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Mars Retrograde 2024-2025

What to Do When Mars Retrograde Activates Your Natal Chart


Why Mars Retrograde Feels Like Life Is Stuck

Tension, frustration, stuck, stagnation, setbacks… those are the words on the street these days. And Mars retrograde might be to blame. If you're experiencing similar feelings, you're not alone. I'm feeling it too, particularly around the lack of results from my marketing efforts. As we navigate this Mars retrograde period, I'm hearing these words echoed everywhere.


For this client for example, Mars retrograde transit in her 6th house wasn’t subtle—it was shaking up her daily routines, energy, and affecting relationships. Combined with her sensitive 10th house Moon and restrictive Saturn in the 5th, life felt off-balance, overwhelming, and tense.


Mars retrograde is rarely a quiet transit. It stirs tension, frustration, and hard lessons—especially when it triggers multiple areas of your chart. For my client, the frustration was clear: the things she usually enjoyed felt lackluster, work demands were heavier than usual, and old triggers were resurfacing in relationships.



Mars Retrograde 2024-2025: How to Navigate Its Impact on Your Natal Chart


Mars Retrograde: Understanding the Disruption


What Mars Retrograde Means

Mars retrograde occurs approximately every two years, lasting 8 to 11 weeks—or 6 to 7 months when including the shadow period. The current Mars retrograde began on December 6, 2024, at 06° Leo and will turn direct on February 23, 2025, at 17° Cancer. As a personal planet signifying our passion, drive, and willpower, Mars affects our lives in deeply personal ways.


  • Energy and Action: Mars governs drive, vitality, and self-assertion. During retrograde, these energies turn inward rather than express outwardly.

  • Frustration and Challenges: Everyday activities often require more effort, creating feelings of frustration and ineffectiveness.

  • Reflection and Reassessment: This period invites introspection, especially regarding ambitions, anger, conflicts, and sexuality.


How Mars Retrograde Affected My Client's Chart

I began by explaining what was happening astrologically in her natal chart:

“Your chart is a day chart, which means Mars is naturally more challenging for you. In your natal chart, Mars sits in Taurus at 0 degrees—a degree of initiation, where there’s much to learn. And with Mars positioned in your 3rd house, the lessons center on communication, siblings, your immediate environment, and daily interactions, where it's very close to home—affecting emotional sensitivity."


Mars in Taurus is tricky. Mars wants to move forward—boldly and fast—but Taurus energy demands patience, security, and deliberate steps. During retrograde, especially square from Leo like in this time, the tension amplifies: lessons are revisited, frustrations rise, and stagnation can feel unbearable. I asked her if that resonated.


“Yes,” she said. “I’ve been revisiting old arguments with family and coworkers—it feels exhausting. And my routines at home feel stuck. I feel like my foot’s on the gas, but I’m still stuck in neutral.”


Mars also acts as a trigger planet, ruling her 2nd house of finances (Aries) and her 9th house of beliefs and higher meaning (Scorpio). Venus—Mars’ dispositor—is in her 10th house, amplifying concerns around career and her worthiness in the work field.


Identifying the Triggers

To move forward, we explored recent Mars activations:

  1. A lingering disagreement with a sibling that left her feeling unheard and trapped in old family patterns.

  2. Work feedback that shook her confidence and challenged her sense of self-worth.

  3. Financial stress marked by frustration over lack of progress.


Astrological Advice During Mars Retrograde

  1. Self-Reflection: Use this time for introspection and reassessment of goals and actions.

  2. Patience: Recognize that progress may be slower, and avoid forcing issues.

  3. Conflict Management: Be mindful of increased potential for conflicts and practice diplomacy.

  4. Energy Redirection: Channel frustrations into constructive activities or self-improvement.


Move Stuck Energy with Daily Journaling

Back to the session, I suggested a simple yet transformative practice:

“How about start a daily journaling ritual? At night, write about what activated you during the day. Get it out of your head and onto paper. Don’t worry about structure—just let it flow. If nothing comes up, focus on three wins or three things you loved about your day. For example, a 'win' could be completing a task you’ve been avoiding, and something you loved might be as simple as enjoying a quiet cup of tea or receiving a kind message from a friend.”


With Mars activating her 3rd house, journaling helps release mental tension while Mercury’s influence in the 9th house guides her toward deeper understanding and meaning.


A Month to Move the Energy

Mars retrograde is not a quick fix. For my client, I encouraged her to embrace the slow-and-steady wisdom of Taurus. She doesn’t need to rush through her lessons—she needs to process them, reflect on them, and honor where she is.


We agreed to check back in after a full moon cycle. By then, she’d have time to notice patterns, process frustrations, and see where her energy was shifting.


I also reminded her: Mars retrograde continues until February, and it will transit back into her Cancer 5th house on January 6, 2025, where her Saturn resides. The lessons she’s facing now—around motivation, communication, and self-worth—are preparing her for even deeper work around joy and creativity.


Mars Retrograde 2024-2025: Zodiac Signs That Feel It Most

Though Mars retrograde affects everyone, some signs experience its influence more powerfully:

  • Fixed Signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius): These signs often experience heightened inner conflict and struggle to release tensions. The retrograde forms challenging aspects—conjunction (Leo), opposition (Aquarius), and squares (Taurus and Scorpio)—which activate and intensify these tensions.

  • Aries and Scorpio: Being Mars-ruled signs, they experience the retrograde's effects most deeply.

  • Cardinal Signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorns): As Mars retrogrades back into Cancer, these signs may experience heightened emotional reactions and challenges around security and nurturing. Cancer in particular feels this transit strongly, as Mars is considered to be in its fall in Cancer, meaning its naturally more challenging.


If you have dominated fixed and cardinal signs or strong Mars-ruled signs (Aries and Scorpio), this transit may feel especially personal—as if the universe is asking you to pause and face what you've been avoiding.


The Key Aspects During Mars Retrograde

Opposition to Pluto

This is a major feature of this Mars Retrograde 2024-2025 cycle, with Mars and Pluto locked in opposition for an unusually long period of about 6 months.

  • November 3, 2024: First exact opposition at 29° Cancer/Capricorn

  • January 3, 2025: Second exact opposition at 1° Leo/Aquarius

  • April 27, 2025: Final exact opposition at 3° Leo/Aquarius

This prolonged Mars-Pluto opposition may bring intense power struggles and transformative experiences.

Opposition to Venus

  • December 12, 2024: Mars opposite Venus

This aspect can increase sensitivity and physical desires, but may also lead to tension in relationships.

Opposition to the Sun

  • January 15, 2025: Mars opposite Sun

This represents a turning point in the retrograde cycle, potentially exposing unresolved issues and allowing for honest self-evaluation.


Takeaways for Navigating Mars Retrograde

If you’re feeling the heat of Mars retrograde:

  1. Identify the triggers. Notice where frustration and tension are showing up in your life.

  2. Examine your natal chart. Identify where Mars retrograde is activating key areas. Focus on the degrees between 06° Leo and 17° Cancer—these points reveal where tension, lessons, or breakthroughs might surface for you.

  3. Honor slow progress. This current Mars retrograde began on December 6 and will end on February 23, 2025. It's a long journey, so no rushing. Work with the retrograde cycle—it’s a process, not a race.

  4. Build a daily practice. The key is to prevent frustration from accumulating in the body. Try daily practices like journaling, exercise, meditation, or anything that helps you release tension and feel grounded.


Transform Mars Retrograde Challenges into Powerful Growth Opportunities

Remember: Mars retrograde isn’t here to derail you—it’s here to refine you. During this time, your frustrations become signposts, pointing toward areas ready for transformation. Your goals, energy, and direction are being refined in ways that may not be immediately visible, but are deeply meaningful.


If this resonates, take a breath. Slow down. And trust that the process will carry you exactly where you need to go.

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Chai Luna

About the Author

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Hello, I'm Chai Luna, an astrology and spiritual writer. I'm an alter twin of Nat, the guiding force of Chai Astrology, emerging from her Ascendant in Gemini and blessed by Mercury and the Asteroid Goddess Urania. My words flow with the whispers of spirits, the wisdom of stars, and the blessings of goddesses. Each piece I write is an offering—a creative vessel to help you align with cosmic rhythms and discover your sacred path. Let's journey through the celestial and mystical together.

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Hi, I'm Nat!

I’m Natsuko, an astrologer and spiritual entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in running my own business.

At Chai Astrology, I guide spiritual entrepreneurs, practitioners, and seekers to uncover their hidden potential, navigate life’s transitions, and align with their spiritual purpose. Using the ancient wisdom of astrology, lunar cycles, goddess, and intuition, I offer personalized insights tailored to your journey.

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