♂Mars Retrograde Dates

What Mars retrograde means

Mars governs assertion, so its retrograde is read as forward motion turning inward. Plans that depend on force, speed, or confrontation tend to stall or double back; energy that would normally go outward gets spent on re-examining a fight you thought was settled. The classic advice is to avoid starting anything that needs sustained aggression to succeed — a lawsuit, a competitive launch, a confrontation — and instead use the window to find out why the last attempt lost momentum.

This retrograde crosses a sign boundary backwards, stationing at 10° Virgo and turning direct at 21° Leo. Mars therefore spends the period re-covering late Leo, a stretch it had already passed through — worth noting if you have planets or an angle in the last third of Leo.

How often Mars turns retrograde

Mars retrogrades about every 26 months and stays retrograde for roughly 10 weeks, which makes it the longest of the personal-planet retrogrades. Because the cycle is more than two years long, most calendar years contain no Mars retrograde whatsoever.

A retrograde is apparent motion, not real reversal — the planet keeps orbiting the Sun in the same direction. What changes is the viewing angle from a moving Earth, which makes the planet appear to slow, stop at its station, trace backward, and then resume. To see which of your own placements these degrees touch, cast your free natal chart and compare them against the station degrees above.

Frequently asked questions