Reflecting on Mars in Cancer going direct this Sunday
Before we get into today’s episode, I want to remind those listening in that I’m hosting our 1st ever live workshop this coming week on the Pisces New Moon on Thursday, Feb 27th at 5 PM PST. If the past few months, maybe even the past few years, have felt like trudging through wet sand, where every step forward is met with resistance…especially when it comes to the creative projects you swore you’d bring to life this year then this one’s especially for you.Or maybe you’ve been holding back on making a huge life change due to fear of uncertainty. Maybe you’ve been holding tightly onto the safety of the known. The warmth of what’s familiar. Even if that familiarity has grown stale, even if it no longer fits. If that resonates, I encourage you to join me live. Or, if you can’t make it, sign up as a paid subscriber to access the recording and the workbook I’ll be sharing exclusively on Substack.I’ll include the link below where you can learn more about the workshop and I hope to see you there!Mars finally goes direct in CancerThis past week, something subtle yet undeniable has shifted. You’ve felt it, even if you can’t quite name it. A slow return of energy, a hint of momentum. Not all at once. Not a flood. But enough to notice. Enough to know that something inside you is reawakening. That’s Mars, finally preparing to station direct tomorrow. And before it does, it forms a trine with Mercury.If decisions have been stalled. Of you’ve been feeling tired, protective of your energy, needing to retreat away from others - we will start to see some improvement in the weeks to come. If the past few weeks have felt like wading through indecision, exhaustion, the need to withdraw—know that relief is coming. But not all at once. Mars in Cancer is still an uneasy placement.By mid-April, we start to feel something shift. Mars gathers strength, no longer second-guessing itself, no longer lingering in hesitation. Mars enters the sign of Leo on April 17th. That’s when the fire returns. When confidence comes back like a long-lost instinct. When the urge to shrink, to hesitate, to overprotect dissipates into something sharper, something bolder.But until then, we still have all of March to get through. I like that at the end of February, we have this New Moon in Pisces. By then, you may have clarity on what intentions you truly want to call in for this year with the north node being in this same sign. If there’s a situation you’re in that feels insurmountable - this is the New Moon to manifest something that requires the muscle of your faith. This is the new moon to do automatic writing - channeling the wisdom of your higher self. Your ancestors. Live script as if you’ve fast forwarded yourself into the timeline of life you believe so strongly in. Even if it’s not your current reality. What Could’ve Came Up for You During Mars Rx in CancerDuring the mars rx cycle in Cancer, anger may not have erupted in clear or decisive ways. Frustrations can stem from just an overall feeling of emotional unrest that’s hard to pinpoint or name. Home. What it means and it’s many different forms came up for question. Questions around our sense of belonging. Do we feel at home within our family? Do we feel safe around other family members? Our community? Do we feel safe in our country? How do we feel being rooted where we are? Mars Rx Cancer also unearthed old conflicts with family, generational expectations that now has evolved into unrest/resentment. Tension. Walking on eggshells. No one knew how to quite address the underlying discomfort. Maybe it wasn’t even talked about. But the feeling is there. For me, I have a natal mars in Cancer. During this retrograde cycle, I’ve been processing what moving abroad would look like with my husband and 2 cats. And what that would mean for my parents, the rest of my family, my grandmother. I’m having to sit with this feeling of restlessness where I’m not suppose to arrive at a clear destination. I know a change is needed. I know at some point, I’ll need to initiate it. But this retrograde cycle - it was going through the root of why I’m even wanting on doing this. And the anticipatory grief I’ll experience, my family experience if and when I decide to make this official. Regardless. Now mars is stationing direct, clarity begins to return. Conversations that were once too loaded to have may now feel slightly more accessible. The challenge, now, is learning to act from a place of emotional truth rather than reaction.Energy for MarchAnd learning to act from emotional truth, grounded in our body will be a challenge in March for many. March’s transits can test our emotional tolerance with others. March is a theme on emotional reactivity. If you’ve been sitting on any unspoken frustrations, biting your tongue, or swallowing your anger, March will test just how long you can keep it in. Spoiler: you probably won’t.Venus has been in Aries since February 4th, but on March 1st, it enters its retrograde cycle. There will be a significant Lunar Eclipse in Virgo on March 13th, shaking the foundation of our routines, our expectations, and our tolerance for anything that doesn’t align with our integrity or having equal power exchanges with others. Emotional discernment on the people you have around you will be super clear during this eclipse which can be a good thing. Right the next day on March 14th, Mercury stations retrograde in Aries. This may add abrasiveness to communication, patience, and whatever fragile diplomacy we’ve been clinging to in any unhealthy dynamics we’ve be holding on past it’s expiration date.For months, there’s been a kind of constipation in how we express our frustration thanks to processing we had to face when Mars rx in cancer. March is the breaking point. A pressure cooker moment where containment is no longer an option. We say the thing. Bluntly, without sugarcoating, without any preemptive apologies. Venus Retrograde in Aries is combative. It’s a weapon we don’t realize we’re wielding until the damage is done. And just as easily as we dish it out, we’ll find ourselves on the receiving end. Offended, triggered, reacting to words that hit where it hurts.This is a month of karmic adjustment on how we wield verbal aggression & power. Where have you yielded too much, stayed silent when you should have spoken up? Where have you let others dictate the terms, overpowering your voice? That tolerance is wearing thin. If you’ve been historically conflict-averse, March may be the month you snap. A breaking point. A foot-down moment. A necessary reclaiming of space. And if you’re the one who tends to dominate, who’s used to talking over others? This month could bring a rude awakening. Because patience is in short supply. No one is interested in being steamrolled.Both eclipses—March 13th in Virgo and March 29th in Aries—signal severance. We’re cutting away from outdated dynamics, stagnant relationships, and patterns that keep us small. The throat chakra is unblocking. Words are spilling out. For the sake of self-advocacy, for the sake of truth. And for better or worse, there will be whiplash. We won’t realize how sharp our words have become until we see the aftermath.What’s relieving is on March 27th, Venus retrograde dips back into Pisces, softening the edges of what’s been so brash and reactive. Mercury will also retrograde back into Pisces days after on the 29th. Communication, which has been fiery, blunt, and at times merciless in Aries, begins to soften. Words that were once sharp now hold more nuance. We begin to see the emotional layers behind what was said, the deeper truths beneath the anger. Apologies may come, but not in the way we expect. Sometimes understanding arrives in silence, in reflection, in knowing when to let things be.The relationships that survive the fires of March will be revealed as the ones that nourish us, that sustain us, that don’t require us to constantly defend our right to exist as we are. Some connections will fall away. And let that be okay because they’ve run their course. Others will be illuminated as sources of genuine, unconditional support.March is messy. March is loud. March is confrontational. But it’s also a necessary form of excavation. It forces us to own our voice and to understand the responsibility that comes with wielding it.Clearing the Shadow Frequencies of AriesI’m personally using the month of March to do a cord cutting ritual with past connections I have with people where it’s energetic imprint still lingers. From my social media platforms, my email list. Also people in my personal life. It’s funny because the past couple of years - the people that have hurt me the most with their words had prominent Aries placements in their chart. I’ve had an Aries stellium student tell me off on a live group call because I was helping other students who submitted a question pre-call (which is a requirement) and she didn’t. But she had the audacity to air her entitlement thinking she’s above the rules of the container and wanted to “cut in line” from others who have actually honored the guidelines of the container.I also had another Aries stellium client befriend me over on social media only to find out she stole my masterclass content word for word and marketed/sold it as her own right under my nose. I confronted her and she played the “I’m sorry my VA didn’t know any better” card. 🤦🏻♀️None of these moments define Aries as a whole. Every sign carries both its light and its shadow, and I’ve met Aries placements who are deeply inspiring—fearless in their pursuit of what matters, bold in ways that ignite action rather than destroy. Some of the most evolved, magnetic people I know have strong Aries energy, embodying leadership without arrogance, confidence without cruelty.In fact, I’ve found that clients with Midheaven in Aries are some of my favorite to work with. Maybe it’s because their IC (Imum Coeli) in Libra gifts them with an innate understanding of balance, a natural inclination toward justice, fairness, and harmony. They know when to push forward and when to hold space for others. There’s a sense of equilibrium in them. A fire that doesn’t burn indiscriminately but instead fuels something greater. Chiron, the wounded healer, has been moving through Aries over the past few years though, and depending on where it falls in your chart. For me it’s the 11th house of social groups, clients, friends lol. We’ve all been forced to reckon with the shadow side of this sign at some point or another. The fine line between confidence and entitlement. Between self-assertion and aggression. Between directness and harm. Venus Rx in Aries. Mercury Rx in Aries will make these shadow octaves in your life - show up super clear if it hasn’t already.Every sign carries a spectrum of expression—its highest octave and its lowest. And if I look at this through the lens of evolution, I can see that I was meant to meet Aries energy in its most unrefined form as a teacher. To show me where my own boundaries were weak, where my voice was too soft, where I had let my anger dissipate into water instead of fire.Mars in Cancer, my own natal Mars, has always struggled with this. It’s formless, adaptive, inclined to flow rather than fight. Personally for me. March is not a month for flow. It’s a month of learning how to sharpen our edges. How to say what needs to be said, without guilt or hesitation.Not all fires destroy. Some fires purify. Some fires clear the deadwood so that something new can grow. Let that be what March is for. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michellesaya.substack.com/subscribe