Does a mars retrograde loses its power?

Hi,
I have a question about the implication of a retrograde mars in a natal chart. The aspect which i want to understand better is:

Mars retrograde in capricorn (22°) opposite mercury (14°) and venus (28°) in cancer.

Normally i would say mars is strong in capricorn and is received by mercury in cancer which could lead to loss of control when get angry. And because of the opposition with venus i would even add chance for explosive (physical) agression in love relationships... however in this case mars is retrograde... so does this mean that all the anger and agression would be bottled up and that the person with this aspect would tend to be submissive rather than agressive?

Hi. When a planet is retrograde, the function it represents tends to be guided by one's personal viewpoint and impulses rather than responding to prompts from the outer world. Mars retrograde doesn't have to be repressed, but perhaps there can sometimes be a lack of trust in one's own viewpoint, which then delays the taking of initiative.

Those oppositions are quite wide. Its not clear how closely Mars opposes the Mercury/Venus midpoint from those rounded off degrees you've given. There may be other indications of tending to restrain the action of Mars in the rest of the chart, if this is an issue for this person.

Best wishes

Miquar

Hi Miquar,

thanks a lot for your reply. sorry for giving the rounded off degrees, it is because i dont have the exact birth time. Here are the degrees astro.com gives for unknown time: mars (22°56) - mercury (14°45) - venus (28°09). So if we use these degrees the midpoint would be at 21°27. Which is quite near mars then, could this amplify things?

It is from a certain persons natal chart but i was just interested in the effect of this specific aspect, in order to better understand retrogrades.

Actually i got interested in the aspect because i know someone with this aspect who does not seem to be agressive at all. But recently i read an article in the newspaper about a guy who was born exactly same day and year as that person and he had just killed his ex girlfriend.... so it made me thinking and trying to understand the two extremes...i thought that maybe the retrograde mars might actually hide a very explosive agression... but only after things got way too much it would be released...

This is the natal chart for that day: https://imgur.com/a/XwGNYOX in case you want to have a rough overview because there is no exact birth time

Hi. The midpoint contact was probably within orb all day, though may not have been especially close at the times of the births. But it would increase the connection between Mars and the planets it widely opposes.

But this Mars is in a close configuration with the Sun, Jupiter and Uranus, so its unlikely to hide away. Its more likely to lean towards self-righteousness.

The Moon Neptune Pluto configuration may be relevant to the murder - if the Moon hadn't moved away by the time he was born.

Its difficult to compare charts without the birth times though, and of course the chart is never the person.

Best wishes

Miquar

In the matter of Retrograde-state planets, it's like when the I Ching (the Chinese book of divination) advises, "Refrain from taking direct action". I interpret that as meaning, react to conditions as they unfold in the moment, rather than trying to willfully make things happen yourself. Goes along with the adage, "Never assume".

Thanks David and Miquar for your reply!

Very interesting and i have learned a lot!

I had not noticed that mars was in such a close orbital aspect with t-square jupiter, sun and uranus. I feel such a noob as i did not even know that minor aspects could have such an influence if orbs are tight.

Your comment on the neptune-pluto-moon aspect was also very eye opening. I thought because it were trine and sextile aspects this would "soften" any tension within the person. i thought the person was able to better control its pluto as it was in "friendly" or "soft" aspect. For example, there might be some anger issues because of mars placement, but it would not be deep, like coming from the "darker" powers of pluto.

Hi. Yes, that can be the case with trines. But there is less of a sense of friction with trines. We are less likely to question - and are less likely to be challenged on - the way we use the functions concerned. That's why trines can show talents - including a talent for using the functions destructively - but don't prompt us to grow in the way squares do.

Best wishes

Miquar

Wow Miquar, so interesting again what you have replied. You really have a talent to give very to-the-point, clear and insightful information in a very concise way. Dont you give any online courses? I want to be your student

Hi Salasi. Thank you very much for your kind words. I've had groups of students doing a course in my home, but not online. I'm focusing getting a book finished at the moment, so am not teaching at all. It should be on sale in April and I'll probably put out a sample chapter online, including on this forum.

There seem to be lots of distance learning courses out there. I also recommend that people read through the transcripts of CPA lectures that have been published. The CPA is the Centre for Psychological Astrology. The first books in the series are by Greene and Sasportas:

The Dynamics of the Unconscious
The Development of the Personality
The Luminaries
The Inner Planets

I think they're the right titles - I'm not at home to check. These books are quite old now and can often be found cheap, second hand on Amazon.

Best wishes

Miquar

Its a pity you dont teach online when your book comes out definitely send me a pm because i am very interested!!

And thanks a lot for all the reading suggestions i will surely have a look at it and try to order the books

Great - hope you get as much out of them as I did. I'll make a note to pm you.

Best wishes

Miquar

The power of Mars isn't lost with in retrogression - only turned inward, waiting for a moment to express all of them to the outside world.