Mars goes retrograde (appearing to travel backwards in relation to our location on Earth) once every approximately 2 years and 2 months, and it lasts for approximately 10 weeks. (For those of you who enjoy patterns, that makes a 2-2-2-2; every 2 years and 2 months for 2 months and 2 weeks.)

When Mars is transiting in Direct motion through your houses, it normally doesn’t have any effects, unless it is your natal chart ruler.

But when it goes Retrograde (Rx), you need to look for the house it retrogrades through, and the degree it stations on before Rx and the degree it stations on when it stops retrograding and turns direct. “The degree it stations on” refers to a period of time when a planet stops moving (stationing, staying still) before turning direct or retrograde, and the degree of the zodiac it is on.

In general, the affairs ruled by the house Mars is retrograding through can have problems, such as finances if it’s through the 2nd house, and so on. Don’t panic, it rarely results in catastrophe. I am writing this guide so you know what to look for, and what to be aware of.

There are also certain aspects where it can be problematic:

-If it is retrograding through your 6th house, there can be health issues or physical accidents resulting in injury, either minor or major.

-If it stations before going Rx in tight aspect to your 6th house ruler, there can be a health issue or accident. I have seen this in the transits for a person who was diagnosed with cancer (he was treated quickly and is fine now).

Normally, it’s all fine, nothing to worry about, you likely don’t even notice it most of the time. But this period coming up, you might need to watch out, because it stations on 6 degrees which is a bad degree. In general, keeping up your daily aura/chakra cleaning and aura of protection, and raising your energies every day with meditation and yoga, will negate most of this energy.

Mars goes Rx on December 7, and remains there until February 24. It reaches 6 degrees of Leo on December 1, and remains on this malefic degree until December 12.

Look at your natal chart, find where 6 degrees of Leo is, the house it is in. This is the house of your natal chart where Mars will impact. Mars will retrograde to 17 degrees of Cancer, so if it goes back through the previous house, then that house is also affected. Just look at your natal chart, find those degrees, and you will determine where Mars will travel backwards, from 6 Leo to 17 Cancer, so you can see what house/s Mars will be in.

Now look to see if you have any natal planets that aspect 6 degrees of Leo, preferably in:
-conjunction (6 Leo),
-opposition (6 Aquarius),
-square (6 Taurus, 6 Scorpio),
-trine (6 Aries, 6 Sagittarius),
-inconjunction (6 Capricorn, 6 Pisces);

and also:
-semi-square (21 degrees of Virgo, 21 degrees of Gemini),
-sesi-square (21 degrees of Sagittarius, 21 degrees of Pisces),
-sextile (6 Gemini, 6 Libra).

You can broaden the orb up to 8 degrees for the major aspects but it’s generally within 5 degrees, and look at the houses these planets rule in your chart.

With astrology, exact degrees are very important when it comes to fate. If Mars station/Rx will be in, for example, 5 degree orb of a natal planet, that’s generally not fate. Probably nothing major will happen, but the energy can still be bad and perhaps cause something bad to happen. But if things line up on the same degree, and/or other planets are tightly linked in, that’s when fated events are shown. For the person I mentioned above who had cancer, Mars had stationed under 1 degree (by square) to his 6th house ruler.

And as with all transits, look to your Solar Return as well. If your SR looks good overall, then this Mars Rx period likely isn’t anything to worry about.