Mars in Leo and Mars Retrograde in Leo + Cancer 2024/2025
PART 1: Mars (direct) in Leo 2024 – The Courage to Play!
What if you finally bring your heart projects to life, even if it feels a little messy, wild, and "imperfect"?
Mars has been in Leo since November 4, 2024, a yang-energetic, fixed fire sign, where Mars, symbolizing our willpower, vitality, and energy, is significantly activated...
This could feel like a shift and surge of energy for you, because Mars was in the yin-energetic water sign Cancer for the past three months (from September 4 to November 4, 2024): Perhaps with Mars in Cancer, you noticed that your energy has its own cycles and you need more breaks and time for regeneration.
It could also be that situations arose where you had the chance to strengthen your inner sense of safety and belonging. Inner self-security is a key foundation for authentic, self-determined action in the outer world…
During its retrograde, Mars will actually move back into Cancer. Check out the second part of this text for more on that. But for now, let’s focus on gaining more clarity on Mars in Leo…
Mars as the Ruler of the North Node in Aries 2024
A quick reminder: Mars' transits are particularly significant for our personal and collective evolution right now.
Why? Mars is the ruler of the North Node in Aries (July 2023 to January 2025), reflecting that you, I, and all of us are learning to live authentically, break free from dependencies, and strengthen our personal I-power.
Mars - Impact & Themes
With Mars, we make (bold) decisions. We sense what we want and stand up for ourselves. Mars can also symbolize our "Fight Response" and our (healthy) anger: when our boundary is violated, we defend ourselves to protect ourselves and/or others, restoring balance and peace.
Mars is also our energy, vitality, and life force. Its transits can show how you are feeling physically and what your energy level is like.
When Mars is in a water sign, such as Cancer, it indicates that you might feel a need to direct your energy inward and be less active outwardly.
Mars in Leo – Impact, Meaning & Themes
However, this could change now that Mars is in the fiery Leo in November 2024 (directly moving forward).
In Leo, we want to express ourselves, initiate new creative projects, and activate our creative power.
We want to share our fiery radiance with others and create what wants to express itself through us. It might now be easier for you to show up, or you might feel the urge to be more visible—authentically and in your own light.
Mars in Leo empowers us to pursue heartfelt goals and move forward with lion-hearted courage.
Ask yourself:
What if you followed your joy?
What are you excited about?
What sparks you?
What does your heart want?
With Mars in Leo, we choose play over fight. You might find creative solutions for challenging situations now, and everything feels less harsh.
But it takes courage to follow your joy and "play"—especially in our performance-driven society.
Yet joy is the foundation of creativity, vitality, and (creator) power! A feeling of joy is the best indicator of whether something is authentic for you, aligns with your truth, and is part of your (soul) calling.
New Perspectives and Creative Inspiration: How to Harness the Energy of Mars in Leo
In the coming weeks, it may be important to approach tasks and projects that feel sluggish, lifeless, or tough with a fresh, creative perspective.
It may also be time for you to let go of projects that no longer bring you joy, creating space for new inspiration and creative fire!
Especially in the last week of November, when Mars in Leo forms a Grand Fire Trine with the North Node in Aries and the Sun in Sagittarius, you might experience an intensified sense of purpose, direction, and (re)newed alignment.
Perhaps you feel the urge to give your life a new direction.
Maybe you’re now feeling more strongly what you truly want, what calls to you, what you want to create, and how you want to shape your life.
Leo, Mars, Cancer... What’s Behind It?
Discover more about the energies and themes of Leo, Cancer, and all 12 astrological archetypes in my Astro Archetypes Mini Guide.
Mars in Leo – Challenges and Potentials
With Mars in Leo, things might feel a bit messy, unordered, unfocused, or even overwhelming. If your fire burns too hot, you might burn out or hurt others.
On the other hand, sometimes it is very healing to bring a heart project into the world—even if it’s not yet perfect or “finished.” Also, remember that Mars will go retrograde on December 7, and you will have plenty of time for reflection, refinement, and revisions.
A challenge with Mars in Leo may be that you feel rejected or unseen.
Perhaps you are not getting the recognition you hoped for for a project that comes from your heart and with which you personally identify.
Here, it’s important to step back and take an objective perspective (Aquarius as the polar sign): You are unique AND you are not for everyone!
Do you see yourself in your full light and acknowledge yourself?
Or do you need external validation to feel "good"?
It may happen that, with Mars in Leo, due to a lack of self-security (Mars in Cancer), we become dependent on applause from others and therefore choose goals that are actually against our heart, because they (unconsciously) promise us love and recognition.
The Shadow Side of Mars in Leo: Self-Absorption and Narcissism
Other shadows of Mars in Leo that we can currently observe on the world stage are the exaggeration of one's own ego, the feeling of being God and the lack of ability to reflect on one's own self or to have an objective view of the world.
Sooner or later, this will come into conflict with the outside, the community - celestially embodied by Aquarius, in which Pluto, the higher octave of Mars, will be located from the end of November.
Mars in Leo is, however, true medicine for anyone who dims their light due to shame and fear of rejection. It gives us a loving paw slap to own our specialness and step out into our light.
It’s important to understand that our Leo heart knows this: all our creative power comes from the divine, from Source (Pisces). We are a channel—no more, no less. We are always in co-creation with Source, the Universe, Love, God/dess...
And you are allowed to share the divine radiance that flows through you in a totally unique way, thereby illuminating the world.
This “community aspect” could become especially noticeable when Mars during its retrograde forms an opposition to Venus in Aquarius (December 12) and Pluto in Aquarius (January 3)...
PART 2: Mars Retrograde in Leo and Cancer 2024/2025 – Reflect Your Self!
November 4: Mars enters Leo
December 7, 2024: Mars stations retrograde at 6° Leo 10'
January 6, 2025: Mars regresses back into Cancer
January 16, 2025: Mars retrograde in Cancer opposes the Sun in Capricorn at 26°13' (= the midpoint of the retrograde and the 2.5-year Mars cycle)
February 24, 2025: Mars stations direct at 17° Cancer 01'
April 18, 2025: Mars re-enters Leo
June 17, 2025: Mars leaves Leo and enters Virgo
Mars' retrograde period lasts from December 7, 2024 to February 24, 2025.
The timing of this retrograde is cosmically perfect orchestrated: it occurs precisely at the end of our time with the North Node in Aries, which Mars rules. The lunar nodes have been in Aries and Libra since July 2023 and will shift to Pisces (North Node) and Virgo (South Node) on January 12, 2025.
At the beginning of the Aries-Libra nodal axis in the summer of 2023, Venus, the ruler of the South Node, was retrograde in Leo, and now, at the end of this cycle, Mars, the ruler of the North Node, is retrograde in Leo and Cancer.
The Mars retrograde also marks the midpoint of the current Mars cycle, which began on November 18, 2023 at 25° Scorpio 36' and will end on January 9, 2026 at 19° Capricorn 12'.
With this Mars cycle in Scorpio, the focus is on dissolving energetic dependencies, cutting karmic ties, and reclaiming your own power.
Mars Retrograde 2024/2025 – Energetic Cycles Closing
With the Mars retrograde in Leo and Cancer, several cycles are closing... Our learnings from the Venus cycle in Leo gain new depth and strength. Our lessons with the lunar nodes in Aries and Libra are ready to be integrated. And our experiences with Mars' current cycle in the powerful, transformative, deeply emotional Scorpio will take a new turn.
We are invited to reflect on what we have learned since summer 2023 regarding our Mars-Aries energies, but also our Leo and Scorpio themes. And: We are invited to process... and to rest...
Ask yourself:
What have you learned about your self-power, your self-leadership, and your self-expression?
Where have you become braver, set boundaries, and/or stood up for yourself?
Have you listened more to your heart and impulses, freeing yourself from the judgments of others? How does that feel?
Is it important for you to follow your fire and impulses more? Or is it more important for you to better channel your fire so you don’t burn out?
Are you in your power? In what situations have you (unconsciously) given away your strength, feeling "powerless and drained"? Where is it important to reclaim your power?
Maybe you also sense that you still have open wounds, (growth) pains, and trigger points around these topics...
Maybe you fear rejection. Maybe you fear not being seen OR being seen.
Maybe you’re also afraid of the SIZE of your power, your strength, your will, or your anger. Perhaps you feel your fire and willpower growing stronger, but you have no idea how to channel, direct, and focus it yet.
The Themes and Meaning of Mars Retrograde
Mars retrograde – regardless of the zodiac sign – indicate that we are turning our energy inward and learning to channel our power in new ways. It’s about energy management, reorientation, and trusting that we are lovingly guided by a higher will.
During Mars retrograde periods, we may sometimes realize that what we think we want isn’t necessarily what is best for us, our path, and our growth... And sometimes, during Mars retrogrades, we may also feel that it’s important to finally strengthen our personal will, set boundaries, and lead ourselves.
Mars retrogrades are not the ideal energy to start entirely new projects. It’s more about reflection than initiation. Especially if you’ve launched new heart-centered projects with direct Mars in Leo in November, you can now focus on refining and revising them.
When Mars moves back into Cancer on 6th January 2025 and forms an opposition to the Sun in Capricorn on 16th January at 26°13’, marking the midpoint of Mars’ retrograde and the entire Mars cycle, it’s more about sustainable energy and natural cycles.
Ask yourself:
Which of your projects nurture you and serve you over a long period?
Which projects, situations, and relationships drain your energy and/or only give you a short-term ego boost?
What contributes to your larger mission, your life’s work, and your calling?
Are you channeling your energy in a way that is sustainable and allows you to grow over the long term? Is it important for you to give yourself more breaks and regeneration time?
Mars Retrograde Phases as an Opportunity for Reorientation
Unfortunately, we live in a society that glorifies achievement and where burnout is considered normal.
The Mars retrograde in Cancer and Leo signals: Now is the time to release these unnatural and harmful conditioning patterns and reconnect with natural energy cycles and your true joy and creativity.
This is not always possible, and we all have different privileges and life situations. But be honest with yourself: When do you succumb to (internalized) pressure to perform, even though you don’t necessarily have to?
Belonging and Community During the Mars Retrograde in Leo and Cancer
With Mars retrograde in Leo and Cancer, themes around belonging and community may also arise – to be reflected upon and worked through.
Ask yourself:
Is it important for you to become more independent, to stop trying to please everyone, and to lovingly care for yourself?
Is it important for you to connect more with others, to share your authentic gifts, and to show up authentically (and vulnerably)?
Which people, relationships, communities, and environments truly align with you?
Where do you feel “at home” and truly belonging, WITHOUT having to adapt to “fit in”??
Mars Teaches Us: Why Periods of Reflection and Regeneration Are Essential
Even though Mars will turn direct on 24th February 2025, the entire period with Mars in Cancer and Leo will last until 17th June 2025! So, as you can see, there’s no need to rush through all these inner and outer processes in a Marsian manner… It’s a long-term healing and growing process!
And ultimately, every Mars retrograde, which marks an important phase of the 2.5-year Mars cycle, reminds us that our yang energy also follows cycles and that periods of reflection, rest, and regeneration are essential to leading our lives with integrity, from the heart, and with sustainable power.
