No. Mars is direct at 2°03′ Leo. It enters its shadow on November 5 and stands still and turns retrograde at 10°25′ Virgo on January 10 at 1:01 PM.
The one who only ever advances is made to walk back over the field, and learns for the first time what the ground was.
| Enters shadow | November 5 at 3:33 PM | 20°55′ Leo |
| Stands still, turns back | January 10 at 1:01 PM | 10°25′ Virgo |
| Stands still, turns forward | April 1 at 2:10 PM | 20°55′ Leo |
| Leaves shadow | June 8 at 1:59 AM | 10°25′ Virgo |
Mars retrogrades when the Earth overtakes it on the inside track, once every two years and a little more. From here the red planet seems to reverse through Leo for two months or longer, and it burns brighter as it does, because it is nearest to us then. Nothing in the sky turns; we are passing it. Astrologers read the interval as the season in which effort meets its own resistance, in which the drive to act turns inward or turns on itself, and in which the wiser course is to finish what is already begun rather than open the campaign. Anger that surfaces now is usually older than it looks, a coal from an earlier fire that never quite went out. The retrograde ends when Mars stands still and turns on April 1; it is clear of its shadow on June 8.
Retrograde from 10°25′ Virgo, the degree of a child shaped by their parent’s aspirations for them, back to 20°55′ Leo, the degree of flightless birds answering an old dream of sky—the reach itself more moving than any rising could be. Eighty-one days.
Mars today: 2°03′ Leo, the third degree. Self-authorship in a single chosen act—an old self willingly laid down so the next can rise.
Mars retrogrades when the Earth overtakes it on the inside track, once every two years and a little more. From here the red planet seems to reverse through Leo for two months or longer, and it burns brighter as it does, because it is nearest to us then. Nothing in the sky turns; we are passing it. Astrologers read the interval as the season in which effort meets its own resistance, in which the drive to act turns inward or turns on itself, and in which the wiser course is to finish what is already begun rather than open the campaign. Anger that surfaces now is usually older than it looks, a coal from an earlier fire that never quite went out. The retrograde ends when Mars stands still and turns on ; it is clear of its shadow on .
Mars retrogrades about every twenty-six months, for two to two and a half months, the rarest and longest reversal of any personal planet.
| Enters shadow | Stands still, turns back | Stands still, turns forward | Leaves shadow |
|---|---|---|---|
10°25′ Virgo | 20°55′ Leo |
About 10 percent of people were born with Mars retrograde. Enter a date and time and Moondark will tell you, along with the Moon’s sign and phase and whether she was void.
All retrograde planets right now · Add Mars’s stations to your calendar
Times are shown in your time zone (UTC).