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
How to Overcome the Exhaustion of this Mars Retrograde
Everyone's complaining about a lack of motivation and drive right now — well you can blame Mars Retrograde for that. It's the rarest and arguably the most noticeable of all the planetary retrogrades. It can deplete our energy levels, especially while in the sign of Cancer. In this episode I provide useful tips for regaining a sense of normalcy during this draining transit. I also discuss what to look out for as Uranus, the planet of unpredictable shocks & changes, stations direct in Taurus.
Hey, there it's. I'm Nathaniel Grimm, and welcome to the latest episode of Astrology Unbound. And today we're going to discuss two things Mars retrograde, which has not wanted to leave us alone, and also Uranus stationing direct in a few days. So Mars retrograde has been the centerpiece of 2025, in my opinion. I do think it has been the source of most people's complaints. So many people have claimed to be unmotivated or they haven't been able to get out of bed or they've just been feeling very dysregulated. This has a lot to do with Mars retrograde, so I might as well make an episode to help people manage that. And also, uranus stationing direct is a big deal. It's very significant because it's almost bittersweet. I mean, this is really a send-off. Uranus will be leaving the sign of Taurus as it starts to move forward. Eventually it will go into Gemini by the month of July. It will retrograde back into Taurus one more time, but this direct motion of Uranus in Taurus is going to bring Uranus through, finally, every degree of Taurus in this 84-year cycle. So we'll sort of reflect on what Uranus in Taurus has meant and hopefully that will give you the tools to make the most of this final stretch of Uranus in that sign. But before I dive in, definitely check out my newsletter, my substack. That is where you can get access to my opinions and my take on every new and full moon, the retrogrades, and also, by becoming a paid substack subscriber, you do get 30% off all my courses and videos through my website and you do get access to the 2025 webinar, the astrology of 2025 webinar, which is still up, and much more content. So definitely check that out. And also, it's not too late to download my 2025 horoscopes, which also cover every new and full moon for the year ahead, again, retrograde dates, key trends and so on, and thank you to the 10,000 of you who have downloaded the video so far. I would definitely recommend still getting a copy, if you have not yet, for your sun, moon and rising signs, because we've only had one, you know, full moon this year, I mean we still have, you know, many, many more new and full moons to you know be preparing for. So if you want to stay ahead of the curve, definitely download those videos.
Speaker 1:So let's start off with Mars retrograde, and Mars retrogrades every two plus years. This is something that I've talked about in previous episodes. But it's not just Mercury that retrogrades. Obviously, the other planets also retrograde, and it is a moment. It's the rarest retrograde and it's definitely the most noticeable, in my opinion, because Mars is really our energy drive, libido, it is our inner flame.
Speaker 1:In a lot of ways. It is also how we respond to challenges. It's how we, you know, compete, it is how we yeah, it's how we withstand challenges. It's how we assert ourselves, it's how we get things done. So when Mars retrogrades, some of these, well, basically, the battery power, like our battery power is depleted a little bit more. It's more difficult to respond to challenges without, you know, becoming overly stressed. And I do think Mars really has a lot to do with our stress management. So when it retrogrades, we get frazzled more easily, we find it difficult to manage the stresses of life and so many people retreat or recoil or they isolate or whatever they have to do. They will start to avoid situations that previously were not maybe all that stressful.
Speaker 1:And in this case it's retrograding in the sign of Cancer, which I actually think makes it more difficult, because Mars has fallen in the sign of Cancer. And not only that, but it's squaring Chiron for much of this retrograde Chiron in Aries which is creating a frustration, a sense of woundedness, a sense of kind of being pushed down or bullied. Almost Even if you're not being bullied literally, it can almost feel like one is being bullied by life, by life itself. So it's a type of Mars retrograde where, you know it can be kind of agonizing, not to be too dramatic about it, but I mean it can be kind of agonizing and, you know, harrowing in a way. So instead of you know going on and on about all the drawbacks, I want to be solutions-oriented on this episode. So just to give you context, it also did retrograde in Leo initially, by the way, but the retrograde in Cancer has been going on since January 6th, so that's about a month. That happened about a month into Mars retrograde. So just to review and I've talked about Mars retrograde in Leo, I believe, in previous episodes, if not, I talked about it on my sub stack recently, anyway.
Speaker 1:So yeah, mars did initially station retrograde at six degrees of Leo on December 6th, but I think that that phase of the retrograde was I don't know, I just think that was a little bit easier to navigate. It was opposing Pluto, which definitely created a lot of maybe. I mean maybe did generate a lot of resentment in people. But Mars retrograding in a fire sign, I think is a little bit easier to manage, you know. I mean you know Mars rules Scorpio, which is a water sign. But I do think that Mars in fire signs is usually preserving some kind of passion and drive, because the fire elements naturally is just, you know, a little bit more outgoing, extroverted, action-oriented. But in Cancer this is the sign that's ruled by the moon and Cancer has an inherent sensitivity to it.
Speaker 1:But I think what makes Mars retrograde in Cancer the most difficult is it creates irregularities within the body itself. I think about Cancer as having associations with the lunation cycle, with natural rhythms, with, you know, hormones. So when Mars retrogrades in cancer, I think a lot of people have either been thrown off of their typical sleep cycle or their usual sleep cycle just isn't working for them. People may find themselves just agitated generally by, you know, like any. Again, any notion of like, being out of sync with the natural rhythms of life can be very agitating when Mars is in this sign. Also, when Mars retrogrades in Cancer, I think it can make people more passive, aggressive, and you know it can make people more passive-aggressive and it can make people a little bit more petty about certain things, and people will also be tormented by this idea that their typical sources of comfort whether it's a home or a family or so on become oftentimes sources of stress. So you layer that on top of everything I've already mentioned about Mars retrograde being again a time where stress management is just not as effective. When you layer in the fact that suddenly your very own foundation or home base is a source of strife, you're dealing with a situation where everything is exhausting you and it's a vicious cycle, because you're exhausted by the outside world and as soon as you come home, you're not really restoring your energy. So let's walk through again some pragmatic steps that you can take, because this retrograde is going to continue until February 23rd, so we still have plenty of time where you're going to hear other people complaining about this sort of abstract, inexplicable exhaustion and you can tell them hey, check out Evan's episode. He talks about this.
Speaker 1:But the Mars retrograde in cancer the Mars retrograde in Cancer number one is a time to evaluate your sleep cycle, like I said. So just take a look at that. Are you waking up at bizarre times in the middle of the night? Are you finding yourself way way more tired than usual in the morning or not tired enough when you go to bed. Whatever irregularities you're experiencing or anomalies you're experiencing right now, just reflect on those, jot those down, keep track of your sleep patterns, especially as it aligns with the lunation cycle and the lunation phase, and I think you will derive a lot of insight through this. So perhaps you've become a lot more sensitive to, maybe your sleep has been become disrupted, you know, within a few days before and after the full moon, for example. I would take note of that. Or maybe you realize that you are, or you traveled recently and you find yourself not being able to adjust back to your usual time zone. And I want to give an example of this because I think it's actually illustrating my own sort of hacking into this Mars retrograde. I mean, I have Mars retrograde natally, so I'm at a bit of an advantage here, but I feel like as a cancer rising.
Speaker 1:I've definitely still, you know, I've been bearing the brunt, I think, of this Mars retrograde in some ways. But you know, I was traveling to Minneapolis early in the month, which is on central time, and I'm usually in LA, which is on Pacific time, and when I came back to California I was still feeling like I was on central time, meaning two hours ahead. But instead of adjusting to my usual sleep pattern, I started actually going to bed really early Pacific time, so for me early like 10pm, which would be midnight central time, and then, you know, I started waking up the next morning at like 7 am and then suddenly I locked into a rhythm that I usually don't seek out because I'm more of a night owl. So I mean, I'm like filming this podcast at 11 pm Pacific time. So I'm kind of vile hitting that example right now.
Speaker 1:But for the most part, the past week or so, I have been going to bed fairly early, waking up fairly early, and through that I've been able to not only restore my energy and maintain it, but I've also like gone to the gym five days in a row this past week, which is very rare for me. I usually only go like three times a week. So that's been a really positive change. And I feel like the Mars retrograde in Cancer has been forcing me to reflect on my patterns, my rhythms, my sleep, because even though the 12th house and Pisces oftentimes is associated with sleep, you have to realize that Cancer is a moon-rolled sign and the moon is very much dictating our sleep patterns, our behaviors, our emotions, yes, but it really does speak to the ebb and flow of our lives. So just re-evaluate your rhythms generally, just see if there's a different pattern that you can hook into.
Speaker 1:Now another aspect, another solution to this Mars retrograde is to really avoid people who are sensitive to criticism, people who are generally petty, people who are passive-aggressive. Avoid those types of people because you will probably get easily caught up in that energy during this time and, honestly, in certain cases you might be the person who's doing that. But you know you just really want to avoid, you know, giving energy to those types of people in that situation. You know, because what you're going to see with Mars retrograding, cancer is, you know, people who typically are more avoidant or typically are non-confrontational will find these kind of insidious ways to kind of to again like attack someone else, you know to kind of get their, you know to assert their dominance, but in sort of a bizarre, again passive, aggressive way, and that can easily get under your skin and create this sort of death by a thousand cuts situation where you just are constantly having to deal with somebody's nagging or somebody's complaints or someone's subtle sort of aggression and that can easily get inside your head. So try to avoid those behaviors yourself and also avoid people who typically demonstrate those patterns.
Speaker 1:Another solution is to, like you know, put especially well, put a significant amount of energy into making your home a sanctuary. So, potentially, some of you are dealing with family conflict while Mars is retrograding Cancer. If that's the case, just try to come up with solutions for that. Just try to come up with solutions for that. Whatever that looks like Setting boundaries with someone in your family, creating a space, just experiencing a lot of stress in your home environment. Just reflect on like what those sources of stress might be. But most of the time, the answer is to like declutter. So if you're sitting in your bedroom and there's this piles of clothes all over the place, that would be an opportunity to know put those clothes away, fold them up and experience more of a placid, peaceful feeling.
Speaker 1:If you are on your phone too much tracking the news and doom scrolling inside of inside your house, like you want to maybe stop doing that. You want to basically create a space in your home where certain maybe distractions or stimuli are not allowed. So maybe you have a. Maybe you have a if you can afford this. Maybe you have a room in your house where you don't have any electronics. You don't bring your phone in, you don't really plug anything in, don't have a wi-fi router in there, you don't have any distractions. Make sure you have a place where your sanity and just peacefulness are honored. And again, just be very mindful about anyone in your family who might be causing some discord right now and maybe take care to avoid them a little bit more often or to finally confront the issue and if you have a roommate who you're at odds with, again set a boundary with them or just find ways to be away from them more often. And so, yeah, I think that those are like the three main solutions that I would apply here.
Speaker 1:But also just keep track of which house of your birth chart is ruled by cancer. I mean, that's where Mars is retrograde. So that area of life is also where you want to de-stress, stress and, generally speaking, people with placements between 17 and 29 degrees of the cardinal signs are the most deeply affected by this retrograde. But really everybody is affected. And again, if you have Mars retrograde natally in your birth chart, then this shouldn't be quite as challenging of a time.
Speaker 1:But I guess there's one other aspect to this retrograde I want to mention and that is the square to Chiron in juxtaposition with Venus going into Aries in a few days, and I think that this is going to highlight any aspects of relationships where this sort of physical intimacy is lacking, because with Venus being in Aries for pretty much all of February, you know, venus in Aries typically goes after what it desires. In a relationship, venus in Aries oftentimes wants to create a romantic relationship where there is a lot of physical intimacy. But with Mars dispositing this Venus in Aries, because Mars rules Aries, you know, with Mars retrograding, cancer squaring Chiron in Aries, there can be a lack of drive, a lack of libido right now and there can be a lack of general mojo, and this can, especially before the retrograde of Venus in Aries. This can kind of give people second thoughts about, maybe, their relationship or they might think, oh, was I better off with this other person where there was more excitement, where there was more passion? If you're in a relationship and you are dealing with this other person where there was more excitement, where there was more passion, if you're in a relationship and you are dealing with this Mars retrograde, you have to make sure that you are continuously kind of kindling that sense of passion and excitement and intimacy. And, again, if you're like and if, again, if you are struggling with those things.
Speaker 1:There's different solutions to that which I think go beyond the realm of this podcast, but one of the solutions, astrologically, could be again to reevaluate your sleep cycle, because your sleep cycle is off kilter right now. You might be again, again going to bed especially awake and then waking up especially exhausted, or whatever the case is, and I think that optimizing the sleep cycle is one of the keys to restoring, you know, just to getting back to. It's about getting back to a baseline where you have the energy in the morning to, let's say, go to the gym or exercise and then you're getting the blood flowing and then you're getting yourself in a position where you know it's really easy to capture that passion. And I, you know, I think with all the Pisces transits as well, right now, you know, some people might feel like they're a little bit more lost in their dreamland or their imagination and they're less like even in their body, but I do think that for those of you who are in relationships, it's very important to make sure that you are preserving that sense of a spark or a flame in the relationship. Otherwise, I actually think this Venus and Aries transit could be really you know, really tough for people in relationships. So I just want to add that in. So I think that, in addition to again tracking the house of your chart where you have cancer or where the sign of cancer is on the cusp, using a whole sign house system, in addition to tracking that domain of life where the retrograde is taking effect, apply these other solutions Optimize sleep cycles, even revisit your sleep patterns.
Speaker 1:Maybe this is the time when you start sleeping at times you almost never have slept at in your life. Maybe you start going to bed way earlier all of a sudden. So again, optimize sleep cycles. Avoid petty behaviors on either side of an equation. Make sure that you have a sanctuary of some kind in your home or familiar place. Minimize conflict with family and keep track of your libido in a relationship if you're in one, because for a lot of people the libido might be depleted at this time and that would, of course, be a source of stress in and of itself. But I think the bottom line there is, as long as you have a solid sleep cycle and a solid sense of foundation. As long as you have a solid sleep cycle and a solid sense of foundation, then you're going to be able to meet any of the challenges out there in the world or in a relationship and so on. So hopefully that was a useful exercise and now we're going to go into Uranus, stationing direct in Taurus. So Uranus stationing direct here this is not unfamiliar territory.
Speaker 1:Again, we've had Uranus and Taurus since 2018. Technically, it ingressed initially May 15th 2018. And Uranus, similar to Mars and Cancer, is not comfortable in the sign of Taurus. It is also fallen in Taurus and, you know, coming out of the retrograde. It actually is an opportunity to work with this planet's sort of energy in a more savvy way. Despite the fact that it doesn't like Taurus. I think by now we should be fairly accustomed to it, and it kind of reminds me of the YouTube video I just posted about February 2025, which was titled Making Peace with Chaos, and I think that we just have to do that with Uranus and Taurus.
Speaker 1:Taurus is a fixed earth sign. It wants stability. Uranus doesn't give us that. It completely upturns that and upends it. But with Taurus being values, we've maybe learned to value the unpredictable in life. We've learned to embrace that and see how unpredictable episodes have actually opened doors to our evolution or our acceleration forward. Our acceleration forward. You know, I think about Uranus opposing my moon in 2020.
Speaker 1:You know, in 2019, when Uranus opposed my moon, I moved across the country and in an unexpected way and even though I was sort of ripped out of my life in New York which was a fairly palatable experience my time in LA has introduced me to astrology and entrepreneurship and new connections, new relationships and all of these amazing things. But leading into that transition, I think I was fairly perturbed by it because initially I was even months before I left New York. I was like, well, this is my forever place. And then we had a pandemic and a lockdown and you know, um, and then all of a sudden my ex-girlfriend gets into a business school in LA and I just all of these things line up and I just take a chance on it. You know I'm living out here and you know I find LA to be oftentimes a bit of a head scratcher because I'm not really sure sometimes, like why or what the appeal is. And then there's other times where I'm like, wow, you know, this is a really sacred place, and so, even if I'm vacillating between those two opinions, it's still undeniable that LA has introduced me to so many, again, incredible opportunities.
Speaker 1:So, through that experience and many other experiences, I've learned how to just see sudden changes as the universe's way of working in my favor and the universe's way of forcing me to just get acquainted with something new and helping me get out of a stagnant situation. So I think we've all had to grapple with that in our own ways since 2018. And in this case, you want to look at the Taurus ruled house that's in your birth chart and you know, just look to that as and reflect on that. Like, how have I experienced instability in the area that's ruled by Taurus? Or, sorry, the house that's ruled by Taurus in my chart? And you know, let's take stock of those new sort of vistas that were suddenly revealed to us. Let's take stock of and appreciate the sudden doorways that were opened. So I think that's that exercise in gratitude can even help us manage this transit.
Speaker 1:But when Uranus stations direct it's, by the way, stationing direct on January 30th we will, because, again, this is the final, really one of the final passages of Uranus and Taurus in this cycle, we can make it work for us, even if we do continue to experience some unexpected events. I think, as Uranus goes through this last decan of Taurus, we can just hopefully use this as a vehicle for acceleration, evolution, liberation, autonomy and just radical reinvention. Maybe, maybe you've been hesitant to radically reinvent something in your life for the past seven years that Uranus has been here, and now you're finally ready after much reflection, and Uranus is going to enter Gemini in July and it's going to be very comfortable there in Gemini, because Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury and Mercury rules Gemini. So that's going to be a nice transition. But before that, as Uranus closes out this transit in Taurus, I would recommend that you just also do sort of a full inventory of what your values were back in 2018. And you know, go into your phone, go to your photo album, try to find photos from late May of 2018 or early June of 2018. And even if you have a photo on May 15th of 2018, even better. You know, go back to that time, get acquainted with that time, get acquainted with that version of you again and just take stock of everything that you held dear at that time, held dearly to yourself Did you value money in a different way? Did you value a relationship in a different way? Did you value Mother Nature, music in a different way? And just trace the changes up till now and ideally you know by this time, or in doing that exercise, you feel confident that your values have been kind of upgraded or clarified and, um, you know just firmly, kind of grasp what those values are now and live those values out as Uranus finishes this transit through Taurus.
Speaker 1:Now, the last decan of Taurus is a Capricorn decan, by the way, and the Capricorn decan has a lot to do with governments, institutions, you know, structures, rules, laws, regulations. So, with Uranus moving direct in Taurus, a lot of regulations and legacies are being dismantled, and you can see that through the lens of the Trump administration and, whether you voted for him or not, it's just objectively true that he is upending a lot of tradition that's associated with the presidency, sort of break apart these legacy institutions and trying to almost play this unpredictable wildcard, disruptive role. And everybody's kind of checking the news each day to see what lifetime of changes has gone on in the last 24 hours. So I think we are all making peace with chaos through the lens of the federal government and the US. But, you know, uranus moving direct in Taurus, which is a sign associated with money and values, can also give you a really interesting way to maybe make money, to generate income, to add more flexibility to your work, your work style, to your job description. You know, I think that there's enough tools out there, through the lens of AI or social media or other platforms, to untether you from the typical corporate workplace so juxtaposed with Venus and Aries, a sign of entrepreneurs or other platforms to untether you from the typical corporate workplace, so juxtaposed with Venus and Aries, a sign of entrepreneurs. I do think there's a route for all of us to pursue entrepreneurship at this point. And, yeah, I think that also Uranus and Taurus could show us how technology is moving too quickly and we want to kind of reground our values and, you know, place more of an emphasis on nature or, you know, unplugging. So I'm not saying it's all about just honoring the relentless or worshiping the relentless pursuit of, you know, advancement of technology. In fact, I think that one of the themes of this Aquarian season is the drawbacks of technology. You know, we've seen how technology can lead to all kinds of disasters and I think that will be a theme generally throughout Pluto and Aquarius is, you know, the deployment of technology and then the rolling back of that technology in the aftermath of a tragedy caused by that technology. Some of that regulation or rollback might involve surveillance though, unfortunately, or privacy invasions. So we want to be mindful of that during Uranus' final transit in Taurus.
Speaker 1:What value do you ascribe to personal privacy versus convenience versus, etc. Right, like whatever balancing act you're trying to strike, you know focus on that answer, be able to answer those questions. You know we're answering those questions in the through the lens of tiktok right now, you know. Do you value free a free like free speech, and a marketplace where ideas can be exchanged freely? Or do you value that over and above any national security risks that the platform may pose? Or do you feel like we should be walling off or putting a firewall on certain realms of the internet or certain apps? Or putting a firewall on certain realms of the internet or certain apps, regardless of whatever benefits they may espouse, or tout? So those are serious questions to be answering while Uranus is directing Taurus. Are your personal values hermetically sealed at this point, or are they not? You know they might not be because the values that you uphold may ebb and flow as technologies are rapidly introduced.
Speaker 1:Maybe it raises different ethical concerns, like if someone is, you know, humiliated on a social media platform and that leads to some sort of macabre outcome. You know what? Does that mean? That we should have social media platforms just free range, uninhibited, available to everyone in every way? Like you know, I'm not here to answer that question for you, but you should be able to answer that question over time.
Speaker 1:Should we allow AI to gobble up all kinds of jobs, even the jobs that maybe were more, you know, just rote or just you know, I guess, like certain, like is it okay for AI to replace jobs that you know maybe were really dangerous or challenging in a or I guess, mundane, like you know? And should we allow, should we embrace that? You know? Is that going to free people up to do more creative work, or whatever? I think we all have serious dilemmas on our hands here. We have to think about how technology is going to fit into our lives. Otherwise, we're going to have to wait to figure out how we fit into their like to AI's vision of the world. Right, so that's just something to think about, but I really think, ideally, you should be using this transit through Taurus to apply innovative approaches towards monetization of something. I think that if you really use AI in a savvy way, you can automate such a broad range of tasks that you might not need an employer anymore to design your workday for you. It's like, as long as you have a passion and an expertise and the ability to communicate that expertise to a digital audience, you can be your own brand. I mean, that is already the case, but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that we're entering an era where someone's personal brand matters and says a lot about their corporation, to a point where we're all kind of generating or creating value, and garnering value or currency or whatever through our own efforts. Anyways, uranus moving direct. Obviously we'll have many other associations broadly at the societal scale, like cryptocurrencies will be in the news quite often.
Speaker 1:There could be some seismic activity, especially around the full moon, february 12th, and so on. But again, those are some specific themes I wanted to highlight for today. Those are some specific themes I wanted to highlight for today. So, anyways, hopefully this episode has been crisp for you and useful. I like to keep it short and sweet.
Speaker 1:Right now I am still, technically, on the road. So I've been on the road for a month now, pretty much, and just trying to make sense of all the crazy stuff that's been happening in LA. And, um, you know, I'm lucky that my house is, you know, unscathed at this time. It's raining in LA right now. So I think, so far so good. But I am concerned about the air quality. The water quality I've mentioned that on my previous podcast. You know, I think again, there is a bit of a risk of seismic activity in the middle of February. La is going to come back, just like a lot of cities have through tragic moments and, um, you know, I'm hopeful that I still have a role to play in that city and you know I have a, a future there. I think that'd be nice. But, um, yeah, anyways, I, um, you know, I thank you for your patience.
Speaker 1:Also, I did not record an episode last weekend, although I had a good reason for that. I was on actually a podcast, or not even a podcast. It was a weekly Sunday night show that Robert Phoenix does On his YouTube channel. I was with Robert, the Leo King and Symbolic Studies Mario and Symbolic Studies Mario, so it was four of us and David and I were both live from his studio in Orange County and that was a good time. That was the second time in the last few months that Robert, david and I have done a show together and this time it was with Symbolic Studies, whose account on TikTok I've been following for a long time, actually for many years, whose account on TikTok I've been following for a long time, actually for many years. So that was really cool to see. You know, all four of us meeting and sort of opining about. You know everything that's coming with. You know well, just everything that's happening with the Sun-Pluto conjunction we had recently.
Speaker 1:But anyways, you know, definitely stick around. I really do. You know, for future episodes. I appreciate you. You know subscribing and following this show and you know submitting a five-star rating or you know whatever. I think it's a podcast I do want to continue to invest in and you know I think we passed 55,000 downloads all time since the podcast started last June, which I think is a great, great number. I don't know how many actual listens, probably a lot more, but you know that's a. That's a really solid number of downloads, especially given the breaks we've taken in between season one and two. So, yeah, I'm trying to make a podcast that is equal parts pragmatic and honest. So, yeah, hopefully this episode carried on that tradition. And, anyways, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and also check out and download my 2025 horoscopes. I am Evan Nathaniel Grimm. Thank you so much. And you know, remember Mars Retrograde continues until February 23rd. So, you know, apply the methods I mentioned and I think February should be pretty good for you.