In this first full week of January in 2025, we're in a reckoning time as Mars retrogrades in the sign of Cancer. In backward motion from our perspective, we're asked to delay, reflect and slow down. Slow down is not a happy place for Mars.

Mars is the planet that symbolizes how we assert ourselves, go forward, express our libido, desire and anger… so when it's retrograde, depending on our personal horoscope, there may be a tendency to implode — the information goes inside. And that is not comfortable, obviously.

A healthy expression of Mars is to know what you want, express and be able to go for, to make happen in this lifetime… as well as to understand when and why you get angry… how to express anger in a way that is non-reactive, with the appropriate force or assertion that's necessary to move that anger to a healthy point of resolution.

Mars retrograde in Cancer may bring up unresolved feelings, specific to family grievances. Cancer is a sign that is linked to the hearth, family of origin, our roots. Many of us may feel some pushback, especially coming off holidays.

This week is a great time to process that, well supported by the the waxing moon cycle and to see things in different light. Work it out on a ball court, put it into art, express in some sort of activity that is not destructive. That is the best way to use this power, because it is a power we want to understand and be informed by.

If it feels too big, then give yourself some distance from it. Take a walk, get some air in the room, do things that lower the intensity — handle it instead of ignoring it. If there are historic issues, like feelings of not being heard — whatever the residual or old story is, we want to create good foundations for the new story.

This is a life journey for many of us; we experience an epiphany and feel a release but then sometime later it's: oh, so I guess I have to deal with that too. Nonetheless, it can be a really lovely week to push through some old emotional stuff and get a bit liberated from it.

… for the complete week’s forecast, listen to the podcast

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