Programming Reminder: I’m taking some time off but will be back at the end of the month with the September Forecast. As always, thanks for reading!
I have to say that I’m not usually excited about Mars transits. It’s true that Mars can signify energy and bravery. But, Mars transits can sometimes, depending on what else is going on in a chart, bring about Mars-like events: conflict, strife, injuries. Mars’ nature is to sever; sometimes this is metaphoric, sometimes literal.
However, the ingress of Mars into Gemini this month moves the red planet out of a frustrating and combustible triple conjunction with Uranus and the North Node in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius.
This set-up has been active since early July but especially triggered since early August. If you’ve been experiencing sudden events, changes, or things being “severed” out of your life, you’re not alone.
So, I find myself unexpectedly cheering Mars’ move simply because it gets it out of the hot mess in Taurus, which continues to be aggravated, along with the other fixed signs this year and into next.
In Gemini, Mars is out of the line of fire, in a supportive trine with the other malefic, Saturn in Aquarius, and in aversion to disruptive Uranus in Taurus and the Nodes in Taurus and Scorpio, activated all year by eclipses.
This is the good news — a lessening of active hostilities along the fixed signs.
The bad news is that Mars will be in Gemini for seven months instead of its usual six weeks in a given sign, courtesy of its retrograde, which gets underway in late October.
Also, Mars will be square nebulous Neptune in Pisces the entire time, so this period may carry some neptunian signatures of confusion, lack of clarity, and dissolution. Jupiter’s presence in Pisces for part of this transit amplifies this signature.
Pens and Swords
In Gemini, Mars finds himself in a masculine, diurnal, and mutable air sign ruled by Mercury, the great communicator. However, Gemini isn’t an environment with a natural affinity for Mars through any of the traditional filters of essential dignity.
As Demetra George writes in Volume One of her Ancient Astrology books, Mars is a bit of a paradox, the problem child of the planets. He’s of the nocturnal sect, meaning that he performs better — is more effective and less turbulent — in the nocturnal water and earth signs. One of his signs of domicile, Scorpio, is a water sign, and Mars finds his exaltation is in earthy Capricorn, where he excels.
Yet, being Mars, he prefers the more high energy, action-oriented fire and air signs, such as his fire domicile of Aires, where he has resources, performs well, and is unconstrained. This may be good for Mars, but not necessarily for the rest of us. Malefic planets are malefic because they don’t work towards our interests, as the benefics Venus and Jupiter do.
As the planet of conflict and assertion, Mars stokes these topics in whatever environment it finds itself. Gemini provides a highly stimulating, intellectual environment, with plenty of airy energy to burn. In Gemini, Mars asserts itself and attacks with the tools of Mercury, through communication, words, and narratives.
In a natal chart, Mars in Gemini can manifest as someone with an assertive, bold, or aggressive style of communication. There is often a willingness to fight for ideas and abstract concepts, similar to Mars in Aquarius. Yet, as a mutable sign, Gemini constantly shifts its focus, distracted by each new shiny idea. So, Mars’ campaigns in this sign can be more like flashes in the pan as opposed to Aquarius’ sustained efforts.
The placement of Mercury by sign and house will show how Mars behaves in Gemini; Mercury in Gemini or Virgo, its domiciles, provide Mars with both resources and access, though there can be an increase in argumentative communication style. Other Mercury placements provide varying amounts of support or hinderance.
There’s one entity we all know that provides a vivid example of Mars in Gemini in action: Twitter.
In the chart for the first tweet, on March 21, 2006, we find Mars in Gemini in the 12th house of hidden enemies and suffering ruled by Mercury retrograde in Pisces in the ninth house of religion, philosophy, and world-view (aka politics) conjunct disruptor Uranus. Thus, we have Mars trying to start fights using ideas, but thrashing about in a difficult and unproductive house prone to time-suck rabbit holes and self-undoing.
Mars’ resources are those of Mercury in Pisces, its double-whammy sign of detriment and fall, where it turns words into (possibly incoherent) streams of consciousness, koans of wisdom (if you’re lucky), or just. . . cat memes. Mercury’s retrograde motion suggests that everything contains typos. With Mercury conjunct surprise-a-minute Uranus in the ninth house, everyone is arguing unpredictably, and sloppily, about politics.
There’s a lot more that could be said about this chart and how perfect it is as a distillation of Twitter, but we have bigger fish to fry (sorry, Mercury in Pisces). Suffice to say that Twitter, like anyone else with a natal Mars in Gemini, will be having its Mars return this fall over a prolonged transit that includes a retrograde. Keep this in mind on your social media adventures this fall!
Literary Renegades
“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
A great (human) example of Mars in Gemini in a natal chart is Virginia Woolf, who had Mars retrograde in her Gemini first house. Mars here forms a supportive trine with her chart ruler, brainy Mercury in Aquarius in the ninth house, which is about to make a heliacal rise from under the beams of the Sun, also in iconoclastic Aquarius, underscoring the importance of Mercury in her chart and its significations of writing and communication.
Known as one of the most important modernist 20th-century writers, Woolf’s stream of consciousness style and photo-feminist themes bucked traditional expectations of both writers and women; her retrograde Mars in Gemini near her Ascendant marks her as a literary renegade.
Fighting Backwards
Whenever planets appear to turn retrograde, as seen from Earth, their astrological significations are said to be inverted. There’s also a slowness or sense of delay around whatever they signify, as the planet appears to slow down and change direction, and often a need to return to certain issues.
With a Mars retrograde, conflict and assertion turn in on themselves. While a direct Mars can be thought of as a fighter of some type, retrograde Mars is a fighter who doesn’t adhere to the rules of war. In Gemini, this suggests not abiding by the rules of engagement around communication, information, or narratives.
Mars enters Gemini on August 20th and will stay there until March 25, 2023. It will station retrograde on October 30th at 25 degrees Gemini in a close square to Neptune at 22 degrees of Pisces, itself also retrograde.
From there, Mars will travel backwards through Gemini over the next few months, stationing direct on January 12, 2023 at 8 Gemini. It then travels forward over the same degrees in Gemini for the third time, passing the point where it turned retrograde by mid-March 2023, just before it enters Cancer on March 25th.
Mars’ square with Neptune throughout its time in Gemini is one of the main themes of this transit. Mars in harsh aspect to Neptune is the classic “fog of war” situation; in Gemini we could call it the fog of information war. Neptune in Pisces inspires but also makes things diffuse and subject to fantasy; Mars in Gemini may weaponize these fantasies, and retrograde Mars won’t be inclined to follow the rules.
Also note that Jupiter retrogrades back into Pisces just a couple of days before Mars turns retrograde. It lingers in the last degrees of Pisces until December 20th. Jupiter expands, so it may amplify the fog of information warfare signature during this timeframe.
(And yes, the retrograde period includes the Midterm elections in the US, which involves voting, a mercurial signification of making one’s voice heard.)
Mars makes three exact squares to Neptune during its stay in Gemini, on October 12th (before Mars turns retrograde), on November 19th (when both planets are retrograde), and on March 14, 2023, with both planets direct at 25 degrees of their respective signs, the same degree that began the Mars retrograde. Look for an intensification of themes around these inflection points.
Generally speaking, the first part of Mars in Gemini, before its retrograde, will be more typical of this transit, which happens about every 2.5 years or so. This timeframe may feature more straightforward manifestations of Mars in Gemini, such as taking risks, being brave, and courting conflict through words and communication, focused on the Gemini whole sign house of the chart. However, the retrograde period may find these issues becoming intractable or challenging in some way that subverts our expectations.
Mercury Rules
The main thing to keep in mind about this very long Mars transit is that it’s completely subject to Mercury’s moods, with Mercury as its ruler. But Mercury moves fast, typically passing through a sign in less than a month, except when it retrogrades, which it does several times a year.
Mars will be in a Mercury-ruled sign for over half a year — you can do the math: for part of Mars’ sojourn in Gemini, Mars will be retrograde and also ruled by a retrograde planet.
This will happen from December 29th through January 18th, 2023, when Mercury retrogrades in Capricorn, though the effects will carry over for a couple of weeks on either side. Mars stations direct towards the end of Mercury’s retrograde, but it won’t be out of its shadow for some time to come.
So, while there will be varying mercurial moods Mars in Gemini will be subject to — Mercury in Libra’s peacemaking overtures in September and October, around another Mercury retrograde, which brings Mercury back into Virgo and a return to August’s themes, or Mercury in Scorpio’s guarded strategizing in November, Mercury in Sagittarius’ expansive word salad making tendencies, and so on — the period when both Mars and Mercury are retrograde, from late December through mid January, looks like a potentially confusing period.
During this time, communication and mercurial activities may experience both crossed wires while firing on all cylinders. The upside is that the buck stops with Saturn, the ruler of Mercury in Capricorn, itself the ruler of Mars in Gemini, as Saturn is the big boss with no one further up the chain. Saturn is in a friendly alignment with Mars, so the outlook looks potentially more constructive than not.
Friends and Enemies
Mars trine Saturn in friendly air signs, with Saturn in its diurnal home sign of Aquarius, is a major upside of this transit, at least until the very end. We’ve had enough of the two malefics in a frustrating square for most of the summer. So, while there will likely be confusion from the Mars retrograde square Neptune, the trine with a constructive Saturn may help Mars keep from flying too far off the handle.
However, Saturn moves into Pisces on March 7, 2023, just a couple of weeks before Mars finally leaves Gemini, moving Saturn again into a harsh aspect with Mars, but this time along two impressionable mutable signs. It doesn’t last long, and Mars moves into Cancer and a more helpful trine with Saturn soon enough, but the last leg of Mars in Gemini seems to end on a note of friction in early to late March.
There’s also a brief trine between Mars in Gemini and (gasp!) Pluto in Aquarius, as the slow-moving outer planet makes its first entrance into Aquarius since 1778 just a couple of days before Mars departs for Cancer.
These reconfigurations of slow-moving planets at the end of Mars’ sojourn in Gemini underscore a theme of this Mars transit that I’ll be talking about in the forecasts for the rest of this year and into next: that this Mars transit marks a shake up in the patterns that have been present with us for the last several years. We’re moving into a new era; the Mars-Neptune confusion is part of the process of change. And change can be messy, as we know.
The Bold and the Backwards
How will the Mars in Gemini retrograde affect you? In general you can expect to experience this transit more strongly if Mars is active in your chart (Aires or Scorpio risings, for example), or if you have a mutable rising sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces), since this axis will be triggered. People born during the day, with the Sun in the top half of the chart, tend to experience Mars transits more negatively than those born at night (with the Sun in the bottom half), though Mars is always Mars-like, at the end of the day. Finally, anyone with Mars activated by various timing techniques will likely experience this time more strongly.
As always, a personal consultation is the best way to understand how any transit may affect you personally. I’ll be opening my bookings for fall consultations in the next couple of weeks — stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s some things you can look out for over the coming months:
Aires Rising: In your third house of siblings and local communities for way too long, Mars may stir up beef with people you think of as close relatives or neighbors. Mars is the ruler of your all important first house — your chart ruler, so these dust ups can affect you personally (or your health or body), as well as other people’s money or shared resources, as Mars also rules the eighth house. Neptune in your twelfth house of hidden enemies squaring Mars can make these situations seem like they arise mysteriously. Give yourself plenty of physical outlets to burn off any Mars stress but take care not to overdo, with Mars ruling your first house of body.
Taurus Rising: Mars will be hanging out in your second house of personal finances for an inordinate amount of time, which can lead to excessive spending in this easy-come, easy-go air sign, if you’re not careful. Mars also rules your seventh house of committed partnership and your twelfth house of enemies and self-undoing, so watch out for personal finance matters that negatively affect your spouse or relationship. Taking the time to address or restructure any financial issues can help.
Gemini Rising: My fellow Gemini risings — we may feel emboldened and full of verbal bravado in our communications or on social media (or, ahem, Substack). But beware: it’s an illusion. Nobody likes it when the court jester gets too mouthy. Pushing things too far could lead to physical burnout or injury or conflict with friends, as Mars rules our sixth house of injuries and illness and also the eleventh of friends. Note to self: behave.
Cancer Rising: You may feel exhausted over this period where Mars is in your twelfth house of hidden enemies, suffering, and self-undoing. You may need to guard your mental health, which can be overstimulated by social media and news churn. With Mars ruling your fifth and tenth houses, your children or creative projects and career and reputation may undergo a rocky period of review. You may be reassessing these parts of your life. Neptune in your ninth house of religion and world view can help you decide what’s important to you.
Leo Rising: Your friendships and alliances may get a jolt of social energy, but then get stuck in the mud as Mars retrogrades through your eleventh house. There may be conflicts lurking among friends that need to be aired, potentially involving misunderstandings over shared resources. Your family of origin or home and your religious or philosophical worldview may be part of this rejiggering of your alliances, as Mars rules your fourth and ninth houses.
Virgo Rising: Your tenth house of career, reputation, and public actions is getting driven over (and over) by Mars in his muddy jeep. This is a very public house, and so the readjustments here are more evident than in other houses. Your siblings and local community as well as shared resources may be pulled into whatever is going on; miscommunication or missed signals from your committed partner may also contribute to the situation. Clarity of communication, which should be your specialty, ruled by Mercury, will help.
Libra Rising: You may be undergoing a challenging time of reassessing your big picture beliefs, as Mars transits your ninth house of religion and worldview. Don’t get drawn into quagmires involving political arguments — it’s a trap! Your personal finances and committed partnerships may be part of whatever reassessment is going on, with Mars ruling your second and seventh houses. Lean into Saturn in your fifth house to try to create structure for fun and enjoyment to deal with stress.
Scorpio Rising: Other people’s money and shared resources (including those arising from death) may be topics undergoing a challenging reassessment over these next months. You personally, or your health or body, may be drawn in, as Mars rules your first house and is your chart ruler. Try to keep on an even keel (not easy, I realize, for Scorpios), though: Mars also rules your sixth house of illness and injury. Keeping to good exercise or health routines can go a long way in taking the sting out of this transit.
Sagittarius Rising: Your committed partnership may be having an initially exciting but then frustrating go round, a relationship drama which may be a bummer for happy-go-lucky Sag rising. Children or creative projects or pastimes may be part of the situation, as well as hidden enemies and suffering, with Mars ruling your fifth and twelfth houses. A helpful way to manage Mars stressors is by blowing off steam; your Aires fifth house wants to fight for fun; karate, anyone?
Capricorn Rising: Mars in your sixth house of illness and injury may require you to take some time out from ascending whatever ladder you’re bent on conquering to deal with your physical needs. Remember: you can’t rule the world if you’re not up for it. With Mars ruling your fourth and eleventh houses, you may need to spend time with your parents, or on home-related matters, as well as with friends and groups. Everyone needs you to be well.
Aquarius Rising: With Mars in your fifth house of children and creativity, you may find yourself having great energy for these topics, at least initially, though there may be some frustration as this transit wears on. (It might not be the best time to plan a pregnancy, with Mars in your fifth house for an extended time, though fertility astrology is complex and the whole natal chart must be considered.) Picking up a new or old hobby and expending a lot of energy on it is a positive way to deal with stress, which may arise in connection with your siblings (or those like siblings) or local community and your career and reputation, as Mars rules your third and tenth houses.
Pisces Rising: Your parents, home, or ancestral land may be undergoing a challenging reassessment as Mars transits your fourth house, one of the pivotal houses in your life. There may be disturbances involving your personal finances and your philosophical worldview that come along with this, as Mars rules your second and ninth houses. With Neptune in your first house of self, body, and personality, you may feel that things are fuzzy all around. Try to stay grounded and vet your information.