Impact of Retrograde Mars-5

Ninth House: Retrograde Mars here could imply an individual who practiced religion either so dogmatically that he would grant no one else the right to his own opinion in religion, or was militantly antireligious. Much here depends on the planets aspecting it and the signs involved to determine which of these two it would have been. If it were the religious dogmatist, through careful correlation, the delineation of this retrograde Mars could indicate a person who religiously persecuted others, who could easily have sat on the Court Bench of the Spanish Inquisition, thus imposing physical violence upon others who differed in religious beliefs.

The philosophy of life was undoubtedly a strong, aggressive, and offensive approach. Again, the individual was self-centered, with little consideration for other people. It would show impatience and impulsiveness in any educational pursuit.

Since it squares the 12th house, the retrograde Mars would show that the individual, through impulsive and irrational actions, was confined. Planetary aspects and signs would define whether this was prison, mental institutions, hospitals, etc. A negative Pluto to retrograde Mars would involve the criminal act, resulting in prison confinement. Negative Uranus or Mercury could involve mental disturbances.

The lesson of retrograde Mars in the 9th house is to respect opinions and beliefs of others, to acquire a workable, practical philosophy of life which could be applied to everyday experiences, to broaden the person’s perspective in educational pursuits, to find that balance between enlightened freedom and the rights of others, to so conduct oneself that there would be proper values mentally, emotionally, physically, and morally, thus averting any danger of any type of confinement. It also implies the alignment of the energy of Mars with the higher self, involving the Christ principle.


Tenth House: Retrograde Mars here would indicate that, in the past, the individual flowed from job to job, did not assume the full responsibility of the job requirements, misused any authority granted to him in his job, stressed too much the material self-advancement of his profession – in other words, not what he could do for the job, but what the job could do for him. This could easily have been a military person in the past, achieving honor in battle or in military affairs, but, regardless of either being in the military service or in a profession, the violent temper, the impulsiveness, being self-opinionated, caused the individual to lose prestige and respect from those who were his superiors. Honor was a superficial quality, practiced only externally. It could indicate that the individual was involved in government positions where statistics might have been involved, or analysis, military affairs and supplies. He could very easily have misused these for his own advantage, even to the point of thievery, while pretending to be a paragon of virtue. This could be the corrupt government official, especially if Neptune is negative to retrograde Mars.

If this were in Scorpio, Pisces or Gemini – could this not be the potentially great surgeon or physician who disregarded the philosophy of the Hippocratic Oath, seeking only self-promotion and fame, rather than true service ? Very negative, it would indicate the sadistic surgeon who would perform without any anesthesia, etc.

The lesson of retrograde Mars in the 10th house is continuity of effort, steadiness of purpose, honesty in motives. Fame and honour should be side effects rather than the goals in the professional drive. Advancement in position and respect by superiors will be the effect of the practice of all of the above.