Mars Retrograde

A new Moon in Pisces approaches and just about 24hrs later Mars, Mercury and Saturn will go stationary direct, apropos of the Piscean tendency to changeability and indecisiveness.  Many will take a sigh of relief to know that Mercury is going direct and as many will face-palm the fact that Mars is going retrograde.

While this can indeed be a frustrating time you need not worry as all retrograde cycles are natural rhythms of nature and can come with silver lining. Venus retro can be times when we revisit friends or get a deal on some new shoes. Mercury retro can be times when we find something lost or overdue paperwork is finished up. Mars Retro can be times when get off the fence or start going back to the gym. It might seem like it's taking forever to get in shape but at least you are returning.

Remember, It's not the retrograde motion that signifies problems as much as planets in detrimental signs making aspects to your natal planets. Even then it's not enough to signify a major crisis.

Retrograde Periods
Planetary retro periods are sometimes considered "weak" or alternatively "strong" but with a sense of reversal or mischief, depending on the sources. It seems both can be true and that the essence of it all requires some flexibility of awareness on our part, a flexibility that is difficult to pin down with simple terminology.

Retro periods can certainly feel "weak" at times and this feeling can be the impetus for us to overcome the feeling and act out to change the circumstance or feeling we are living with.

 In example, with Venus retrograde we can feel unloved or alienated. This in turn can be a time where we act out to reverse the feeling by dating someone who we have previously been with or falling for someone very different, inappropriate or unavailable. Eventually we realize this person isn't good for us or that we broke up with them for a reason that is still impossible to ignore and the "weak" period is now "strong" and takes up all of our attention and energy.

by the way, Weak and strong don't necessarily mean good and bad. It's about activity and our investment of awareness. Was it 'good' when you started dating that douchebag and felt attractive and powerful or was it 'good' when you broke up with him when he threw your phone into a bar-b-que for texting your ex-boyfriend?

Anyways, remember that all this terminology can get in the way very easily and it never replaces experiential understanding.

Mars Retro

So, what can we expect from Mars retro periods? Well, as Venus is love and beauty, Mars is war and willpower so expect that  our ability or willingness to assert ourselves or take action may seem subdued, wrongly expressed or require special handling.  Likewise, this may be a time when we express what has been subdued in the past or when we finally feel the bravado to express our vitality with a sense of openness.

At times some of us may feel like we can't or shouldn't assert ourselves, take action or stand up for something or we may simply not be aware that our own needs are being dominated by another. Eventually a line is crossed and we take up arms and sometimes  overreact or come on too strong in order to balance things out. In the wake of our outburst we might burn bridges, cause rifts, or disruptions that require backstopping to fix.

Other times we may simply not fight at all.  'Fighting' can mean getting out of bed at 7am to work out or telling the neighbors to turn down their music so you can sleep and not go into work all grumpy and take it out on your boss,  get fired and then, in despair, get drunk and drive your car through a sacks 5th avenue window that jumped out in front of you from nowhere.

Sublimation = Eruption. This sublimation then sudden eruption is another Mars retro thing to watch out for. Sometimes we keep anger wound up within our gutty-works and it comes out through the seams, sometimes bursting open altogether, and then it's a 45min trip back to Ikea to get a brand new new beanbag. or bönaväska, or whatever.

The key to it all: we fight the wrong people, the right people for the wrong reason or fight for our rights the wrong way.  But not if we maintain a sense of awareness of this time and stay present even when other people are inappropriately trying to pop our beanbags.

Timeframe 

Mars will be moving through the sign of Libra, it's detriment, meaning it's negative qualities of this time will tend to be more problematic when it aspects our planets particularly those within the sign of Cancer and Capricorn. The negative traits in libra can be indecision or passivity when activity is required or passive aggressiveness  in social situations.

Mars, already slowing down, will stop in it's stationary period around March 1st and will begin moving  backwards through the sign of Libra until May 20th. Although Mars goes direct in late may it will stay in Libra until July 27th when he bursts out of the delicate and peaceful sign of Libra into his home territory of Scorpio. This ingress into the sign he rules will begin a new phase when the Martial types (those with predominance of Aries or Scorpio) will finally feel like they are making headway with their ambitions and can operate with the fullness of their intensity and enthusiasm without the problematic blowback of Mars retro in Libra.