. (There will be an exact Sun conjunct Jupiter as both conjunct Pluto in February 2033 at the Angel Point at 15 Aquarius. That promises to be a much happier cycle than the current one!)

Aspects in Play

We’re now going to experience a renewed Cancer experience in the house(s) where we have that sign in our charts. During Mars’ transit of Cancer, it will make many aspects to the outer planets and receive many aspects from the inner planets. I won’t go into detail about the inner planet aspects, except to say that it will be in a very favorable relationship with Merucyr from late March through early July, which will assist our Taurus and Cancer house functions tremendously.

during its direct period which will be revisited, reworked, or re-done during its retrograde in November and December. Then when it transits its shadow zone a third time between January and March, we’ll be much more familiar and skilled with those aspect phase relationships.

The main aspects from Mars to the outer planets show Mars makes a quincunx to Pluto in late March, leading up to the opposition in mid-May from 1 Leo to 1 Aquarius. Mars makes a biseptile to Neptune the second week of April, a tredecile the third and fourth weeks of April, and then a trine through late May. It begins its time in Cancer with a semisquare to Uranus, followed by a septile in early April, a sextile in late April, and a quintile in mid-to-late May.

It makes a favorable trine to Saturn in late March, a sesquisquare in late April and early May, and a biquintile by mid-May. And it begins its transit of Cancer making a quintile to Jupiter, followed by a binovile in mid-April and a fateful, very powerful square in late May as part of a highly dynamic T-square between Mars, Jupiter, and Pluto.

As I’ve offered before, when Mars is within a degree of forming or separating while making a hard aspect with a planet, slow down and show deliberation and caution in how you use force. Hard aspects to/from Mars always require that we moderate or antidote impulsiveness and impatience.

What Do Mars Oppositions Teach Us?

At this point in its cycle, Mars is actually some sort of “herald” as it transits Cancer, Leo, and Virgo before the inner planets pass it this Summer. We’ve had no oppositions other than those made by the Moon for many months; Mars will make the first non-Lunar opposition to another planet in late May when it opposes Pluto. The next opposition will be with Neptune in late August, followed by oppositions to Jupiter and Uranus in late October and early November.

Please remember that while they can be tense, those oppositions require us to use different spiritual planetary energies. All oppositions made by Mars externalize various types of wisdom, since the “Tension of Opposites” between the planetary expressions in the signs they’re in entirely determines the spiritual tests to learn and demonstrate.

As I noted in Chapter 2 in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend,

Mars' duality is Grace/Sin. This is the aspect of consciousness that shows whether our responses are manifesting error or truth, maladjustment or beauty. By our Martian function we force things before their time or confront abrasive, aggressive, or hostile energies in ourselves and others, and thus we learn how to sever what must be severed, and further what must be furthered, quickly and directly. (As an aside, the original meaning of “sin” had nothing to do with moral failure. It was an archery term meaning “to miss the mark,” or not hitting the center of a target. I use it here in that sense.)

So beginning in June, we’ll all be going through “tests of skill” in expressing the realizations which surface at Mars oppositions. June and July will bring realizations about Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter. September and November will give us realizations about Neptune and Uranus.

Into The Future

During this time of Mars in Cancer, open to discovering different ways to reorient and secure what we need to express our creativity when Mars is in Leo. Be caring, sensitive, cautious, and use your new discoveries of Mars in Gemini to focus on consolidating and integrating what you’ve learned since last August. This helps us renew our Cancer skills, where we can take the enthusiasm and power generated in Aries, grounded in Taurus, and explored in Gemini to get a new orientation to what we’re doing and why.

What We Experience When Mars is in Each Sign

Mars in Aries teaches us how to act on our own initiative, not defer so much to others, and “working half-heartedly is not the way to accomplish much.” Mars in Taurus teaches us to “take pleasure in our work” as we learn to keep it simple and steady despite crosswinds, and Mars in Gemini teaches us adaptability because “there are many ways to get things done.” Mars in Cancer teaches us to “be watchful as we work,” acting with sensitivity, care, and caution.

Mars in Leo teaches us to “work with flair and style,” putting on the show as we accomplish things in inspired ways. This is a time to show our power and style when opportunities present themselves, and see how our command of energy can be expressed in creative ways. Mars in Virgo taught us “All play and no work make for an ungrounded life.” Mars in Libra taught us “All work with no socializing makes for an unsustainable life.” Mars in Scorpio taught us “doing the wrong thing in the wrong way with the wrong people will never make us happy, so do the right thing and be happy!”

Mars in Sagittarius teaches us how to be a “stylish and bold Archer riding our Sacred Arrows to our dream,” as well as “scattered effort leaves us frustrated.” Mars in Capricorn teaches us “Work for the now, work for the future, work for all time.” Mars in Aquarius teaches us “As you strive for greater things, you make manifest a future ideal which will outlive you.” Mars in Pisces teaches us “to witness our common humanity as we struggle for clarity in a murky collective environment.”

We got a sense of the promise of things to come when Mars transited Sagittarius, got a new look at what we are to do and how we are to do it during Mars in Capricorn, and a new engagement with multiple long wave Aquarian cycles. We moved through vast fogs of the collective consciousness where we had to bless a lot to move down the time stream in Pisces so we could embrace the important new initiatives of Mars conjunct Jupiter in Aries! We secured the momentum in Taurus and found there were many ways to do things in Gemini, and now we get to find relative security and intimacy in Cancer as we enjoy sharing activities with our Spiritual Brothers and Sisters.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

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