Mars in Cancer

Home is shelter from the world; the hearth that warms you, the roof that keeps out the rain, the table where you eat, the bed on which you sleep. But home is also the springboard for life's adventures and the safety net that gives you the courage to go into the world. At home you are most fully yourself, accepted for the least you are, yet reminded of the most you hope to be.
John Wheatman

As you know I am not a predictive astrologer. This is how I use foresight. The Mars retrograde in Cancer is an unusual occurrence which I'm already preparing for intending to use as an opportunity for emotional growth, securing my home base, and coming to an understanding of the Pluto through Sagittarius transit in personal terms.

The Moon, ruler of Cancer, describes instinctive response to external stimuli, the beginning of emotions, the absorption of experience, comfort, protection, and what one considers home. The feminine principle, the mother in the psyche. It is receptive and fluid, cool and dark, and nourishes a desire to merge. Mars is separation, identity, selfness, firmness, fierceness, thrust, aggression, and male potency. It is hot and bright. It's the part of a person that defies protection and ventures out for experience in the world regardless of the dangers. When these two entities are entwined, heated sensations, quick reactions, quarrels with intimates, and a volatile feeling nature in general often manifest. Sometimes there are overreactions as the propensity toward intimacy battles with the calling to get away and establish individual demarcations. Internal wars result. Blurting out hurtful words, unexpected crying, and conflicts arising from the unconscious can occur. Mars also arouses great motivation to find comfort and security and the means to get it, as well as emotional strength and courage. All of these are possibilities when Mars transits Cancer and Gemini for seven months. Family dilemmas are sure to be in the forefront for many people, along with the urge to create a safe refuge. The house in the chart will define what this safety means to each one.

 

After emergence from the womb humans build shelter to re-create this protective environment safe from harm, intimate within. Mars can be the supreme builder or he can be the troublemaker, when the desire for intimacy takes on aggressive characteristics. I lived in an apartment once that was small, cozy, secure, and protected until a neighbor moved in with his Mars in Cancer. I had been accustomed to long quiet nights to myself, nourishment for facing each day ahead. Well it turns out that this Mars person was a music lover. Each night he would fall asleep with the radio blasting a bass line through the wall and it nearly drove me crazy. My life was no longer my own. When I talked to him he said, "It gets next to you, doesn't it?" That said it all.

So Mars can sometimes bring undesired closeness in this position. Other times, however, the intimacy can be powerful and effective. I foresee lots of experimentation in the months ahead as people establish their trustworthy relationships and work with their bases of security, all important as we head into the Capricorn years, many of us venturing far into the world.

As this planet of action, Mars, goes traveling into the past to revisit important spots in the psyche, he should bring back a renewed feeling of home, especially for those who work with the times. Inhibiting dependencies can be cut with the sword of Mars and healthy ones strengthened. Inner gardens can be cultivated and growth encouraged in our loved ones. The house could literally be remodeled, or metaphorically as the house of the horoscope indicates. Motivation to express real feelings with an ease and humanness might develop.

Since Pluto in Sagittarius ties in, I think many will be leaving the family fold somewhat to form intimate connections with people in the broader world, a lesson of the Pluto transit. The passage of the north node into Aquarius will further strengthen the bonds with strangers, forming a family of man, just as we are doing on the Internet now. Also with the Aquarian node will likely come the decisions as to what groups people belong to and feel most at home with. From my perspective, this is a lot to look forward to, even if Kleenex is required at times, apologies are necessary, and the winter comforter crawled under a little more frequently. I hope everyone finds solace and safe haven, wherever that might be.
Top photo: David Wakely. Illustration: Lisbeth Zwerger. Photo: Richard Felber