Mars into Cancer: Trouble the Waters

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology, and today we are going to take a look at Mars's entrance into the sign of Cancer, which is happening over the weekend. As we come into the weekend, we've been focused, of course, on Pluto's entrance into Aquarius this week, which has been the big news.

Another really big piece of news is that Mars has been in Gemini since last August, and it's finally leaving. So, as Mars leaves Gemini and moves into Cancer, what can we expect from this new Mars placement? We're going to look at, you know, it's a little controversial Mars in Cancer was traditionally said to be in its fall or depression. And so, you know, what makes this placement so difficult? That's one of the things we're going to sort of look at today. And is it really difficult what are the virtues or, you know, the blessings or even benefits of Mars into Cancer? So, that is our subject for today.

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All right, well, we're going to put the real time clock up now and take a look at Mars in Cancer. We're going to look at it from the standpoint of its entrance, but also how long it will be there and what are some of the interesting features that this transit includes. So here we can see that Mars is moving in. So there's Mars in Cancer moving in on Saturday, March 25. And then we're going to see that Mars in Cancer stays for quite a while until the late part of May. One thing that's really interesting is we have some really big events in Aries, which is the sign of Mars that will be hosted by Mars in Cancer. So here's the Sun-Jupiter conjunction, which is the sort of the reset moment of Jupiter synodic cycle that is hosted by Mars in Cancer. So you're gonna get a real Mars in Cancer flavor from some of the big transits in April.

In other words, the other major transit in April that will also be hosted by Mars in Cancer. So the other major event will be the solar Eclipse, and the solar Eclipse is coming through on the 19th. So you can see the Sun and moon coming together at the last anaretic degree of Aries. Pretty close to Jupiter, this solar Eclipse is also hosted by Mars in Cancer. So Mars in Cancer is doing a lot of work with some of the transits in Aries throughout the month of April, which makes it a little bit more interesting. We'll be talking about that more in depth, you know, in April as we come closer to those transits.

Mars will then move along, and another interesting transit will be the Mars trine to Neptune, which comes right around the middle of May, this is May 15. And then it finally enters Leo right around May 20. So about two months' worth of Mars in Cancer. Now, again, one of the reasons that this is such a big deal is that we have had Mars in Gemini since late August. So even just the change of Mars, energy should be felt, and I think it should be pretty nice. It's like, well, let's get a different Mars up in here. We've spent so much time with Mars and Gemini.

Alright, so what I want to do today is I want to talk about Mars, and Cancer was traditionally said to be depressed or in its fall. And for ancient history, people who practice or study ancient astrology, usually Mars in Cancer, is seen as a more difficult planet as a more difficult planetary placement. Mars alone is already can be a, you know, it was one of the two malefics that was sort of a troublemaker at times; of course, it's a blend of war and conflict.

There are so many good things that come from Mars, though, like bravery and persistence, courage and conviction, sacrifice and honor. Those things are also like a nightly code that's related tomorrow. So we all need that, whether it's a feminine warrior goddess archetype, or it's the, you know, the way that the heroic masculine sort of functions when it's at its best, you know, Mars has some really good things to offer us as well. But Mars in Cancer is a difficult placement; we have to try to understand why. So we're going to start off with just a little explanation about its dignity. And then we're going to go into ten ways in which Mars and Cancer troubles the waters.

So, first of all, in the original scheme of dignities, you have a very elaborate rationale for why planets are placed in certain signs and considered to be exalted in some and depressed and others. One of the things that's really interesting is that Mars is said to be depressed in Cancer but exalted in the polar opposite sign of Capricorn. And one of the reasons for that is that you have a kind of dichotomy between the beginning of summer and the beginning of winter.

Mars is associated with death, and Mars was, whether it's the death given on the battlefield and sacrifice, the death of a murderer for a cause, or the death of a mother for its child; I mean, it could be a very honorable form of death. It doesn't have to be just malicious and terrible and scary. Death as the exiting of the soul from the body. Mars is connected with severing and cutting, and so when you have Mars placed in Capricorn exalted, it's there next to Saturn, whose domicile is in the sign of Capricorn. But you have it there, in a sense, because this was called the Capricorn is called the gateway of the gods and the severing of the spirit or soul from the body and the lifting up or exiting of the soul from the body. That's some Mars-y kind of space if you think about it, from the standpoint of death, as a severing or cutting of the cord between body and spirit or soul.

You also have the idea of transcendence and enlightenment and victory over our mortal frame and material, you know, fallenness or something like that. And you don't have to take that literally, just kind of a myth, an archetypal way in which we can understand; Mars is victorious in the end over death itself over the mortal condition. And so Mars is heroic in a spiritual sense, and placed in Capricorn called the gateway of the God's a place associated with the beginning of winter and the transmission of the letting go of the spirit from the body, which is really interesting.

On the other hand, when you have Cancer called the gateway of mankind, it was associated with the birth, the coming of the spirit into the body. And in that place Mars is, is in its fall. It's not a comfortable place for Mars to hang out in the domicile of the moon and the exultation of Jupiter, a water sign in the midst of the light. Mars is a little bit more in that sense, like maybe you could imagine Mars and Cancer as like the cutting of the umbilical cord. That's kind of an interesting Mars in Cancer image.

Usually, it's kind of like, do you want Mars around things that are really about symbiosis and that are about like Jupiter exalted in the sign of Cancer, the place of birth and a place associated with mothers, and the fostering of emotional bonds and the concern over emotional safety and security. Mars in that environment you have some things that we'll talk about today that can be really nice about Mars in that environment.

For example, emotional advocate advocacy, protection, the kind of Mama Bear archetype. So there's a real protective guardian of the family of the home and hearth kind of thing with Mars in Cancer, which is actually one of my favorite parts about Mars and Cancer. But also, it's a difficult place for Mars because it's Mars is more threatening to life in symbiosis and emotional safety, and so on and so forth. And so you have an environment that's just more challenging for Mars to find its to be itself in, and that's kind of what dignities are all about. It's like, well, it's not like this planet is good or bad. But in this environment of the planet, it's a little bit harder for it to just like be itself. It's kind of like having if you have like a relative who's just like a Viking. And I'm thinking of like, you know, just like one of those ruffian figures from the show Vikings. I don't know if you guys have watched that TV show. You can imagine having someone like that in the room while you're breastfeeding or something. It's kind of like, we're just trying to be calm here. That person's like, you know, smashing things over their face.

So the point is that it's it is a challenging environment because the sign of Cancer, exultation of Jupiter place of the moon water sign feminine, not so it's not super hospitable to Mars. And it's not a good match for Mars. And so Mars can be a little bit more destructive in the sign, and we'll talk about that as well. For example, Mars in Cancer is famously associated with domestic abuse. But on the other hand, you put Mars in Capricorn and a place of Saturn an earth sign, also feminine, but a place associated with winter and death and the overcoming of hard things, including death. And Mars just performs wonderfully in Capricorn, right? So the dignities are really, they work like that. And never should you understand that dignity is just like outright condemning a planet. Okay, so Alright, moving on.

How can we understand Mars and its depression in Cancer in terms of what to watch for between now and, say, the end of May, knowing that these themes are also going to be fueling our Eclipse in April, which we'll get to in April? We'll dig into that a little bit more. But so, how does Mars in Cancer trouble the waters?

Number one would be conflict in the family. It is that simple, whether it's domestic abuse, alcoholism, or a super troubled or needy parent or sibling. It is one of the most predictable Saturn in Cancer and Mars in Cancer; both will often show up as really troubling patterns within the family that have to be looked at or explored. So dynamic conflict and tension in the family, usually with a strong sense of emotional history, ancestral trauma behind it, that's one of the main ways that Mars and Cancer will show up. And we will all be dealing with that in one way or another potentially over the next two months. So just family drama.

Number two will be in that's the combination of Mars in the sign of the moon in this watery sign of Cancer, which, among other things, is associated with families. Emotional blowouts. So if you aren't careful while Mars is in Cancer, the overflow of emotions can come out and be very destructive. So you have to be careful of like, they're, you know, you may think that there's a pot on the backburner that's just simmering, but the heat's on full flame, and you may not know that, so be careful because things have a way of sort of blowing up, especially things that you're trying to hold in or that have a long history behind them.

Number three would be passive aggressiveness. It's not the most direct place for Mars to express itself. So it's funny how Mars in Cancer, the crab that walks sideways, you know that scuttling around Mars does not take a direct path and which might be emotional tact. Emotional intelligence when it comes to, you know, picking and choosing your fights or battles. And that can be a gift of Mars, and Cancer can be like, the way that emotional intelligence works when it comes to conflict or tension or handling those things. There can be some emotional intelligence on board to handle a conflict; hey, that's a benefit. So we don't have to look at it all as totally negative, right? But passive aggressiveness would be one, you know, just one thing to watch for.

Number four is civil war now, like; okay, this is just classic. Every time Mars is in Cancer, I feel like I will visit with at least a few people who are having major struggles with neighbors or roommates, you know, or people that you share a living or communal situation with, even if they're like, you don't know them, but they're in the same neighborhood. And, of course, Mars in Cancer can be used as a timer for different conflicts between rival or opposing groups, politically, ideologically, and culturally. It's like a Hatfields and McCoys thing, which I actually brought up last summer when we had some drama in the sign of Cancer as well. And by the way, we had some drama in the sign of Cancer last summer, and we had neighbors that were just awful to us because we were in the process of building the community herbal medicine garden, so they were just like, super, super mean.

Anyway, and that was like, it was just interesting because I had actually said, Well, we could see a little bit of drama. You know, like, exactly the Hatfield McCoy thing was something I referenced at that time. And then that ended up happening. I thought that was really interesting. Well, I guess it keeps it interesting when you're experiencing something that's kind of shitty but so civil war.

If you think about Romeo and Juliet, and you think about the battling families of the oh my god, what were their names the oh, why do I forget this? The Capulets and the Montagues? Is that right? Tell me if I got that right. So it'd be like that warring families. And honestly, like ethnic and racial tension can spill over while Mars is in Cancer because you have something like families and loyalties to blood and things that are original, you know, like your birth and the color of your skin and where you come from in the world and clashes that are rooted in those kinds of origins or roots can come up.

Number five would be neediness; I don't mean neediness sounds awful right away. But legitimate needs can also come up in ways that are very intense. For example, a family member, I don't know, breaks their foot and has to come live with your mom, you know, she lives on her own she breaks her foot, she has to come live with you because she can't get around her house on her own. Suddenly it's like you're happy that she's there, but boy, is that a pain in the ass for a month, you know what I mean?

So the needy, and this can be, but it can be not so benign either. You can have people that will try to sabotage every last thing you do as a way of trying to assert their need, and well don't do anything on your own. I can't be like codependence and emotional manipulation and coercion emotionally and the archetype of the Dark Mother; it can be very Mars in Cancer. Similar placement of Mars in Cancer is Moon and Pluto. If you know that placement, there's a similar vibe with Mars in Cancer at times. So the devouring or the smothering figure emotionally, whether that's a mom or whatever else mom is sort of stereotypical, you get what I'm saying, though.

Number six would be defending or advocating. This is my favorite part about Mars in Cancer is that Mars in Cancer will often show up and be ready to defend or advocate for someone or something. Say I'm standing up for you. I'm advocating for you. I care about people emotionally, especially things like the environment, women, children, the family, the home, the land, the family pride, the group. The group that has a sense of emotional or family-like quality to it and standing up or fighting on behalf of it. So defending or advocating the mama bear archetype is my that's my favorite part about Mars and Cancer. It's really, really good at saying, don't mess with what I love, you know.

Number seven is emotional division. Now, this can often take place within ourselves. For example, you may feel divided about your emotional loyalties within yourself; feel devoted to this, I feel devoted to that, and it can go back and forth. So anytime there is a state of feeling divided and torn apart over different kinds of emotional needs or wants or feelings of loyalty, and the feeling of conflict about them can come up within us.

What I like about that, actually, even though that's not fun to deal with, per se, is that it can help us, Mars, in Cancer can help us prioritize our loyalties and also learn that we can, I feel like every time Mars is in Cancer, I ended up learning that I can care about more than one thing at once and things that appear like well, if you care about this, you have to be angry at that. Or if you care about this, then you have to automatically dislike this person or something like that.

That Mars and Cancer will often teach me that it's okay to have different loyalties and different investments emotionally in different people, places, and things, and I don't have to pit one against the other. You know, it's almost like the desire is almost like all of I should Mars in Cancer can place this pressure on you like I should. I should be a totally unified front, clear emotional loyalties all defined but were not that simple. Are we? I mean, there's, it's like, on the one hand, I like this, but I don't like this. And most of us can't perfectly organize our conflicted feelings. We can't like coordinate all of the different voices inside of us that have different needs and wants and dislikes and things like that. And so, sort of learning to live with a little bit of emotional chaos and uncoordinated feelings. There's something about this placement that teaches me always that, like, the mess inside of you is okay; you don't need to do anything with it necessarily. And sometimes, it's also very clarifying in terms of what's helping me and what's not, especially with conflicted feelings.

Number eight would be weakening the masculine, or you just call it the yang because I think it's something that exists within all of us. Mars in Cancer will be one of the placements associated with, you know, impotency or erectile dysfunction or men who are like the picture of a man lactating or something like that, or gynecomastia, you know, the man boobs, these kinds of images are usually in the negative, right? They're usually like, all he's Femi or something, you know, and that'll be like an insult to a man.

But I think the opposite of any kind of masculine thing becomes weakened. For example, the image of like, what's the phrase of a henpecked husband? I'm sure that's not a nice phrase, but like, the stereotype of someone who's a nice guy, but maybe a pushover, and he's got a wife, that's always like beating up on him. Of course, believe me when I say that Mars in Cancer can represent domestic abuse in any direction, right? But the potential to feel like the masculine is being, you know, sort of beat down or pushed into submissive or that it's, like, over being overly passive, for example, when you need to be more assertive. And again, if masculine was a problematic word for you, I would just replace it with yang, you know, like, the young part of you is being kind of beat down and weakened somehow; that's, that's a real part of what Mars in Cancer can represent. Alright, so anyway, that's, that's one of the archetypes. But oddly, you know, there's more, I'll get to that in a second.

Number nine would be softening aggression. Now, this is a real benefit. Let's say that you, on the other hand, you have an overly active and sort of domineering Mars, Or, put differently, you have an overly aggressive personality. One benefit of Mars in Cancer, again, that I've mentioned earlier, is the emotional intelligence to use Mars differently so that aggression becomes softer. And this is actually a benefit. If you have the masculine sort of or the yang sort of run amok, then Mars in Cancer can actually sort of soften and bring it into a more relationally aware place that can be a benefit.

Then number 10, and I mentioned earlier, weakening the masculine, but the other thing that's really interesting is you have some, I think it was Michael Phelps who has Mars in Cancer. I can't remember that off the top. Might someone check that and tell me? I'm pretty sure Michael Phelps has had Mars and Cancer. But anyway, anything that like competitive swimming is such a Mars in Cancer kind of thing, the Navy and battles on the ocean and Navy SEALs. So Mars and Cancer can also represent things that are very quintessentially masculine or competitive. Warlike, but that are just involving water, which is just kind of like so literal. But yeah, there it is.

So these are some of the ways that Mars in Cancer tends to show up. I hope that this prepares you for two months of this placement, we'll take a look at how Mars in Cancer will show up and express itself within the Eclipse and the big Sun-Jupiter conjunction in April, those will be toned by Mars in Cancer as well. So that should make that Eclipse pretty interesting.

That's what I've got for today. I hope you guys are going to have a great weekend. Don't forget that you can find a transcript of today's talk on the website nightlightastrology.com. And don't forget that you have a couple more days until Monday to take advantage of the flash sale, which is running on the website for all of my courses. You get a big, big discount on all of those programs until Monday night at midnight. So hopefully, you will take advantage of that. If you have any questions about our programs or the sale, email us info at nightlight astrology.com and also find the link in the comment section to get over there. I hope you guys are doing well. We'll talk to you again soon. Bye.