Mars Retrograde in Leo and Cancer: Nurturing begins Within

Inner Self Council
16 min readSep 7, 2024

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Introduction:

This energy really is a crossroads for everyone. Cancer is the first sign where we start to see emotions. We are in Aries first, the stage of the newborn demanding with cries their needs be met. We move into Taurus, where we are toddlers seeking pleasure in the things around us.

In Gemini we start talking and communicating. We recognize a duality that exists. We are edgy teens tired of not knowing where we belong or fit in. But in Cancer we start to recognize that how we feel matters. Mars exalts in the opposite sign of Capricorn, so in Cancer he isn’t as strong.

I have told you all from the beginning that the way to change your external life is to grow your emotional intelligence. Before you act (Mars) sit in conversation with your higher self, and feel as if (Cancer). Let Source energy be what nurtures you and protects you.

Mars can be a bit passive aggressive in Cancer, but he is still there to cut something out. Whether it’s conditioning, family, friends, or romantic partners. Everything is on the chopping block during this retrograde (Rx).

Mars will make it all the way through Cancer into Leo before he stations Rx. Leo is heart energy. We may feel in Cancer like we want to be seen and recognized by others, but in Leo we learn if we don’t see ourselves no amount of external validation makes up for that.

Instead of begging people to see you where you are, maybe it’s time to change where you are. Maybe you’ll be suddenly surprised, and the people you’ve been talking to or begging will suddenly come around, but for most of us that won’t be the case. We are being asked to trust ourselves, and to trust fall into the next level of our lives.

The life you want begins to come to fruition when you give up the current life. You cannot usher in the new without finalizing the old. Manifestation is a real thing. It’s hard to maintain a good vibration around miserable people, or people who delegate nothing or everything to you.

If you are repeating yourself over and over. If you’re actually begging for reciprocation and respect. That isn’t where you’re meant to be. You’re trying to manipulate someone else’s feelings and path. You want so badly to be aligned with someone or something, but sometimes you’re just not.

And the longer you cling to what isn’t meant for you, the longer what is has to remain in the vibrational realm. The Universe isn’t punishing you. It’s waiting on you to own your worth in word AND action. ❤

I want to share something I find profound:

“What if God was water?”

“Then that would mean God is both in us and all around us. That God is both above and below us. Why a woman’s water breaks when we are born, and why some religions reserve the ritual of baptism. But, if water was God, then that would mean that God has no gender.

That God takes the shape of whatever container God appears in. Which would explain why we have so many different belief systems, which begs the question. What is the point of poisoning the water in Flint, MI? Or the oil burning in the Gulf of Mexico? Or the large islands of garbage floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?

If God was water, would that not mean that every natural place is holy, that every thunderstorm is a church without walls, that when the rain falls it’s an act of God’s death giving life? That when it evaporates again it’s the day of resurrection?

That life itself is a just a test of learning how to be and flow…like water? How to give life to other people? And how to refresh their spirits and quench their thirst with your presence?”

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Phase One:

  • Sept 4, 2024 ~ Nov 3, 2024 Mars moves through his fall of Cancer

From September 4th through November 3rd our energy levels may not be as high as we wish they were. Our focus, where we are most driven, is on creating nurturing, safety, and some sort of protection in our lives. Cancer is the sign of family, so a lot of this is us reworking family patterns, and breaking generational cycles.

As Mars is moving through Cancer we cannot forget that Pluto has re-entered Capricorn in his Rx, and Uranus went Rx in Taurus. We are facing this pressing need to confront things that we have long been too passive about. Cancer loves to hold on to things so tight. But some heirlooms are meant to be lost. Don’t hold on for the sake of holding on.

We also recently saw Venus and the South Node come together in Libra. This is a rebalancing of our relationships. We are no longer willing to drain all that we are, pour into other people, and not receive that same energy in return. The Nodes begin in Aries and Libra still, which speaks to the individual versus the couple.

This is about personal autonomy versus human connection.

Recap:

  • 09/07/2024 Uranus stationed Rx at 27 Taurus

This means the shocks and surprises are happening on a more internal level. Through January of 2025 we are changing how we deal with disruptions. Especially as it relates to the Taurus area of the chart. Themes of stability, security, and earthly pleasures. Uranus is trying to get us to be more innovative in terms of how we take care of ourselves materially.

And the underlying message is the same in all of this. A connection will never be truly authentic until neither side is dependent on the other for some form of basic survival. Even if that dependency is you constantly needing reassurance and validation it has to go.

Your relationship to SELF sets the tone for EVERY other relationship you have. You have to become emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically strong inside of yourself. When you no longer feel you “need” someone to complete you is when you understand what true completion is. How can you find more autonomy within your current partnerships?

  • 09/02/2024 Pluto Rx moved back into Capricorn

Since 2008 Pluto has been trying to get you to restructure your life. To consider what real structures matter to a sustainable manifestation. It requires an emotional foundation of “I’m going to be okay no matter what.” What house is Capricorn for you? We are finalizing things.

  • 09/03/2024 Virgo New Moon, Mars in Gemini square Neptune Rx in Pisces

Fresh starts available in our daily habits, routines, health, and how we are being of service. Feeling a sense of confusion or uncertainty about developing these new starts. We aren’t clear in our communication, nor in our motivations. There is temptation to escape and avoid.

  • 09/04/2024 Venus conjunct SN in Libra and Mars enters Cancer

We truly are releasing the old relationship dynamics. Anything that isn’t reciprocal is made known to us. We are so exhausted in our begging for emotional safety, but the begging is the problem. You are begging people for balance and fairness, when the Universe only responds to your confidence in knowing that you deserve balance and fairness.

Many people are pulling back. Others will finally explode from resentment. Withholding a truth about how you feel doesn’t make it go away. It builds a longer fuse to an even bigger bomb. The Universe isn’t keeping reciprocal connections or anything else from you.

It’s waiting for you to stop begging, and align with knowing.

  • 09/07/2024 Mercury in Leo squares Uranus in Taurus for the 3rd time

This shock or sudden disruption isn’t new. It’s something you’ve dealt with before. On July 21st and again on August 18th. This is why I journal. It allows me to see the patterns when I go back and read the previous energy and what happened in my life. This is likely a third attempt to have an honest conversation that one person doesn’t see coming, or doesn’t want to see coming. This is about creative solutions to old problems.

  • 09/08/2024 Sun in Virgo opposes Saturn Rx in Pisces

This is a sobering feeling. We are starting to realize our environments, relationships, everything needs to change, but are highly aware of our physical limitations. I have told you from the start that Saturn in Pisces is about developing the discipline to go within and manifest. To enter the flow state. To believe in order to receive miracles.

There is no tension between Virgo and Pisces themselves. The tension comes from the fact that you resist the truth. Your material harvest is representative of your spiritual sowing. As within, so without.

  • 09/09/2024 Mercury re-enters the sign of Virgo

We are feeling sharper and clearer on what needs to change. We are revisiting the plans we need to make with attention to the details. We are going into our meditations and visualization with more specifics than ever before. We are incredibly focused and driven to go within and make our dream a reality.

  • 09/12/2024 Mercury in Virgo sextiles Mars in Cancer, and the Sun in Virgo squares off with Jupiter in Gemini

This is the day we start talking more openly about our plans. We may even take some meaningful action toward them. The problem is that we could over-exaggerate or over-estimate our endurance. So tread lightly here. It may be harder to balance your enthusiasm and excitement with the reality of what is.

  • 09/15/2024 Venus in Libra trines Jupiter in Gemini

Creativity, social events, cooperation, joy, and a sense of it all working out. We are feeling celebratory. We understand not just what we want, but what we deserve, from our connections, and the people who claim to love us.

Don’t tell me. Show me. That’s the energy here.

  • 09/16/2024 Mars in Cancer squares the Nodes in Aries and Libra

We have arrived at the turning point. There is no going back. Whatever conflicts we’ve endured, whatever actions we have to take, we are pushed harder than ever to overcome. The day of direct confrontation is upon us. How do you want your current actions to reflect in your future vision? Because what you do NOW creates the THEN you’re working for.

  • 09/18/2024 Full Moon Partial Lunar Eclipse in Pisces, and Mercury in Virgo opposes Saturn Rx in Pisces

Truths are coming to light. There is a fullness happening in the Pisces area of your chart. Something you’ve been dealing with is suddenly ending or culminating in a major way. We are dealing with the consequences of our own actions. Even if our own action was to stay too long in situations or relationships that we knew weren’t right for us.

We are having difficult conversations externally, so we need to be sitting in conversation with our internal self throughout. Gain insight to communicate clearly. While you are emotional, that is not the time to tell someone you need to talk. Sit with it.

If you feel the urge to speak up, and it’s not coming from a gentle nudge of intuition, don’t speak. Go somewhere quiet and get quiet with yourself. Don’t prepare fifty millions things you’re going to say out of a desire to prove some sort of point. Work through that, tap into your higher consciousness, and then take action to speak.

  • 09/19/2024 Sun in Virgo trines Uranus Rx in Taurus

This is great for the breakthrough. For an ease or lifting of what felt like a restriction. This is realizing where your egoic, human desires, are getting in the way of them being met. Everything is about energy and what you emit is what you get. Desperation and chasing energy will never lead to a life full of harmonious love and flow.

  • 09/21/2024 Sun in Virgo opposes Neptune Rx in Pisces, and Mercury squares off with Jupiter in Gemini

There are some misunderstandings to work through. Maybe you misunderstood your own level of healing. Perhaps you over-estimated someone else’s ability to grow with you. There could be the potential to over-compromise, and over-promise, which could lead to you under delivering and under-whelming.

  • 09/22/2024 Sun in Virgo trines Pluto Rx in Capricorn, Venus in Libra squares off with Pluto in Capricorn, and the Sun enters its fall in Libra

Relationship reckonings have been underway for a long time at this point. You are so ready to transform the way you relate to yourself and others. Others may make that difficult. There could be power struggles that are stirred up, but asserting yourself in emotionally intelligent ways is the answer here. You are responsible for your own peace.

  • 09/23/2024 Venus enters her detriment, Scorpio

Relationships are thrown into the abyss. You can either sink or swim. This is the time to notice where grudges, wishing, begging, pleading, and holding on for dear life are a resistance to the flow. It’s in resistance to everything you keep saying you want.

Now is the time to either release the past and deepen current connections, or get brutally honest about which connections stand no chance of deepening. There are issues with power and trust.

  • 09/24/2024 Mercury in Virgo trines Uranus Rx in Taurus

There is a chance to work through any issues here. Creative solutions make their way in. You’re feeling ready to shock and surprise others. You have this fresh perspective that perhaps comes through a conversation with another person, or something you hear.

  • 09/25/2024 Mercury in Virgo opposes Neptune Rx in Pisces)

As ready as we are for the new we are not done transforming the old. We are feeling a bit deceived. We want to fact-check it all, however, going within and trusting ourselves may be the key to our next move. Wishful thinking in visualization, with intention, is a great use of this energy. Wishful thinking without direction, or escapism, is not.

  • 09/26/2024 Mercury in Virgo trines Pluto in Capricorn, and then enters Libra

We are having deep, transformative conversations about structural things in our lives. Doing our best to deepen or end things with a sense of diplomacy and fairness. We want to communicate in a harmonious way, even if the topics are hard to face.

  • 09/29/2024 Sun in Libra conjunct the SN in Libra, opposes NN in Aries

Your personal desires are important. They matter. You matter. But the current dynamic is draining your spirit. How can you better balance your needs against theirs?

  • 09/30/2024 Mercury Cazimi in Libra, and Mars Rx in Cancer trines Saturn Rx in the sign of Pisces

As we end the month of September we are feeling clearer on the path forward. We receive the solution we need to eradicate the obstacle. Even if the obstacle is nothing more than familial conditioning that we’ve carried around too long. We are ready to take disciplined action in emotionally intelligent ways.

Questions to ask yourself from now through November 3rd:

  1. Am I trying to manipulate my current reality or manifest a new one?
  2. How can I use emotions to manipulate my inner world instead?
  3. Where am I still being too passive or too aggressive in my seeking of nurturing and emotionally safety?

Dates to Note:

  • 10/06/2024 Mercury in Libra squares Mars in Cancer

As much as you want to be diplomatic and hide the emotion of whatever is happening it cannot be done. We are going to feel and we should express how we feel. The key is to learn how to feel something very deeply, and still express it in a kind or diplomatic way.

  • 10/07/2024 Venus in Scorpio trine Mars in Cancer

This is happening one degree from where Mars will later station direct. Pay attention to this date, write down anything that happens between you and other people. It’s likely this is a pivot point that you will later see clearly. Both Venus and Mars are not in their favorite signs.

So this is about you recognizing how you can still relate to others, still find pleasure, even in unpleasant situations or circumstances.

  • 10/12/2024 Sun in Libra squares off with Mars in Cancer

Something you want is at odds with something someone else wants. Is this a time to compromise, or a time to assert yourself? Only you will know that. For some, release and compromise. I speak to the over-compromisers most often, but some of you need to compromise more.

  • 10/24/2024 Mars in Cancer sextiles Uranus iRx n Taurus

Whatever has gone down the last two weeks you arrive at the solution.

  • 10/28/2024 Mars in Cancer trines Neptune Rx in Pisces, and Venus in Sagittarius squares off with Saturn Rx in Pisces

You are seeing things quite clearly. Your intuition is on fire. The next move is right there, waiting for you to take it. But it will require stronger boundaries. Your sense of freedom deepens with Venus in Sagittarius. You don’t want to feel restricted. But you or others could be self-righteous, which leads to a blockage.

So while your next move is right there, it requires release and surrender.

  • 11/01/2023 Mercury in Scorpio trines Mars in Cancer

We are ready to have the transformative conversations that we need to have. We are talking about or researching what actions we need to take.

  • 11/03/2024 Mars in Cancer opposes Pluto Rx in Capricorn

This isn’t the first time these two oppose. This will end phase one, as just after Mars opposes Pluto he will move into Leo. You’re starting to understand the depths of the moves you need to make, and the inner world seems to surrender deeper into your transformation.

You’re being shown your next actions quite clearly. Will you step into your power or not? If not, don’t project that blame onto anyone else.

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Phase Two:

  • November 3, 2024 through January 6, 2025 Mars enters Leo and goes Rx

Phase two ushers in Mars in Leo. Mars does pick up some dignity in the sign of Leo. We are feeling more confident and sure. A lot of this is about whether we are acting from integrity or ego. Are we being authentic or still masking? Is pride and ego getting in the way of our heart-centered living and loving?

Questions to ask yourself from November 3rd through January 6th:

  1. Am I acting from a space of fear or love?
  2. How can I move more authentically toward my goals?
  3. Where am I manipulating situations in order to receive false recognition?
  4. Am I responding with integrity or reacting from wounding?

Dates to note:

  • 11/27/2024 Sun in Sagittarius trines Mars in Leo

There are no big aspects to Mars during this phase. However, we end November with this beautiful trine between Sagittarius and Leo. Taking action toward freedom and alignment. We have ambition and more focus.

  • 12/06/2024 Mars stations Rx at 6 degrees of Leo

Revising and revisiting what feels authentic and integral to who we are.

  • 12/12/2024 Venus in Aquarius opposes Mars Rx in Leo

Wanting to detach from connections and not being able to. Feeling like the tribe around you isn’t the right fit. Wanting something more eccentric and fun. Some of us are being pushed to stop avoiding confrontation still.

If others are making you angry and you stick around and tolerate it, that is your fault. This is us being forced to confront where we are still choosing our own resentment when we could choose to leave.

  • 01/01/2025 Mars Rx in Leo opposes Pluto who has re-entered Aquarius

This is the 2nd opposition, but this time it’s in different signs. Taking aligned action with our heart in order to transform our community in some way. A mirror of the shadows in the way of your light.

  • 01/06/2025 Mars Rx re-enters Cancer in trine to Neptune Rx in Pisces

Revisiting themes from the end of October and beginning of November

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Phase Three:

  • January 6, 2025 through February 23, 2025 Mars re-enters Cancer & stations direct

Most of the first two months of 2025, we are still not ready to implement resolutions and new beginnings. We are covering old ground from a stronger center of self. Deepening our understanding of what real nurturing and emotional safety is. Fully integrating the lesson that no connection can be emotionally safe unless both partners reciprocate.

You’re revising the plan again. Stop getting frustrated with times of revision. They are a consistent part of this journey to wholeness. Use them and use them wisely.

Questions to ask yourself from January 6, 2025 through February 23, 2025:

  1. What can I do internally to change the external?
  2. How can I face my fear of letting go and trust the process?
  3. Embracing our new experiences and figuring out where we could make them even better. Life is a journey. Never stop evolving.

Dates to Note:

  • 01/15/2025 Sun in Capricorn in close opposition to Mars Rx in Cancer

Confrontation time again. You’ve been revisiting the plan, and now you’re realizing where you’ve failed to allow yourself to be the foundation and structure. Where you have to rework something again.

  • 01/21/2025 Mars Rx in Cancer in loose sextile to Uranus Rx in Taurus

Some assistance or breakthrough comes from the confrontation.

  • 02/06/2025 Mars Rx in Cancer in loose 2nd trine to Saturn Rx in Pisces

Revisiting the actions you’re committed to. Themes from around the end of October.

  • 02/23/2025 Mars stations direct

Things feel a bit easier. We do have a shadow period to get through, but overall the weight seems to be lifting. We’re likely working mostly behind the scenes.

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Phase Four:

  • February 23, 2025 through April 18, 2025 Mars direct and into Leo

For most of this phase we are being given another chance. Mars will make the same aspects, offering us a new way to handle an old issue. Eventually he will re-enter Leo on April 18th, and covers some more old ground. First we are covering the internal ground of actions that we can take using emotional intelligence.

Then we cover the ground of how we can take those actions from a place of integrity and authenticity, rather than pride and ego, and create change in the real world. This requires bravery and honesty.

Questions to ask yourself February 23rd through April 18th:

  1. Where have I increased my confidence in myself and my abilities?
  2. Where do I still need to do some more work?
  3. Have I created a plan to work through imposter syndrome, anxiety, and other things that stand in the way of me taking appropriate actions?
  4. Where is who I am not aligned with who I want to be?

Dates to Note:

Honestly nothing really stands out. This is literally just covering the ground we’ve managed to till since this whole thing started on September 4, 2024.

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Phase Five:

  • April 18th through June 20, 2025 Mars back in Leo and beyond

This entire period Mars will be in Leo. Once he moves past six degrees it’s all new territory. We are feeling bold, confident, aligned, and ready to pounce. Make sure that any action you take is not a compromise to the integral value system you possess. Do not be a pick me.

When we arrive to June 20, 2025 the story is well on its way to being written, as Mars moves into Virgo, where the cutting becomes detailed and precise. Revise, revise, revise. Because if you’re still tolerating less than you deserve that is still your fault.

Everything you want is on the other side of letting go.

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Inner Self Council
Inner Self Council

Written by Inner Self Council

You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors. ― Andrew Boyd

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