Focus: Mars has been crawling through Cancer, moving like one of those 1800s armored diving suits underwater: slow, indirect, and exhausting. Now, after the first few months of 2025 spent in retrograde motion, Mars is stationing direct, and that shift is palpable. If you’ve felt drained, restless, or emotionally volatile, welcome to the club. This transit has tested patience and exacerbated circumstances, especially for those with Cancer placements or a prominent Moon. But now the tide is shifting. Emotional strength will be required from us to assert our wills in a sea of reaction.
That said, forward motion doesn’t mean instant relief. Planets moving direct after a retrograde don’t snap back into full speed overnight. Before momentum finally kicks in there’s typically one last surge of frustration, this phase is called stationing. It’s like pressing the gas after being stuck in mud. At first, the wheels just spin, even if there’s an awful lot of noise.
Mars in Cancer: A Warrior Without a Battlefield
Mars struggles in Cancer because its usual tools—direct action, aggression, decisiveness—don’t work the same way here. Cancer is a sign of protection, memory, and emotional depth. As the sign of the crab and the Moon in all its wanderings, Cancer even favors indirect motion- think of the crab walking sideways or the moon moving up and down in celestial latitude almost willy-nilly as she traverses the zodiac. In the sign of the crab, Mars must play by these rules. Instead of pushing forward, Mars hesitates, nursing old wounds and turning every battle into a personal history lesson.
This is why the past few months haven’t just been about external setbacks but about deep, internal frustrations. In fact, these emotional obstacles have surfaced in order for us to adequately deal with them, and to apply healing to the affected areas within us. If we can nurse ourselves back to full health during Mar’s stumble through Cancer, we can be at full strength to hit the ground running when it’s finally go-time again.
There’s a tendency with Mars in Cancer to mythologize the past, turning old conflicts into defining narratives. This placement in birth charts is often associated with intense patriotism. Just look at Elon Musk, who went through with the disastrous Twitter buyout during the previous Mars retrograde nearly two years ago, only to now entrench himself further in catastrophic U.S. government influence. His pattern reflects the broader theme of Mars in Cancer—getting stuck in cycles of reaction, trying to regain control over something already slipping away.
For many, this retrograde has brought that same kind of shell shock. A sense of paralysis, as if the world has changed, but the next step hasn’t revealed itself yet. Now that Mars is moving forward, people will start acting again—but whether that action is wise or just reactionary depends on how well they’ve handled this retrograde period. Regardless, it’s time for your boots to hit the ground.
From Stagnation to Movement
Mars stationing direct means the gears of progress are finally turning. Decisions that once felt murky are now coming into focus. Emotional exhaustion slowly lifts, replaced by a cautious but growing determination. The sluggishness of the past few months is giving way to movement, but that movement may still be hesitant at first.
This shift is more than personal, it’s also collective. The energy of this Mars retrograde has mirrored a broader uncertainty, a feeling that we’ve entered a new era but haven’t yet figured out its rules. Mars stationing direct is doing away with one of Cancer’s pitfalls, we all know the past is gone now. But now what? Soon that uncertainty is giving way to action. The question is: what kind of action?
Mars and Venus: The Cosmic Role Reversal
Just as Mars finally moves forward, Venus is about to station retrograde. It’s almost like Mars and Venus are switching roles, Mars regaining drive while Venus pulls back, re-evaluating relationships, values, and desires. As we surge ahead to finally take action, we wonder how we got here in the first place and what must change to improve our lot in the future.
This creates an interesting emotional dynamic: just as people feel the push to act, Venus forces them to reconsider their motivations! Where Mars was hesitant, Venus now starts questioning and exploring, feeling. This can create a push-pull effect: the impulse to move forward clashing with a new uncertainty about what’s actually worth pursuing.
How to Work With This Energy
The key here is to move forward with intention rather than reaction. The temptation will be to rush ahead just to break free from the stagnation, but not every battle needs to be fought. We must focus on the war, not just the battle. We must think of the bigger picture. Not every door that reopens needs to be walked through. The best way to channel this energy is through slow, deliberate, and strategic action—starting small, testing the waters, and letting momentum build naturally. Diligence and commitment to our goals will carry us through.
Mars in Cancer has been a lesson in patience, endurance, and learning when to fight and when to wait. Now that it’s stationing direct, things will start moving again. But the real question is: moving where? Forwards to your goal, or more spinning in the mud? Emotional strength will be required from us to assert our wills in a sea of reaction.
