Mars Retrograde in Aries to Pisces: September 9 to November 13, 2020
(Please note, I am a Neo-Vedic astrologer and I exclusively use the sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsa. My work in this and all my articles is based on this system and not the tropical system in use by most western astrologers.)
Mars will retrograde at 4 degrees of Aries on September 9, 2020 at 6:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time. This is a rare transit that will last until November 13 when Mars will station direct at 21 degrees of Pisces at 7:36 PM Eastern Standard Time. The last times in the past few hundred years that Mars retrograded in Aries were always in the months from September to December in the years 1800, 1815, 1832, 1847, 1879, 1894, 1926, 1941, 1958, 1973, and 2005.
The sidereal period for Mars, i.e., the time it takes to complete one orbit, is 686.98 days, and it retrogrades, i.e., appearing to move backward in relation to Earth, approximately every 22-26 months. On average, Mars is retrograde for 2 to 2.5 months. The last time Mars retrograded was in Capricorn from June to August 2018.
Mars is known by various names in Vedic astrology, including Kuja, Mangala, Angara, Angarika, Raktavarna, Bhauma, Bhumi, Kshitinandana, and Chevaai. He is the warrior graha (planet) who represents our efforts to find security in a world that is often fraught with danger, upheaval, and loss. Mars also represents the inner fire that allows us to overcome inner and outer obstacles so that we can manifest our goals. He signifies the precision, logic, and courage we have to muster in order to flourish in life.
In Aries, Mars is powerful in its own moolatrikona sign. If well-aspected and ruling and occupying good houses (in its higher manifestation), Mars in Aries in a natal chart points to a strong constitution, ability to do things quickly, leadership ability, positive energy, a youthful quality, independence, generosity, drive, and initiative. In its lower expression (depending on the rest of a horoscope and the nakshatra it’s in etc.), it can be combative, aggressive, hot-blooded, and extravagant.
When Mars retrogrades, his energy becomes stronger but more internalized and sometimes, erratic or imbalanced. This may require extra effort for us to keep our fire energy moving in order to keep us from being overcome by the negative power which can represent itself as physical illness, self-doubt, fear, impatience, anxiety, conflict, frustration, aggression, and anger.
Some of the best ways to balance the retrograde Mars energy include energy healing work, deep tissue massage, physical exercise, pujas (fire ceremonies), Impatiens flower essence, Red Coral Gem Elixir, and specific spiritual and mental practices geared toward strengthening will power such as what was taught by Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.
In relation to our view from Earth, Mars will become stationary on September 9, but the two days before and after this he will also be barely moving and just as if stationary. When a graha is retrograde or stationary, it is strong, and the manifestations of a strong Mars can be “good” and/or “bad” depending on its placement and various aspects in the various natal, mundane, and transit horoscopes.
I recommend we all pay attention to any important personal or collective events that happen from September 7 to 11 during the Mars retrograde station, as such events may not be fully resolved until Mars returns to 4 degrees of sidereal Aries around January 2, 2021.
In terms of mundane astrology, the Mars retrograde cycle in early Aries can give rise to extreme and even brutal events including storms, conflicts, and all matter of calamities. Mars can be explosive, fast-acting, hot, penetrating, sharp, and acerbic, and can symbolize violence, acute illness, and accidents, and when it is retrograde, it becomes stronger.
I am also concerned about the period when Mars will retrograde back into the previous sign of Pisces through the treacherous 48-minute gandanta edge between Aries and Pisces, which will occur through the first week of October, which could possibly be a very trying time in the world with possible storms, floods, violence, losses, confusion, etc.
Here are a few instances of previous times when Mars retrograded in early Aries:
1. September 12, 1815 Mars retrograded at 9 degrees of sidereal Aries in a square with Saturn in Capricorn. (Note that again now in September 2020, they will also be in a square aspect in Aries and Saturn. Please see my previous article about this transit.) On September 20-23, the Great September Gale of 1815 occurred in the Bahamas, NY, and New England. It was a very intense hurricane, the first that had occurred in 180 years.
Great Storm of 1815 by Welcome Arnold Greene – The Providence Plantations for 250 Years (1886), page 73, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3915282.
2. September 6, 1941 Mars retrograded at 0 degrees Aries. There were many unthinkable horrors that occurred this day and in the period around it, but just this day, the Nazis first used Zyklon B gas on Russian POWs in Auschwitz; the Jews of Vilna Poland were confined to the ghetto; and all Jews over the age of 6 in German territories were ordered to wear the yellow star. On September 19, all Jews of the Reich were required to wear it. Around this time, the Royal Airforce started daytime bombing in Northern France, and the Germans started heavy artillery shelling in Leningrad. Additionally, the Battle of Changsha began as part of the Second Sino-Japanese war at this time. It was a horrible time in history and the Mars retrograde was just a small part of that.
3. November 25, 1973 Mars retrograded at 2 degrees of Aries. There was a coup in Greece and the Arab National Youth Organization hijacked a plane with many passengers in Iraq this day.
4. December 9, 2005 Mars retrograded at 14 degrees Aries. On this day, SW Flight 1248 slid off the runway at Chicago Midway and one child died.
I could find very few public birth charts with retrograde Mars in early Aries in my database of over 4000 charts. I actually found one, which is the chart of Senator Bernie Sanders born on September 8, 1941 in Brooklyn, time unknown. His natal Mars is retrograde at 0 degrees+ in Aries. It retrograded within two days before he was born, making it a stationary retrograde Mars at the zero point of Aries.This degree on the beginning edge of the sign in the gandanta symbolizes his powerful public visibility and great urge to influence society through a new “socialistic” paradigm. Yet, because Mars is retrograde, Sanders has been held back from becoming the President of the United States.
Sanders is a self-described “democratic socialist,” and has often been labeled in the media as independent-minded, a deliberate non-conformist, domineering negativist, cantankerous, pioneer (grass roots candidate), gruff, no-nonsense, passionate, honest, outspoken, decent, and driven. Keep some of these traits in mind to get a flavor of some of the overall themes that could erupt around the Mars station in Aries.
This transit could be a great time to switch off the angry world and regroup, to become more self-controlled, face our deepest fears and frustrations, and develop a stronger sense of unconditional power. May we all utilize the positive aspects of this transit to:
- Develop stronger self-discipline
- Slow down and be more introspective
- Learn to be more patient and listen within to our highest guidance before taking action
- Better understand our deepest impulses and desires
- Examine the ways in which we have been going after what we want in life
- Discover what we need to change within ourselves in order to become healthier, stronger, and more fulfilled
Mars will return to early Aries in late December and will cross its post-retrograde shadow on January 2, and that will be a time to move forward with a newfound sense of courage, focus, will-power, and energy.
