How can we interpret Mars retrograde in fire signs? Fire signs symbolize the individuation process: in Aries, the “Hero’s Journey” begins. In Leo, dragons are killed and the conquest happens. In Sagittarius, the wisdom gathered from the journey is shared as a glorious story to inspire others.
In evolutionary astrology, Mars is not only an individuation signifier, the hero or heroine in action, but also the agent of the soul, carrying out the tasks implied by the position of natal Pluto. Where Pluto rules, Mars executes.
One may surmise that the soul chooses to reincarnate under Mars retrograde when the evolutionary contract between Pluto and Mars has to be renegotiated: perhaps Mars did not or could not carry out the commands of Pluto in previous life cycles or somewhere in the ancestral line. For a thorough evolutionary understanding of Mars in the natal chart, this planet has to be always evaluated in relation to Pluto. The condition of Pluto has to be taken into consideration, as well as the phasal relationship between Pluto and Mars, and the presence of any aspects (an aspect between Pluto and Mars, or aspects between either of these planets to the dispositor of the other planet, or an aspect between the dispositors of both planets).
Mars Retrograde in Fire Signs: Evolutionary Meaning
Excluding Pluto/Mars relationship and simplifying the meaning of Mars retrograde for the purpose of this article, one can say that Mars retrograde in the natal chart may imply three possible evolutionary scenarios regarding past lives or the life of an ancestor:
- Under-action: the individual’s will might have been vanquished by the “other” thus the soul was pushed into a mode of downplaying her will to act.
- Over-action: the soul might have relentlessly executed her will without much consideration for the “other” thus falling into violence or aggression.
- Refusal to act: the soul might have absented from acting in either direction, staying put and taking a break from the individuation process. Sometimes a pause is as necessary as an action. Examples of this would be lifetimes of reincarnation in handicapped bodies or minds, being born in prisons, asylums, with an incurable condition, or stillborn, thus taking a break from imposing the personal will in any particular direction.
In fire signs, these three possibilities can be understood in the context of individuation and self-actualization. As we will explore in the following sections, Mars retrograde in each fire sign implies an evolutionary necessity for a particular aspect of the individuation process to be addressed and reworked. In Aries, the will to act has to be modulated. In Leo, the ego attachment to the personal will comes under scrutiny, and in Sagittarius, the story told about the meaning of the “higher will” has to be rewritten.
Mars Retrograde in Aries
With Mars in Aries, the soul’s primary mode of being is instinctual action. In this case, the gap between being and doing is minimal, and the soul has little patience for reflection or indecision.
By focusing on fulfilling the individual drives first and foremost, the soul travels through the world much like a single arrow shot toward a single target. Anything that may interfere with the course of this linear journey will be instantly discharged, so that one may stay on one’s course without being distracted. The soul, therefore, may have little knowledge of the other or may be oblivious to her own mechanisms as a result of being too close to herself.
With Mars retrograde in Aries, the soul has probably been too focused on her own processes, so an evolutionary necessity has emerged for the soul to break away from this intensive self-engagement in order to see herself at a distance, thus making the very act of reflection possible.
Depending on other modifiers affecting this retrograde planet in the birth chart, libido may have been excessively invested in pursuing one’s personal goals in life or executing one’s instinctive will. Sexual activity could have been limited to one-sided sex or sexual imposition. The notion of engaging the other in a bilateral interaction or trying to please the other may have been deemed unnecessary.
Alternatively, the soul may have chosen to reincarnate under this configuration in order to balance a recurring tendency to vacillate or dwell too long on the process of making a decision rather than actually making that decision and acting accordingly. The soul may have experienced lifetime after lifetime of having been excessively dependent on the other or having had to succumb to many demands of a relationship rather than pursuing personal goals or simply acting based on individual instincts.
In some cases, retrograde Mars in Aries may imply that the soul has fallen into repeating a pattern of violence, self-gratification, or antisocial tendencies, and thus in this lifetime she will be offered a chance to relate to others or develop an appreciation of mutual fulfillment through establishing social or sexual bonds. As unfamiliar as this terrain may be, the soul has chosen this particular energy to help herself gain equilibrium.
Mars Retrograde in Leo
With Mars in Leo, a playful desire in the soul exists to passionately fall in love, initiate a romantic affair with someone special, be a hero or heroine in someone’s story, be crowned as the uncontested King or Queen of someone’s heart, be unconditionally glorified for being highly talented or special, or be eternally loved and cherished for the sheer fact that this soul is an extension of the Creator and as such deserves to be treated as extraordinary.
However, with Mars retrograde in Leo, there may simultaneously exist an inexplicable hesitation to embark on such adventures in the absence of sufficient reassurance or ample persuasion. The soul may carry an ever-present impulse to initiate a love affair, for instance, to create a grand work of art, to birth new concepts, or to invent new things, and yet, she may simultaneously devitalize herself in the process of engagement in these activities.
Depending on what type of discouraging experiences the soul has dwelt on in past lives or through the ancestral lineage, a level of frustration may have gradually formed in response to this inherent paradox: to yearn for love and yet not to have the courage to pursue it.
The presence of retrograde Mars in the sign that symbolizes the heart may hint at the possibility of an ancient heartbreak, a romantic story with an unhappy ending, a burning sexual desire that was never fulfilled, or an ego-shattering episode of disgrace from which the soul could not completely recover. One may imagine that Romeo and Juliet will reincarnate with this retrograde Mars placement in their natal charts.
In either case, with this placement, one is to learn and re-learn how to trust one’s primal pulsations, one’s caprices of the heart, one’s divine glory, and a special destiny. Developing a habit of laughing at one’s personal tragedies is possibly one of the best ways of playing with this energy. Is it possible for Romeo and Juliet to come back in a comedy rather than a tragedy?
Mars Retrograde in Sagittarius
With Mars in Sagittarius, the soul yearns for wisdom (in contrast to Mars in Gemini denoting a passion for knowledge) and thus acts in the direction of creating systems of understanding that can also be shared with others or preached to them.
With Mars retrograde in Sagittarius, the soul may have experienced the life of a crusader, a martyr for religious conviction, a witch, a scholar, or a leader burnt at the stake for not adhering to the ideological or political rules of the time.
In non-occidental contexts, one may surmise that the soul could have experienced a confrontation with spiritual figures, kings, or gurus of various calibers but more subtle scenarios are also possible: a caliph might have amply rewarded the efforts of a scholar, thus incentivizing him to write more books. The same caliph might have later invaded the neighboring country and killed some of the scholar’s family members. The man who was once proud of his intellectual achievements is now conflicted about serving his caliph. Consumed with a quiet rage, he decides that this must have been God’s will for him to abandon writing altogether. The urge to write, however, stays within his soul, consuming him until his very last feverish breath.
In the next life, he (or now she) may be born with a Mars retrograde in Sagittarius: there is something on the level of “higher will” to redeem and work through, and that is making peace with a God that allowed a wisdom-loving caliph to murder innocent people. Can our scholar now write in peace? Perhaps he or she will become a theologian in a modern university and write thirty books exploring the same topic: can God be both good and evil?
Another example is a free-spirited woman taken into a king’s harem by force. She gets pregnant and gives birth to a healthy daughter, yet she never quite accepts the oppression imposed upon her as one of the many concubines of the king. One night, she enters the king’s bedchamber with a dagger in hand. She succeeds in injuring the king but is killed in the act. Two generations later, her daughter is blessed with a grandchild who has a Mars retrograde in Sagittarius in his chart.
The action (Mars) in the direction of one’s personal convictions (Sagittarius) was nipped in the bud in a previous ancestral story and therefore has to be worked through. Perhaps the grandchild feels an inexplicable animosity towards religious or authority figures; perhaps he is even afraid of them but learns how to constructively resist their imposition through political activism. In this case, Mars retrograde is serving in the direction of completing an unfinished action (Mars) from the past and thus fulfilling an ancestral desire for freedom of the spirit (Sagittarius).
In summary, Mars retrograde in Sagittarius indicates that the [hi]story of the soul may involve one of the three possible paths of action mentioned earlier:
- The path of under-action, meaning that the soul surrendered to the will of a religious or political figure, utterly believing the doctrine imparted by them without questioning them on any level.
- The path of over-action, meaning that the soul aggressively rejected what was imparted by these figures and launched into a battle with them, trying to prove them wrong, resist their imposition, or overthrow them.
- Or the path of non-action, meaning that the soul stayed put and refused to participate in either direction regarding this figure.
Further analysis of the aspects to the retrograde Mars and the phasal relationship it has with natal Pluto, as well as the condition of Pluto, will illuminate the details of the possible past life story. In either case, the consciousness of what retrograde Mars represents in the natal chart can help the individual choose the correct mode of action regarding the archetypes involved, and to reinvent, carry out, or complete the mission Mars has started even before the moment of birth.
In the next article, I will address Mars retrograde in Earth signs.
- For a thorough analysis of retrograde planets in your natal chart, you can consider booking a consultation session.