Astrology Unbound with Evan Nathaniel Grim
Join your host Evan Nathaniel Grim as he unravels the mysteries of the universe and explores the limitless realms of astrology.
Astrology Unbound with Evan Nathaniel Grim
Exploring the Emotional Journey of Mars Retrograde in Cancer
This episode explores the complexities and challenges of Mars retrograde in Cancer, focusing on emotional sensitivity, familial conflicts, and stress management strategies. We provide insights on how this period can be navigated to prepare for a successful 2025.
• Overview of Mars retrograde in Cancer
• Emotional sensitivity and family dynamics during the retrograde
• Importance of stress management and assertiveness
• Critical peak dates for heightened sensitivity and potential conflicts
• Zodiac-specific insights on how each sign is affected
• Emphasis on learning and healing within family structures
• Considerations for preparing for future challenges and opportunities
Hey, there, it's Abinathaniel Grimm, and welcome to the latest episode of Astrology Unbound, and today we are going to dive into Mars retrograde in Cancer. We have reached the next stage in Mars' retrograde cycle. So it has been retrograde in Leo since December 6th and now in a few hours, after I'm filming this or recording this, it will go into Cancer, and so I will divulge the impact on the zodiac signs, on society and, yeah, we're going to jump into that. And this is a very important retrograde to navigate, navigate, you know, just to make sure that your 2025 is off to a great start, because I do think we're sort of starting the year with some of the most challenging transits, actually. So if you get through these next two months, then I think the rest of the year is definitely set up for success for you, and I did a webinar presentation today about the astrology of 2025, by the way, which you can access by becoming a paid Substack subscriber and in that I was talking about how it is a year of, you know, really broad, sweeping changes and your manifestation journey can be even more successful, to a point where something you're working on can become an overnight success because we have so many planets shifting into new signs at the same time, but also we have the proliferation of technology and new, potentially new social media platforms. But all of this, all of this energy, is really showing that you know you can reach the right person at the right time with your message or your product or your business idea, your creative work, and you know it can happen for you really quick Success can happen instantaneously in a way, even though there are other aspects of the year that are very volatile and very combustible. But we're all working with it right. We're turning up the temperature and the molecules are moving more quickly and they're wondering what's going to happen next and it's a transformation, in that analogy, from maybe a liquid to a gas or something like that. So all of these changes are happening simultaneously, but we are starting the year with, in all honesty, kind of a frustrating retrograde. But this is not unfamiliar territory, because Mars again has been retrograde for a month now, but I'm going to guide you through the impact of its retrograde in the sign of Cancer. So it's traced its steps back into cancer.
Speaker 1:And also just a quick reminder that you know there's still time to download the 2025 horoscopes that I've created for each zodiac sign. These videos are anywhere from 75 to 90 minutes and they go into detail about every new and full moon, the retrograde cycles and so on all the key trends, timelines of when you're going to have more momentum based on your sign. So definitely download those. About 9,000 people have downloaded a video so far and the reviews have been consistently positive, so it's not too late to download those. You know, we're only a few days into the year and we have many new and full moons to cover, obviously in the upcoming year, so you'll definitely still squeeze a lot of value out of that.
Speaker 1:And yeah, but let's, uh, let's, get into this. So Mars, mars retrograde. Before I even get into that, it's like well, what, what, what's, what's up with Mars retrograde? How do we even, you know, arrive at that? What is, um, you know, I didn't like maybe some of you were like I didn't know other planets retrograded besides Mercury, right. So like Mercury, retrograde is the most famous of all, or infamous retrograde. This is when people immediately blame it for any mishap or bad decision, and so that's sort of the popularized retrograde.
Speaker 1:But we got to show love to the other planets which also retrograde, right? So Venus, for example. Venus retrogrades every year and a half. Mercury retrogrades every three months or so. The social and outer planets retrograde every year for a pretty good chunk of time, and Chiron retrogrades, and with Mars, though, it's a special one because it only retrogrades every two years, and two months or so, or two, just over two years really. So every so, for example, like Mars retrograded previously in a cycle where that started on around Halloween of 2022. So, around Halloween of 2022, mars started retrograding in Gemini, carrying it into a retrograde path all the way into January 2023. Then, you know, fast forward to December of 2024, retrogrades again. That's just over two years between the initiation of each retrograde cycle there.
Speaker 1:So, like I outlined for the other planets, mars retrograde is the most rare. Only Venus would have a more sort of a wider window between retrogrades. So, again to give you that example, venus went retrograde in July of 2023. It will go retrograde again in March of 2025. So that's a pretty. So that's well over a year, obviously, and the point is that, regardless, though, of how rare or common something is, when a planet retrogrades, it is expressed in a less natural way.
Speaker 1:It typically deserves a bit of a repair process. I mean, think about it, retrograde is like a bit of a kink in the system relative to that planet, and it's not a reason to be afraid, though. It's just that we are tending to something where maybe there is a bit of a breakdown, there is a bit of a misuse of that planet's energy, and when we tend to it, we fix it and we actually work with that planet even more effectively and efficiently. So when Mercury is retrograde, yes, sometimes people say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Sometimes, when Venus is retrograde, people experience a lot of frustration in their partnerships. When Venus is retrograde, people experience a lot of frustration in their partnerships. When Saturn is retrograde, people feel as though their professional plans are being sort of evaluated and audited almost more closely.
Speaker 1:When Uranus is retrograde, we have to reflect on, you know, our process of reinvention. I mean so, as you've also noticed when I'm describing this, it's not just a breakdown. It's like sometimes it's just an internalization of something. So, again, despite what you might read in the headlines or on websites or on social media platforms, retrogrades are not a cause to run for the hills. It's actually a really nice moment to reconsider how you've been using this planet, so you're not on autopilot anymore. The retrograde forces you out of autopilot and you're like, oh, let me check all these other knobs you know and control systems and make sure that you know I could manage this planet well in a crisis or something like that.
Speaker 1:And sometimes the retrograde is sort of associated with a crisis, you know, in the domain of that planet. So, meaning you know, each planet represents a different area of our psyche essentially, and sometimes when a planet retrogrades, we experience a crisis in that area of the psyche. So with Mercury, with our communication with Mars, with our aggression or stress management, with our aggression or stress management. And I mean it does matter, by the way, that Mars is the rarest of all retrogrades, because it's the retrograde that we are least familiar with in that sense. So everyone, every human being who ever lived, experienced the least amount of Mars retrogrades compared to the other planets, you know, by definition. So we don't have as many sort of attempts at managing Mars retrograde in our lifetimes.
Speaker 1:So let's zero in on Mars. Mars is our ability. I think Mars is actually our ability to withstand either challenge or competition or even outside aggression. I mean, you know, mars is really what allows us to fight back and Mars is what allows us to take life by the horns in key situations.
Speaker 1:So if you are trying to really, I mean think about just managing any stressful situation where you have to apply force and I don't mean that necessarily physically, but like the force of your will. Force of your will, so like, if you have I don't know, like I'll just random example, but over this past summer, you know, I was walking my dog outside and Smokey courts and you know, smokey ended up stepping on like some kind of pine, pine cone sort of shard and it got right into his paw and you know it was a a, it was a stressful situation because he was like limping and I was like, oh god, I have to find like a pair of tweezers and I have to, like, you know, I have to pluck this out, even though it's going to be stressful for him. So it's like, as I'm navigating that crisis, I have to use my mars sign, I have to use my mars energy, which is again the ability to kind of take a, take a risk, basically, cause, like, you're taking a risk in any kind of situation like that, whether you are trying to uh, you know, uh help your pet through a stressful situation, or if you're trying to get your car out of a narrow driveway that it can barely fit through, which is also something I experience every day. Um, but Mars is your ability to respond to these things with a sense of like direction and decisiveness.
Speaker 1:Experience, you know, this sort of imbalance of stress responses where, like, your stress response system can be a little bit skewed or again out of balance. Meaning, let's say, somebody I don't know leaves the somewhat dirty plate beside the sink instead of immediately putting it in the dishwasher, and then, like you know, for some reason, you blow up at them about that and you're like, how could you do that? How could you leave the plate by the sink instead of putting it away? Or, you know, maybe you're at a bar and somebody steps on you and you're, and you like can't keep your cool. Like that's sort of like a misfiring of Mars, because ideally, mars is forceful at the, at the right time, and then, and then it's, it's composed. It's or not really composed, because Mars is, by definition, isn't really, but like you're composed in situations that are a little bit more minor.
Speaker 1:Um, so if you're born with Mars retrograde, then you know what I'm talking about. Um, you know that you've had moments where you blow up when it's not really called for or you find yourself stressed about something that is, again, relatively minor. But Mars retrograde people with Mars retrograde natally myself included we learn how to. I mean, I do think we learn how to manage that stress like really well, to a point where you know people actually look to us for you know, for help in a crisis and so, like you know, anytime you have a retrograde planet natally, it's like a call to master that planet's energy, because you definitely didn't in your past life.
Speaker 1:So I think, if you believe in astrology, it's hard to make a case against reincarnation. I think that the chart will show past lives, it will show the reason why you came back and it will show where the imbalances are. So, if you have Mars retrograde in your chart, then you probably lashed out in a past life or you probably were overly aggressive or, to be honest, there may have been moments where you were a bit of a coward. I mean, that kind of stuff can happen. So, like a Mars retrograde, may have experienced a situation in a past life where they were in a battle, they were in a war and they fled their whatever, their group, or maybe someone with Mars retrograde was extremely unhinged in a past life and just sort of creating conflict at every turn.
Speaker 1:But in this lifetime it's like every time you try to operate in those ways it just sort of like the negative consequences are twofold or threefold. So if you decide not to partake in something when a decision is needed and you practice cowardice like that will really be known by others. And if you practice or if you have poor anger management, that will also be noticed by others. But again, like over time you end up refining that. But when Mars is retrograde in the transits, everybody in the collective is suddenly presented with this sort of different operating system where it's like suddenly a circuit is broke or whatever and a wire has not connected all of a sudden or is disconnected and again stress management capabilities just sort of decrease. So but you know again, for natal Mars retrogrades, if you have it natally, this isn't necessarily the most challenging time. But remember there are externalities where other people around you are experiencing the more sort of negative side effects.
Speaker 1:But I've talked about Mars retrograde and Leo on my sub stack before, so you can always reference that. I'm not going to talk about that because we are getting through that retrograde, that portion of the retrograde, but now it is going into the sign of cancer and it's a totally different ball game. I mean Mars retrograde and Leo is not Christmas retrograde in Leo is not so bad, I mean it is definitely. You know, it's in a fire sign, fixed fire. So I think it's fairly prideful and confident and charismatic there, even when it's retrograde.
Speaker 1:And I would assume, especially with the alignment with the holidays, that some of you maybe got back in touch with your own inner child. I know I did. I mean I ended up decorating an entire Christmas tree for the first time in like 20 years because because I was I mean, well, it's a long story, I was basically I was when I was like nine or 10 years old we found out that I'm allergic to like actual Christmas trees, like the actual tree and, um, I don't know. Because of that, we just stopped having Christmas trees at the house, which sounds really lame because it is. But I've basically outgrown my allergies over time by doing, honestly, breathwork helped me really flush out a lot of allergy related issues the past couple of years. But I learned this year that I'm still somehow allergic to the actual pine tree in the house. There's something about the aroma I think that just really gets to me, but I'm not allergic to anything else outdoors that I know of at this point.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, at one point over the holidays I did decorate a Christmas tree from scratch and it was actually really, and it was sort of illuminating to me because it kind of shined a light on an era or an aspect of my childhood that I'd honestly, mostly forgotten about, for whatever reason. So I don't know, this is just a small example of how Mars retrograde and Leo could have benefited you. Toy shop um, you know, obviously like shopping for the holidays and, um, you know, being at the toy store just reminded me of like, again that same era, 9, 10, 11 when I was collecting pokemon cards and, like you know, just relishing the opportunity to go to the store, you know, after school to buy a pack of like three mystery pokemon cards to see if I got like a holographic Mew or something like that. So, anyways, mars will go into Cancer January 6th a few hours after I'm recording this, and it will be retrograde in Cancer until February 23rd. So it's a pretty long stretch still to go.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's a very long retrograde cycle, as always, and you know, in cancer, I think it is more challenging. I mean, it's partly because Mars is actually fallen in cancer, so it's exalted in Capricorn, where it is very poised and it is very considerate of the long term. In cancer, though, I would think about it as almost like disrupted hormones, because cancer is ruled by the moon and the cycles of the moon really dictate our hormone levels for both genders. I mean, cancer, as a sign, is really about our daily rhythms and regulations. Like how does our body ebb and flow along with the moon? I mean, every human being is biologically aware of the lunation cycle, even at a subconscious level. We don't have to cognize that. We don't have to. You know, it doesn't matter if you're skeptical of astrology or not. Like it is a form of astrology though, though, to basically observe how the patterns of the moon influence and exercise, influence on, you know, our body's regulatory system, hormones, endocrine system.
Speaker 1:I mean there's all kinds of uh studies that have been done about this and you know blood flow changes during certain lunation phases. So that's why astrologers never I mean they always advise against. You know, for example, like doing procedures during a full moon. I mean uh, you know, and I would obviously, just as a quick caveat, like rec, I would recommend, like consulting with an astrologer if you have a question like that. You know, and I've done consultations like that where people ask me, you know when should I go in for a procedure, and that, like very much, is a delicate process that factors in not just the lunation phase but, like your natal moon and, uh, you know, obviously all the planets involved. So, anyways, um, mars retrograde and cancer, it's just a tough retrograde. I I mean ask anyone who was born in like late 1992 what that's like. You know, because the late 92 folks have Mars retrograde in Cancer and you know that retrograde was actually especially difficult in a way because it was opposing Neptune and Uranus.
Speaker 1:But you know, mars retrograde and Cancer definitely makes us more likely to become kind of moody, emotional and also maybe a little bit bitter about things from our past, because Cancer again ruled by the moon. Cancer naturally would be a nostalgic sign, or it's associated with idyllic eras or it's associated with, you know, even in a way, those sort of early years. But I've noticed that, like cancer placements, people with a lot of cancer placements will continually pull back or draw upon their past. You know, like if you've ever dated a cancer, you know you'll notice that they do something where they keep, you know, their exes around, like they'll insist that oh yeah, I can be friends with my ex, even though we had a thing at one point, like it's all good, like that's just how Cancers are, because they are comforted by the familiar.
Speaker 1:It doesn't have to be literally just about family with the sign of Cancer. It can be anything that's familiar. It doesn't have to be literally just about family with the sign of cancer, it can be anything that's familiar. But the problem with Mars and Cancer retrograde is that things that typically are familiar and sources of comfort become sources of strife and strain. So it's almost like the blanket that keeps you warm every night is suddenly kind of prickly and makes you itchy all over. You know that's sort of the analogy I would give.
Speaker 1:Or you know someone in your family who typically is very caring and you know a source of comfort for you, is suddenly fighting with you about something and you know this probably will, for many people, spark conflict within families or with roommates or landlords or anyone that's under the same roof as you. So it'll impact every sign in these ways. By the way, it's not just the cardinal signs which I'll talk about, signs which I'll talk about. So my advice, basically, is to not expect your usual sources of comfort to be there. Honestly, like, don Don't assume that again, your roommate is just going to play nice.
Speaker 1:And with Mars retrograde though, it's an opportunity to you know, demonstrate leadership during a crisis, especially within your family and with your roommates, or, honestly, with anyone that you're surrounded by but, like everyone else, will be emotionally dysregulated pretty much during this phase of Mars retrograde. So, by listening to this podcast or watching astrology videos, or however you consume astrology, it's like you, you know you can step up, you can fill that void or you can counterbalance that. So, as other people are moody, as other people become maybe bitter about something from their past, you can sidestep that, I mean, and by sidestepping it you can focus your energy on the things that actually matter. I mean, and I'm not going to like paint with a broad brush and say and generalize and be like, well, you're not going to have any problems if you listen to this podcast, like, it's not that simple, it's just that like, just know that you will have to manage a crisis during this time, that you will have to manage a crisis during this time, and so it's like why not just have as much energy as possible to actually address those concerns, instead of scattering your energy, which is, I think, what people are going to be tempted to do here? You know, scattering their energy by calling their mother and then fighting with her for an hour, hanging up the phone, calling your nephew or calling your cousin or calling your sibling or whoever, and fighting with them and then emailing your landlord and saying why haven't you fixed this yet? I mean and again, like you can rank these things Like there's probably certain things in this list that are more important than others.
Speaker 1:For example, if you have, like, a repair that needs to be done in your apartment or something, and it's overdue like a month overdue and your landlord still hasn't addressed it, okay, let's put that towards the top. That is a crisis that you would have to manage. But do you really have to be yapping away with your mother for an hour about something that maybe isn't marginal? Maybe it's not, but you just have to be insofar as you can be, insofar as it's realistic, you have to be the emotionally regulated one, especially in familial contexts as well as familiar contexts, and it's not Venus retrograde yet, but Venus will be in pre-shadow during parts of this Mars retrograde. And if Venus is in pre-shadow while Mars is retrograde yet, but Venus will be in pre-shadow during parts of this Mars retrograde, and if Venus is in pre-shadow while Mars is retrograde, in Cancer especially, I mean I could see how some people might resent something from the past in a relationship context where they send this strange text or email to their ex and say you know, hey, I'm still not over what happened here.
Speaker 1:You know, like you know, I would say most likely that's a bad idea. You know, like you don't really have to resolve right, you don't really have to do that, you don't have to resolve things from the past, like. I think like what's done is done is probably gonna be the lesson for a lot of people during this Mars retrograding cancer. Because again, with this cancer energy, it's like people are really tempted to almost derive their anger from past situations that cannot be controlled anymore or changed. So like if your partner, ex-partner, did something you don't like, didn't like, and you feel like they kind of walked away with kind of a chummy grin and they were, like you know, like kind of walking away almost like, oh yeah, I totally showed them. Or I walked away on top, like don't, don't go back to them yelling at them about it or trying to, you know, gain vengeance. I mean you know that that's to me not, that's just going to drain you and it's going to teach you some really tough lessons that again you can't change the course of time, uh, of the past.
Speaker 1:I mean you know the other context could be again that you are hung up on something in your family, like maybe there's a family feud about something, whether it be over an inheritance or property or who's taking care of mom, like whatever the scenario is. You know, again, expect a little bit more sensitivity in those areas. People will be more sensitive in those environments and you will be more sensitive to stress during this time, in these contexts. And, by the way, in the house of your chart that's ruled by cancer and use a whole sign house system, by the way. So if you are and we'll go through that, I mean we might as well go through that right now.
Speaker 1:But just quickly, the timeline again January 6th through Feb 23,. Mars is retrograding cancer. That's when you will be more sensitive to stress. But you can also find your strength, find your inner sort of autonomy and your inner leader, such that you can either take charge, manage the crisis in that family context or in some other context, or you can set better boundaries in these areas and say, hey, I don't again, I don't need to have the hour-long conversation with my parents, I can just set a time limit on it or hang up if it's starting to go into sort of negative territory.
Speaker 1:And another quick mention I guess piece of this timeline is that you know a lot of stress that you would have experienced or may have experienced between October 4th and November 3rd. That, like anything that happened in that timeline, is most likely the terrain that you'll be kind of reworking here, because Mars retrograde is not necessarily bringing up always new situations. It can be a rehash of things from that era or that time period, I should say. So, whatever challenges go through, do the inventory. What challenges did I experience between October 4th and November 3rd? Whatever it was? What challenges did I experience between October 4th and November 3rd? Whatever it was? You probably are continuing to rehash it and there is a post-shadow phase, but I'm not going to get into that on this podcast.
Speaker 1:The peak of the retrograde is around January 15th, when Mars, you know, opposes the sun. Exactly that is when that is the day, I think, when all cardinal signs will be feared by people. But that's January 13th through 15th to me is the toughest point in the retrograde, as well as January 23rd actually, when Mercury opposes Mars and squares Chiron, which I talked about on my YouTube for my January predictions. That is very challenging T-square, where there's just arguments galore, very vitriolic language being used, you know, just fighting words, and a lot of statements being made there that are kind of non-negotiables for the other person, where someone will say something that just like makes the relationship untenable or makes the situation untenable, like, yeah, I just think that a lot of relationships will be very frayed and kind of fraught with all kinds of challenges because of the things people are saying. So, you know, just be very careful with your language around January 23rd and plus or minus a few days on either side of that.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to jump in for the sort of horoscopes and I'm going to start off with the cardinal signs, because Mars is activating either an angular house of their birth chart or it's forming a hard aspect to these signs. But for Aries, mars is in the opening square in the fourth house there, and this is going to make you more sensitive to stress in your home or with your family. You are the most likely sign, in a lot of ways, to have to navigate stressful situations in the family or at home. But remember, this is an opportunity to be extremely decisive, bold, and I mean sort of elite in this area. Like you can really impress people with the sort of gravitas and and and or sort of the poise and the composure that you yeah, you can impress people with your composure, basically in any of those stressful situations Um and uh.
Speaker 1:You know, for cancer, though this is in the first house or in your sign, and and for cancers. Arguably, though, this is the most frustrating of all for you. Like you are the sign that is most likely to become frustrated by the retrograde, especially around january 13th, that full moon in your sign. I think you're getting a little, I don't know, aggressive or something, and it's it is like you are in the foreground there of like this Mars retrograde storyline. Like you are the main character and that means that you are bearing the brunt of this. I mean, you are the most likely to again have stressful situations arise, you will have to prove your toughness in a way or your strength.
Speaker 1:And with the full moon juxtaposed, you know, with this retrograde here in cancer it's like also an opportunity to release, release stress, let it go Again, especially stress about the past. A lot of cancers right now are feeling almost like there's an invisible string or cord maybe still connecting them to something from the past and they have to cut that cord. Maybe you've already cut that cord in years past and you're like, eh, it's back. That happens, cords regrow. And, by the way, again, if you are a paid Substack subscriber, I have a cord-cutting ritual and recording on my Substack from March, during the lunar eclipse in Libra from March 25th of 2024. And I really enjoyed doing that live ceremony and the recording really is an intuitive navigation of a shamanic journey. Basically, that can really help you pull out some of these negative forces that still have their hooks in you. But yeah, for Cancer, as you're letting go, you're ultimately letting go of something from the past that's been frustrating you.
Speaker 1:Now Mars for Libras is retrograde in the 10th. Mars retrograde in the 10th for Libras is showing a sensitivity to stress in the domain of career or with authority figures or as a parent or with parents. So, as a Libra, you're more likely to, you know, encounter a lot of frustration with anyone you report to, anyone you look up to again, a parent potentially. Or you might make emotionally driven choices in your career and you might be unnecessarily risk-loving or taking risks. You might be. Yeah, your risk tolerance is sort of I mean again, again, like it's sort of hard to explain but, like in some situations, you are hypersensitive with mars retrograde, to stress where it's like you kind of cower away when something is more like calling again, calling on you to be a badass. And there's other situations where nobody is asking you to do anything and you decide to be bold. Again, it's sort of like a meme, it's like no one, you, hey, I'm going to go knock on the CEO's door and demand a raise while they're eating lunch. It's like the timing matters, right, and, by the way, I'm not saying you can't ask for a raise when Mars is retrograde, but I'm just saying there's miscalculations potentially in terms of how you assert yourself. But for Libras, this is a chance to set boundaries with your family, like for Aries as well. Aries and Libra, you both have a chance to really set boundaries with your family and to again prove your mettle, so to speak, in this context. But I think for Libras especially, it's about the career really.
Speaker 1:Now. For Capricorns, it's retrograde in the seventh house, so similar to Cancers. If you're still not fully over something about your past relationships, it might fester in you a little bit where you feel like, yeah, that person really betrayed me and I don't know why I let them get away with that or whatever. Like you might be kind of hung up on something from from the past, from a past relationship, um, and in general the seventh house is open enemies. So I mean, yeah, it's not easy. You're going to basically like any, any sort of like bad energy you experience with people who maybe resent you or don't like you or judge you, like that energy is going to be amplified. I mean it's going to feel like uh, it's just accented Like anyone who you clash with and butt heads with you might just, um, they might egg you on a little bit. So don't take the bait, don't just accept those conflicts, don't, you know, fuel them further. But you know, if you really feel like you have to explain something to a past partner, I don't know, I'm not going to stop you If you have to vocalize something. I think that maybe that's okay. But others in relationships already, if you're in an existing one, yeah, you might experience some stress there.
Speaker 1:But around January 13th especially, some Capricorns might let someone go, might let go of a relationship, but it is a great opportunity to, I think, to negotiate something that is still lingering, like a contract, or to sell something that you weren't able to sell in the previous months. If you're still trying to push like a big sale through to somebody, big contract through, I think that's actually a great timeexisting. And maybe in a relationship you just set better boundaries with someone where I don't know, maybe you have like a great partnership but your partner consistently calls you throughout the day, indiscriminately, while you're working. That would be a great retrograde to be like, or a great full moon, I guess, on the 13th to be like. Well, hey, like I love you, but I don't. I just think you know sometimes you could be more mindful of my schedule when you decide to call me.
Speaker 1:So let's go into the other signs and admittedly I'm going to go through this a little bit quicker because for the other signs, it's not that the impact is entirely muted, but it's not. You know, it's not going to be relatively as significant and again, I'm going to do a newsletter on this in more detail. Plus, you know, obviously, if you want more details on how Mars retrograde affects you, it's like you can always also consult an astrologer and they can walk you through exactly how Mars retrograde is influencing all the planets in the birth chart. So for Taurus, I'll go in order from Taurus through Pisces and skip over the cardinal signs. So for Taurus, it is very much a time where you are resolving unresolved arguments, but you are also more argumentative than usual. However, you can again resolve those arguments or solve problems or crises with any siblings.
Speaker 1:And for Gemini, it's in the second house. So you're really advocating for your self-worth more firmly, maybe experiencing some stress with either your possessions or money, but also, through that experience, being more forceful about hey, I want to hit this financial goal or I want this raise. I think you're the sign that's most likely to ask for a raise actually. Financial goal, or I want this raise, Like, I think you're the sign that's most likely to ask for a raise actually, or you will, you know, reevaluate that how you chase material success. Maybe you'll realize that your ego is too wrapped up in it and you'll pull back from it. But I think for a lot of you, it's about advocating for. You know you're stepping up, showing yourself worth, also showing and demanding that you be compensated for your natural abilities and talents and things like that. So, um, you know, some financial disputes could arise also with that retrograde for you, but you know it could be one that's a little subtle for you. You might even evaluate, reevaluate, uh, your motivations for indulging in certain material pleasures.
Speaker 1:Leo, it's in your 12th house. So for you, you know this is tough. I mean in the 12th house, and I talked about this in my 2025 horoscopes. So if you've downloaded those, it's nothing new for you. But you know, for you it's really about sleep cycles. Your sleep cycle is way off right. So, like, if you're a Leo rising, you know, maybe, maybe you're a Leo rising who's in Bali right now. It's like you know that's fine, you know, have fun.
Speaker 1:But Mars retrograde in the 12th. I mean I think that there is a call here over the next few weeks to like really get into a clear circadian rhythm. Leos might have like kind of insane dreams as well, kind of vivid dreams, maybe even violent dreams, to be honest, but I have Mars retrograde in my 12th house, natally, so I can corroborate that I mean my dreams are pretty insane, but also this can help you create a divine channel. You can become a divine channel, maybe, engage in more thoughtful spiritual practices and again get your sleep in check. And also, you know, with that retrograde, though, don't get too stressed out at night. If you're going to like any kind of like nighttime venues, like bars, like really really make sure that you don't inflame people in those scenarios, like don't pick a bar fight or something. And yeah, I think, as long as you make your home a sanctuary of sorts and you get your sleep in order, it should be pretty good for you, though, virgo, you're experiencing the stress in the 11th house of, like friends, communities, humanitarian groups, social media. So if you're a Virgo, you know, just make sure that you're not barking or biting too much on social media. Make sure that you are maintaining poise there, addressing legitimate conflict or issues with any friends, but not taking it so far where you lash out at a friend. But yeah, I mean it is again, the retrograde is here and it is a challenge, objectively, that we have to meet that moment. And meeting the moment could look like for Virgo, for example, like being really being a leader right in those communities or in that friend group and managing that crisis with aplomb.
Speaker 1:For Scorpios, it's in the ninth house house. Some of you are doing some long distance traveling right now or in the next couple weeks. I think that's okay, as long as you recognize that too much travel would probably frustrate you or lead to burnout. A lot of Scorpios, I think, right now are feeling like, hey, I want to go all over the place, I want to travel at least a few hundred miles away from where I am now and, um, again, that's, that's fine. But uh, just like anything, uh, do it in moderation. Some of you are also maybe trying to push for, like, a publishing deal. I mean I'm, I just finished my book, so you know I'm trying to do that and you're revisiting maybe someone you know in the publishing industry or just advocating for your book or advocating for anything media or marketing-related that you've done. You're reconsidering how you navigate the publishing world, the media world, the PR world or the higher educational world or your travel plans. But like specifically with mars, it's not like a mercury retrograde, like mars retrograde, is showing that you're kind of like finding a different way to be assertive in those areas, right, um, or with scorpio, I mean, it could even be like you're reevaluating, you're you're pushing to like really really assemble your own coursework together, become a teacher in a different way and to kind of be a pioneer in that realm, because Mars can be our kind of pioneering spirit, because Mars wants to be first and wants to win the competition.
Speaker 1:For Sagittarius. It's in the eighth house, a very complicated house. This is definitely a bit of a triggering transit. You might feel frustrated by things that you can't explain. There might be these sort of events or conversations or moments that sort of writhe around, like wiggle their way into your subconscious and generate a reaction you didn't expect. So that's an excuse to do shadow work. Basically, you should be doing shadow work at this time, but also you are reevaluating your motivations for sex or anything taboo, or maybe you're reflecting on your finances or an inheritance situation. I think a lot of Sages, though, are actually navigating a lot of convoluted financial situations in their family. I actually know a Sage who's doing that right now.
Speaker 1:So now for Aquarius is in the sixth house, so this is a call to reevaluate your strength training and look at really your lifestyle, your muscular strength. Are there muscles you're not targeting? Do you feel like I'm making this up? But like, do you feel like you are maybe sitting down all day and then just going to the gym and doing a bunch of arms and bicep curls and then going back home and sitting and working all day? Therefore, maybe your core strength or your lower body strength is not great. This is the time to evaluate things like that. But also, if you have any coworkers who you don't get along with, I would just try to minimize interactions with them during this time. And if you have any pets I mean the sixth house is pets To be honest you might experience some challenge with pets. So, just you know, be mindful of that.
Speaker 1:And then with Pisces, it's in the fifth. So if you have children, you know there might be some lingering conflict you're resolving with your children. I don't know if it necessarily would have to do with like custody battles, but you know it certainly can, you know, create some frustration within the family. Others will be kind of, you know, trying to rethink, like really trying to rediscover their creativity actually and use their creativity as energy and, you know, look to your creativity to find and capture more energy, even though it's an area where you might find frustration. I mean, you know some Pisces might be arguing or disputing a creative project, for example, like you know, a Pisces, at the same time could turn to a creative endeavor to find that motivation again and find that fuel.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, I mean the Mars retrograde in the 5th, I don't find it to be all that challenging per se. It is the house of good fortune. So you know, even though Mars is a malefic planet, meaning it can, you know, it could theoretically create conflicts for a Pisces that ruin or undermine the good fortune that could have come. But, like, at the same time, mars is, you know again, the force of our will and you know it's. It's. Mars is sex and the fifth house is romance. So I mean, you know, if you're a Pisces who you know is still attracted to somebody who you went on a few dates with, maybe you will go on more dates with them and you'll, or some Pisces will evaluate, like, maybe I'm sort of just in this rat race with the dating scene, I don't want to be part of it anymore. So some Pisces might experience frustration within a casual relationship, or they'll want to go back to it just for the physical gratification of it, or a Pisces will find their motivation again to finish a creative project. But yeah, I don't think it's inherently a bad transit.
Speaker 1:So before I wrap up, though, I just want to mention one other thing that I've noticed on the sort of social media pages. I mean, astrologers are notorious for not agreeing on. You know how a year is going to affect a sign or something like that. But you know I did a ranking last week on the podcast, which I uh was the most popular episode so far in the season, which I really appreciate all your support and and definitely you know, continue to share these podcasts, episodes and, um, engage with them, but uh, but you know the ranking that I gave about, you know, virgo was controversial, I think, for a lot of people, and Aries you know I put Virgo at 11th this upcoming year, aries at 12th, and you know people were saying, oh, I heard this other astrologer giving Virgos like one of the best years, and so I went to the video and I was like watching it and I won't name the astrologer, but you know I found it to be sort of suspect. You know, like the methodology didn't really make any sense to me.
Speaker 1:So a lot of astrologers, especially the inexperienced ones, are and I'm not like trying to throw any shade, I mean I was an inexperienced technically. I didn't even, you know, open an astrology book until you know what is it now, four years ago. So I don't want to be that person, right? I'm not like a gatekeeper, I'm not in some ivory tower, I'm not one of those astrologers, right, and I know those. I've heard of those astrologers who rip any astrologer who's like on TikTok and I think that's bullshit.
Speaker 1:But you know, I just think that some astrologers are a little bit quick, though maybe in the first couple of years, first year or two years, or even in their later years of experience, like they're a little bit quick to jump on the train of like. Well, you know, I learned that Jupiter is growth and abundance. So I'm going to like really use that as the spear point in determining my rankings. Or, you know, I heard that Venus, again, is another positive planet, and that's fine, there's merit to these things. But over time you realize that Jupiter just inflates, doesn't necessarily create the most positive scenario every time. So you know, I would just say I would just be cautious about that.
Speaker 1:If you see an astrologer say like, oh, virgos are going to have a great year because they have Jupiter in the 10th, I would just take that with a grain of salt, because and I'm not saying that Virgos are destined to have a bad year, by the way, nor Aries but it would be very naive, I think, and misleading, to say that you know, oh, you don't have anything to worry about, your career is going to be totally fine, because you know, we got to figure it. We have to factor in everything else and like for Virgos, it's like the South Node is going to be in Virgo. And like ask Libras what it was like with the South node in their sign the past year and a half. Ask Scorpios what it was like to have the South node in their sign in 2022 and part of 2023. Like, even if those years had some success for those signs, they were still really challenging.
Speaker 1:You know, I had the South node on my Venus, my Sun, my Pluto, my Moon over that time when the South node was in Scorpio. And it's like yeah, I mean, I started my business, I, you know, found my footing as an astrologer. But at the same time, you know, it's like I entered into situations that presented a lot of promise but ended up being these like karmic contracts that I just had to finish off like finish out, and like that was really frustrating. So I just had to finish off like finish out and like that was really frustrating. So, you know, I think the South node is is a bit of a uh, it's like a cup that you're filling up but there's like a bit of a puncture at the bottom and so you start to realize that there's a leak in here. Ah, you know, I might I feel like I have something in this cup, but I'm also losing it and in a way that's kind of tragic. It's sort of like being a Minnesota Vikings fan, where you know you have a high win percentage every year but you've never won the Super Bowl. It's like you kind of get some opportunity but then it's not clear if it's sticking around.
Speaker 1:The south node is kind of a drain, but you know it can bring these pivotal situations from your past lives that pay off for you at the same time, like maybe you helped someone out in a past life, you saved them from, you know, a wild animal. And then they come back around when Venus transits your south node and they help you get, you know, some kind of media deal because you saved them in a past life and neither party understands that that that's happening. But maybe that is happening during a South Node-Alt-Transit. So I'm not saying that Virgos are all going to have a bad year or something. It's just that, relatively speaking, if you just average it out probabilistically based on all the factors, it's like Virgos, you've got Saturn opposing your sign, still Neptune opposing your sign, south Node in your sign, pluto in your sixth, I mean Chiron in the eighth. There's a lot of complex transits there that you can use in your favor.
Speaker 1:But like Jupiter in the 10th isn't inherently just going to guarantee you a great year. Jupiter can just merely inflate, cause you to underestimate the risks of something, overestimate the benefits. So again, I just find that weird that astrologers were ranking Virgo so high. It doesn't make any sense and again, if we're in the business of ranking, it's purely a thought experiment. So don't hate me if I say that such a sign is going to have 10th, 11th, 12th, best year, aries. It's really hard to give you a high ranking either because you've got all these planets in your 12th house right now, which is the house of bad spirit. It's a really liminal, abstract house that is hard to grasp.
Speaker 1:If you're an Aries who is an expert in shamanistic healing, meditation, yoga, well then that's great. If you are a JK Rowling type, who, you know, writes all day, every day I don't know if she actually does that in terms of her routine, but, like you know, if you're like a famous writer who basically all you do is write and you dream, and then you write, and you dream and you write, then I mean this is a great year for you. But for most Aries who like to stay grounded, I think, in their bodies and like in competition in the physical plane with people, it's kind of a year without a clear anchor, if I'm being honest. But again, my 2025 horoscopes have details where, like they have, I basically unveil all the key dates when you actually will find success and can find success If you're aware of those transits and work with them. But you know, aries, like you might have an ego death this year, like Saturn, neptune conjoining in your sign and into 2026. You might transcend the ego and realize that separateness is an illusion and therefore, you know, eliminate the separation between you and your dreams. So, like I said, even being the 12th sign in the ranking still gives you a ticket to paradise, or whatever, or luck, or success. It's just that, on balance, if I'm in the business of ranking the signs in 2025, I think it would be a violation of policy basically to say that Virgo and Aries would be at the top of the list but at the same time, you'll meet a Virgo who had the best year and you'll meet a Gemini who even though I put Geminis at the top who had a terrible year.
Speaker 1:But that's all based on how you work with the transits that, hopefully, you're conscious of. You have to be conscious of the transits, work with them wisely and apply a positive mindset onto those transits. But you can't escape the music of the spheres. Like the music is happening, the symphony is happening. So, like you know, it's not enough to just be like I don't care about astrology. I can just, you know, wish it away, and it doesn't work that way. The planets are literally part of our reality and our frequency and our vibrations. So, yeah, work with the astrology.
Speaker 1:Anyways, I just wanted to mention that which could just be my Mars Gemini complaining about nothing. I don't know, maybe not that many astrologers put Virgo high, but I've seen a lot of comments about it that Virgos will have a great year, or how could you say this. Virgos were supposed to have the perfect 2025. I don't know. I only watched one video of an astrologer, kind of like, implying that, but because of the amount of comments I've gotten, I'm just kind of I'm not sure where those other astrologers are. I mean, do they? I don't know who the other astrologers are, but because of the volume of comments I've gotten about it, I'm imagining a lot of astrologers have picked Virgos to have the best year and it's and Aries, and, like Aries, you have the North node in your signs. You have self actualized in some ways, but I still think you have a lot of work to do, a lot of reflecting to do in the 12th house. So, anyways, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Definitely subscribe to the sub stack, check out those horoscopes that are still available, and my readings for 2025 are sold out at this time, I believe. So I'm doing yeah, so I'm doing a hundred readings in 2025. I have left a few spots still to be plugged into the schedule, though, so there's still like a very, very, a very small amount of spots. I want to say about five that I will drop at certain points in the upcoming months, so just look out for that through my social media. But anyways, thank you so much. This is Astrology Unbound. I'm Nathaniel Grimm and I hope you have a great Mars retrograde experience. Take care.