Mars Retrograde in Gemini
Mars retrograde in Gemini occurs in 2022. While mars is retrograde, we may need to walk back our actions and reevaluate what we put our energy into. Mars in Gemini is ruled by mercury, so we will also evaluate the mercury retrogrades in 2022 and how they interact with mars retrograde in Gemini. What does it mean to have mars retrograde in a mercury-ruled sign?
Dates of Mars Retrograde
Pre Retrograde Shadow - 9/5/22-10/30/22
Retrograde Period - 10/30/22-1/12/23
Post Retrograde Shadow - 1/12/23-3/16/23
Mars Retrograde Degrees - 8°-25° Gemini
Any planetary placements between 8°-25° of any mutable sign (Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces) will be most activated by this retrograde.
Mars in Gemini and Virgo
During this mars retrograde in Gemini, mars will be traveling through a mercury-ruled sign. This relationship between mars and mercury is intriguing because neither is totally comfortable in the others’ sign. Mars wants to use its physical force and effort to make changes, whereas Mercury requires the mind. Mars must find a way to conform to the rulership of another planet during its stay in Gemini.
Peregrine Mars
Mars in Gemini and Virgo is considered peregrine. A peregrine planet is one that is neither at home nor in exile. Because of this, it lacks comfort and resources and it requires some support and adjustment to achieve its goals. Unlike a planet in fall or in detriment, a peregrine planet is not quite able to be contrary or rebellious. It must work to conform in a space in which it does not. There is a feeling of awkwardness and mars must take time to get its footing.
Mercury is a planet that rules the hands, and as such, a mercurial mars can exert its energy through activities that require the work of the hands. My own mars in Virgo enjoys channeling energy through crafting processes. This can take the shape of working with clay or knitting.
Mars in mercurial signs requires a system within which to exert its energy. A pattern is a structure through which mercury expresses itself. A pattern creates comfort in repetition. Mars in Gemini can channel its action through the shape of repetition in order to support growth and development. A pattern can look like a schedule or a ritual. Mars is able to channel its drive and fortitude through a mercurial system.
Mars is peregrine in all of the mutable signs. Mars is at home and exalted in cardinal and fixed signs. It prefers to be direct, initiatory and unyielding rather than moveable or changeable. The challenge of a mutable mars is to create a vehicle through which to adjust drive; to change the pattern to support mars. A pattern can be rigid but it can also be changed in order to learn and develop direction.
Mars Retrograde in Gemini 2022
Mars’s retrograde in Gemini in 2022 requires the development of a peregrine mars. We are being asked to practice an attention to detail. To not act brashly, but to act with the support of reflection. In addition to what we’ve learned about peregrine and mercurial mars, we also have the retrograde motion to contend with. Mars retrograde can result in some confusion about taking next steps. With mars in Gemini, this could feel like putting your foot in your mouth not only for your words, but for your actions. It can also be a time of reflecting on past actions, especially those taken in anger, and considering how they could be handled differently knowing what you know now.
Mars retrograde is a time for integrating the actions you’ve taken over the past couple of years since the last mars retrograde in 2020. This upcoming mars retrograde is a pause that can help to reveal some of the lessons we learned while pushing to accomplish next steps.
Mars Retrograde in Virgo 2012
A mercury-ruled mars retrograde has not happened since January 2012 when mars went retrograde in Virgo. I am not a mundane astrologer and I was not an astrologer in 2012, but an internet search tells me that some important events during this time included the Arab Spring, Facebook’s IPO filing, and Occupy Wall Street. The Arab Spring and Occupy movement seem most telling of mars retrograde ruled by mercury. Both of these movements utilized organizing tactics that were based on communication, especially through online channels. Words like “direct action” and “civil disobedience” are used to describe these movements. These are very martian words. However, when paired with mutable mercury, we also see that these revolutionary movements also changed organically based on need and environment. Both of these movements incorporated systems of communication to their benefit and used them as weapons of mutiny*. This is part of mars’ lesson during its retrograde. Mars is still allowed to be angry and loud and direct, but it also needs to react accordingly to resistance that it faces while retrograde. And if its ruler mercury is also retrograde, this reaction to change may be even more delayed.
Mars Retrograde and the Mercury Cycle
While mars begins its retrograde process, entering its shadow on September 5th, mercury stations retrograde just a few days later on September 10th. Mercury will also be retrograde toward the end of mars’ retrograde starting on December 29th. This overlap of retrogrades is particularly significant because mercury is the ruler of mars during mars’ entire retrograde. Mars can start to feel a bit confused and delirious and is asking mercury for help. Mercury, however, may also having trouble thinking straight.
Mercury Retrograde in September
Mercury’s first retrograde during mars’ cycle is from 8° of Libra back into 24° of Virgo. It takes place from September 10th to October 1st. At the beginning of mercury’s retrograde, mars and mercury are in a harmonious trine between air signs, which can heighten the necessity for open communication to solve issues. This can be a time where you realize you have an issue with what someone else has said, and you need to go back to resolve it. As mercury retrogrades, it moves all the way backward until it is almost squaring mars. If you do not take the time to express yourself and work amiably to resolve issues in the beginning of mercury’s retrograde, the end of the retrograde brings these issues in even louder and angrier than before. This can feel like extreme irritation and the reception between mars and mercury means that a lot of the emphasis is put on mercury’s ability to deal with the stress and pressure at hand, since it is in its own sign and ruling mars. You may expect more of yourself in terms of solving the issues that arise during the retrograde. Mars agitates this feeling.
October to December - Mercury Direct, Mars Retrograde
Mars retrogrades on October 30th after mercury has exited its shadow, and mars and mercury have an awkward relationship during this time. Mars is looking for mercury’s help since he has just begun to move backward and encounter hiccups, and mercury is in mars’ sign looking for his expertise in Scorpio topics. However, these two signs are considered averse, and so they cannot see each other. So while mercury and mars are in each other’s homes, they can’t quite pick up the phone to ask the other for help finding what they need. This aversion is a major part of the relationship between mars and mercury and relates to mars’ peregrine status in mercurial signs.
Once mercury leaves Scorpio and enters Sagittarius, mars can see its ruler again through a square aspect. This square can recall the difficulty that you experienced ruing the mercury retrograde in September. Mars is again asking for support from its ruler, but mercury is not able to really offer support. Mercury is in its detriment in Sagittarius so it doesn’t have enough resources for itself, let alone enough to offer to support mars through its retrograde. This causes friction between these two planets and a change should result in order to move through the friction.
Mercury Retrograde in December/January
In December, mercury enters Capricorn and thus enters its shadow period before it retrogrades at the end of December. This second retrograde creates another aversion issue where mercury is in mars’ exaltation, and mars is still in mercury’s domicile and they do not make any ray-based aspects which tells us that they are not visible to each other. However, at this point in the retrograde situation, these two planets do have a relationship through contra-antiscia which supports their communication. They may not be on the same page during this time, but because they are both dealing with difficulties in each other’s signs of strength, they are able to help each other through this reflective aspect relationship. The time when this will come to a head is around January 3rd of 2023. This is nearing the height of mercury’s retrograde and when the contra-antiscia aspect exacts. About a week later, mars stations direct and begins to move forward. It will still need the support and guidance of mercury during the rest of its stay in Gemini, but mars will feel more confident on its own than before.
Finally, in February, these two trine in air signs and have a harmonious mind meld that can feel like a breakthrough for both of these planets. This trine on February 22nd, 2023 will be a light bulb moment for planning and executing action, especially in areas where we are organizing to fight against a higher power of corruption.
Mars finally exits its retrograde shadow in March 2023, but then it moves into Cancer later that month and encounters a whole new set of challenges!
A last note: MUTINY!
The word mutiny comes from the same Latin root as the word mutable, which is used to describe the signs Virgo, Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces. The common Latin root is mutare, which means to change. Half of the mutable signs are mercury-ruled, and as we’ve learned through the beginning of this post. Mars is peregrine in all of the mutable signs, but perhaps a place where mars can connect to the mutablility is through mutiny. Mutiny is rebellion, it is to move, to push, to create change. It is to revolt and to overthrow authority. This sounds like something that mars can move through and connect to.
And with that, I leave you with “My Favorite Mutiny” by the Coup as the mercurial mars anthem.
