[Astrology] – Mars Retrograde, feminist style
By: Janette Dalgliesh – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
Poor ol’ Mars, gets such a bad rap for all those things he’s linked to.
War. Anger. Violence. Aggression. Brutality.
It’s all down to those damn ancient Greeks — the people from whom we got the symbology & language & characters of western astrology.
They were the original patriarchy, one in which women were chattels, and children the sole possessions of the father.
The Romans took the Greeks’ love of imperialism, and turned military conquest into an active virtue. It wasn’t just okay to win a war and enslave a population, it was a moral imperative.
No wonder we have a complicated relationship with this planet.
But we need our Mars superpowers.
When you strip away the Greek/Roman ‘war is virtuous’ imperialism from Mars, he becomes a neutral warrior spirit, a source of courage you can use to stand up for the oppressed, protect the vulnerable, create change for the better.
Allies who put themselves or their bodies in harm’s way in order to support the rights of the oppressed are a fine example of Mars in action, even if it’s just with a Tweet of support for a politician or a cause
Robin Hood, Harriett Tubman, Mother Teresa – wildly different expressions of the warrior spirit, making itself known in the world.
And that warrior spirit applies if the oppressed and vulnerable is you, and the change you want is about being more authentically yourself.
Mars lives in you as your inner action hero.
Cool.
But — whoops — here comes another patriarchy / capitalism wrinkle.
The patriarchy has borked our relationship with action.
Any of these sound familiar?
- Get it perfect.
- Do it faster.
- Do more of it.
- Don’t rest until it’s all done.
- If you think it’s done, you’re wrong — look around and you’ll find something more to do.
- Doing nothing is immoral and weak.
- Sleep when you’re dead.
Welcome to the dude-bro hustle patriarchy / capitalism version of action.
Mars is all about the courage to take the best actions to affect the outside world.
And that has to include the actions of resting and playing, when that’s what is required.
Say what now??
Action simply means a ‘doing word’ — a verb. Any action can be a Mars action, as long as it has the potential to lead to changes in the world outside.
And we know the ‘inner work’ actions do just that — so Mars actions include sleeping, recuperating, meditating, healing, napping, reading, laughing, praying, snacking IF that action is what your mind, body and soul need right now.
It’s just we’ve been trained by those to whom our labour is useful — the bosses, the establishment — to think that those anti-hustle actions don’t count. I call BS on that.
It is true that not all actions are Mars-aligned. Fretting isn’t. Neither is worrying. And you can feel that difference, right?
If it’s an action which takes you closer to your goal and your desired feelings, it’s a Martial action. Simple.
What about all that anger and rage?
Anger is fuel for change, and it’s the alarm bell which signals a boundary has been breached. It’s also the power which enables us to give zero fucks, to do our own inner work so we can become ‘unfuckwithable’ (one of my favourite states of being).
Those at the power end of any system of oppression haaaaate it when we start standing our ground, protecting our boundaries, and saying no.
So of course we’ve been trained to avoid our anger – or we’ve become its slave, struggling to channel it effectively when it boils up within.
A suppressed or rejected Mars is ultimately going to cause problems.
Locked away in the dungeon, your Mars can be a source of depression as your psyche comes to believe that your actions have no impact in the world.
Thrown out of the castle, he’s left to wander raging in the woods, lashing out at inappropriate moments in ways that render him ultimately ineffective.
Tapping into our own anger, our own rage, and our own courageous warrior?
That’s what can fuel radical change — not just for ourselves, but for the whole world.
This is Mars as noble warrior, free to pursue a far greater range of actions, standing ready to help us pursue our goals, and able to access the fuel of passion and anger when required. We need him in our corner in all his power and glory – and we need to have an adult relationship with him.
After all, as the ancient co-ruler of Scorpio, he is the embodiment of Stan Lee’s famous saying – with great power comes great responsibility.
We don’t let that turn us away from our power. We use it as inspiration to become expert at, and familiar with, our own power.
That’s the beauty of Mars Retrograde.
It’s a perfect time to reassess our relationship with this wonderfully dynamic and courageous planet.
Here are some ways to do good couples counselling with your Mars:
- Standing up for yourself — ask “where have I not been standing up for myself? what could I change about that? what help do I need to enlist, in order to do that? (if getting help means hiring a coach, you have plenty to choose from right here on Confluence Daily, including yours truly)
- Standing up for the disadvantaged — ask “how can I stand up for the vulnerable today?” – and bear in mind, if you have been burning out doing just that, the action might just be “take some time off and recover your energy”
- Taking more varied actions — re-examine your own default definitions of ‘action’ and ask “what actions have I previously rejected as ‘not counting’? what actions am I truly inspired to take right now? what action is my body yearning for right now? (nap, move, eat, dance, work, vote?); what action is my spirit yearning for right now? (connect, withdraw, preach, listen, study?)”
- Embracing your unfuckwithableness — take this one gently, because if it’s been in hiding a long time it may be feeling fierce and feisty. Do this when the house is empty, and make space for stomping around, shouting, jumping up and down or whatever your own ‘zero fucks to give’ feels like. And don’t rush it!
- Clean up your connection to your own anger, especially if anger has felt scary or troublesome, or if you’ve always been taught to avoid it — for this work, check out my Get Your Mars On (focused on personal boundaries work) or Dr Dee Frayne’s Anger Academy (focused on anger as fuel for political change)
Embrace the Mars Retrograde and remember — delay might feel frustrating, but if you assume it’s merely better timing that you can’t yet fully understand, that will help.
Exact times (US Eastern Timezone)
- September 3, 2022, Mars entered the Retrograde Zone at 8° Gemini
- October 30, 2022, Mars turned retrograde at 25° Gemini Rx
- January 12, 2023, Mars turns direct at 8° Gemini
- March 15, 2023, Mars leaves the Retrograde Zone at 25° Gemini
PS – I created Liberation Zodiac to liberate humans by surfing the wave of the Sun’s movement through the zodiac, and to liberate the zodiac itself from the patriarchy. We invite each sign to use its particular magic to help us smash the fucking patriarchy that lives inside each of us. And since human brains HAAAAAATE change — we do it in a way that fully supports your brain and nervous system to feel as safe as possible while doing it. Wanna know more? Go to www.liberationzodiac.com for all the deets. Membership includes access to Get Your Mars On.
Janette Dalgliesh is a gifted life coach based in south-east Australia. She helps women of all kinds, from all walks of life, to set themselves free from the unconscious, toxic BS of the patriarchy in which we all grew up — through the twin lenses of neuroscience and astrology. Her signature group coaching program is Liberation Zodiac, and you will find her at www.janettedalgliesh.com
