​Mars! Ruler of Aries! Planet of willful assertion and forceful action!  Combative and courageous.  You know, ‘Ares, the god of war.’  This solid orb entered the protective, ‘sweet yet instigating’ and territorial waters of Cancer on June 4th.

At an imaginal glance, this planet-sign duo might not seem the unlikeliest match.  And it’s often quite a fine one.  But here’s some of the friction…

Where this aggressive signifier of a heavenly body likes to plow forward and disrupt, Cancer likes to stir circles and create continuity.

Where the red planet likes to divide and conquer, Cancer often receives in a way which invites family vibes and nurtures the crew.

Mars is ‘fallen’ in Cancer.  Whereas Aries is its ‘domicile’ or home, Libra across the way is its ‘detriment.’  Whereas Capricorn is its ‘exaltation’, Cancer is, yes, its fall.

Mars' aggression isn’t always at home in the diplomacy of Libra, sure.  That’s kind of the Mars sign of ‘I’m willing to fight, but not with you’ (as Adam Sommer put it) and it certainly makes for some passive aggressive relational showdowns.

But in Cancer?  Rather than scaling the self-imposed heights of Capricorn, Mars in Cancer likes to mold situations according to its emotional needs.  The outward thrust of Mars sometimes feels confused with the inner vision and comfy ensoulment that Cancer seeks to secure.

Among those I’ve studied and given readings to, Mars in Cancer is a common signature among musicians as well as sex workers.  Mars in Taurus is also prevalent among the latter fields of work.  Discipline but leisure; the economy of personal energy; to exert or to recline.  Driven toward one’s own feeling-based creation.

As the Sun enters an opposition with Sagittarius, we see yet another iteration across this movement oriented axis.  Mars opposed Saturn before entering Cancer; the Full Moon waned into a contact with Saturn; Mercury will oppose Saturn on June 18th.

While there is a huge thrust of energy and discipline available to us right now with the Sun across from Saturn, it is important not to divert oneself as so easily happens with the Gemini-Sagittarius axis.  Mercury in Gemini square to Neptune in Pisces can easily leave a person feeling drained.

Mercury’s trine to Jupiter brings luck in communication and a general sense of wellbeing, yet there are strange mental and emotional adornments in the air that can brew random feelings of malaise before returning things to a floaty pleasantry.

Finally, with Mars in Cancer it is especially easy to intercept psychic debris floating through the air.  Ill moods and doubts like angry birds become all too common, feeding a temperamental nature.

This fallen position of Mars, brilliant though it is, can be guilty of ‘dissipating’, a word I’m fond of using more often to describe the Gemini-Sagittarius axis.  As compared with more fixed or hyper-volatile ways of holding energy, dissipating can steer us off willful course.  It’s like going out when you need to be on the grind, or like an orgasm that ends up more tiring than invigorating.

Build and spend your energy in many pleasant bouts. 

Swim well through the air!

[ Artwork by Augustine Dunn ​]