Introduction
This transit is important to me personally because my birth chart has Mars in Cancer, so this is my Mars return. A Mars return happens about every 2 years, and Mars has a Bad Time in Cancer so this is just an anniversary of Bad Times, detailed below. Consider this my attempt to make lemonade out of lemons, because this transit is KICKING MY ASS. Might as well make it a learning experience.
Part One: Getting on the Same Page
When we talk about transits, we’re talking about how the planets are currently moving through the signs of the zodiac. We tend to focus on when that transit starts (‘Mars enters Cancer’), but this energy persists until Mars leaves Cancer. This gives us a general idea of the ‘astro-weather’ or the ‘astro-season’ for longer transits, but to be of the most use we need to compare it to our birth chart (a snapshot of the sky at the moment of your birth). Think of it as the difference between hearing ‘it’s going to rain’ and ‘it’s going to be heavy, intermittent rain over your house’.
Caption: 1660 celestial map of the Southern Sky. Andreas Cellarius, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
I’ll be using my chart as a personal example - I am a Hellenistic Astrologer, so I use whole sign houses instead of Placidus (most common ‘default’ chart style) and I mostly ignore the modern planets. And I’ll be talking about a return - this is when that transiting planet returns to its home sign. When a planet does that, it’s both an intensifier and a review period. You are firmly reminded of what this energy placement can mean for you, and the universe asks: “How are you handling it? Have you extracted any wisdom? Have you learned how to survive the ups and downs?” Saturn is the most famous return, as it is slow and can indicate lessons and/or ‘consequences’. The second most famous return is your solar return, which is basically your birthday, when you celebrate yourself! The solar return chart is a popular ‘predict the year ahead chart’.
Part Two: Mars in Cancer, with examples from my birth chart
This is good if you want some examples of how Mars operates in Cancer.
Part Two(a): Mars in Cancer, in general
Note first that Mars in Cancer is in fall - he is in his worst, least constructive position. His destructive, fiery nature drowns in Cancer, and so his efforts to survive, when successful, will be EXTRA BAD.
Every planet has a certain energetic quality based on its sign; domicile (in charge), exaltation (party mode), detriment (opposite of domicile), fall (opposite of exaltation), or peregrine (neutral). Don’t worry about this too much for now, if you’re not familiar. The Internet is rich in resources to help explain it to you. This is my favorite, for now: https://www.saturnandhoney.com/blog/domicile-exaltation-detriment-and-fall-in-astrology - although it is still modern, and softens the negative positions more than I would.
To figure out how this manifests, let’s take a moment with Mars and Cancer separately, and then put them together. Cancer is a water and cardinal sign - she is driven and wants to move forward (cardinal), and her main concerns are with emotions and interpersonal connections (water). If we wanted to give her a body of water, I would give her the river. She must flow in a direction, and strives to meet and mix with the great emotional body. We also get the fun analogy that ‘you can’t cross the same river twice’, in part because it’s never going to be the same river. The water shapes the environment, so the need for emotional growth and human connection will both give her direction in life and day to day shape the world around her.
Mars is a poor match for this energy. As a Hellenistic astrologer I see him without the positive spin you might see in modern astrology - he is fire, destruction and conflict in planet form. If you must give him a positive spin, I recommend you think of him like a wildfire that causes fresh growth - the destruction cannot be avoided, but something good can come after.
It should be immediately obvious that these two mix like oil and water; Cancer has no desire for destruction or conflict, and Mars has no need for understanding feelings or making friends. This is why Mars is in fall here - the zodiac sign wins, as the stars are the backdrop to planetary movement, and so Mars suffers. You might ask - isn’t this good? He’s disempowered? Instead, think of when you’re trying to open a door that is stuck. You’re pulling very hard and getting nowhere until - BOOM it is freed, slams open, possibly damaging the wall, itself and you. Or think of a time when you swallowed resentment to get along, letting it fester until it burst out uncontrolled and ruined a relationship.
Basically, with Mars in Cancer we can worry about being able to easily access emotions and have emotional growth, where rage and similar fiery, impulsive and destructive feelings are the most accessible. Cancer will flavor things toward the emotional, but is not a guarantee of it - Mars’ outbursts can also be influenced by the house of this combination.
An astrological chart has two ways it is divided by twelve - the twelve zodiac signs and the twelve houses. While the twelve signs circle the chart as they rise and set over the horizon, the houses are themselves the structure that the signs pass through. The horizon (or ascendant line) will also be in the 1st house, then it counts counterclockwise. This means as a sign rotates it counts down, not up - 1st house becomes 12th house, etc. The whole sign chart has each house be occupied by one sign only - ‘the whole sign’ is in one ‘whole house’. Each house involves one part of your life, which is how we can do real readings on a chart. I won’t go through them here, but you can look them up for yourself if you like.
Part Two(b): The Personal Example
My Mars is in Cancer in the 6th house. The 6th house is the house that owns toil, thankless work and, most importantly for this article, injuries. My one saving grace is that every planet has its joy, where it particularly meshes with the concepts covered by the house. For Mars, he finds his joy in the 6th house. This at least means that it’s POSSIBLE to channel the Martian outbursts into something productive. Of course, Mars is equally joyfully causing injuries, so it’s still a matter of caution.
If you’re feeling a little spicy and because Mars and the 6th house can both involve damage to the human body, we can take a peek at what Mars represents according to medical astrology. Judith Hill is my favorite resource (her book, Medical Astrology, is one of the best on the topic), and she says that Mars rules:
Adrenaline and the adrenal glands
Testosterone
male reproductive organs
the head and face, and the sense of smell
the catabolic metabolism (burning of fuel)
the release of toxins
Blood
red blood cells
hemoglobin
bone marrow
muscle tissue
the entire muscular system, inclusive of tendons and ligaments
voluntary muscles and the physical energy they draw on
acute conditions generally - fevers, inflammation, wounds, and surgery
Consolidating all of that information, what I expect (and have broadly experienced) from this placement in my birth chart:
my ‘tedious’ work (6th house) is going to fall apart spectacularly (Mars in Cancer), especially due to emotional issues
Injury:
NOT prone to injury from fire (Cancer makes Mars too ‘wet’)
at risk for injury (6th house) due to issues expressing emotions or dealing with destructive tendencies (Mars in Cancer)
Injuries, when not emotional, may be more based on Mars-ruled body parts
I may come off as generally irritable (Mars in Cancer) or moody, although that can be relieved when I’m doing energetic (Mars) but tedious (6th house) work - because Mars is in his Joy
With badly placed planets, sometimes the sign ruler or benefic (positive planets, Jupiter and Venus) can help. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for me. The Moon, ruler of Cancer and therefore ‘in charge’ of Mars, can’t provide direct help because it is in Gemini, so it doesn’t make an aspect with Mars (see below) - her help is indirect, and she will want to talk endlessly without hitting a resolution (Gemini), and she will encourage me to Make Art About It (5th house). For example, she may encourage me to write an article about my experiences (ahem).
What is an Aspect?Aspect is the astrological term for two planets that can ‘see’ each other, and therefore influence each other. I use whole sign aspects, which means that they can ‘see’ each other so long as the signs can see each other, but you may see people use a more narrow band of degrees (and I agree that it’s most intense there). The beneficial aspects are called trines (when they share an element, and drawing those three together makes a triangle), or sextile (when they are two signs away, and drawing it out makes a hexagon). Less beneficial aspects are squares, with the worst ‘square’ position being an opposition. Conjunction is powerful, when the planets basically merge into one - the most intense, but ‘better’ and ‘worse’ depend on the planets themselves. Finally, something is in ‘aversion’ if the two planets cannot ‘see’ each other at all. This happens when they are in an adjacent sign or five signs away in either direction, e.g. a sign at house 1 cannot see the signs/planets in house 12, house 2, house 6 or house 8.
You can look at your own sign and house placement and think of what Mars is going to burn down or scream at you about, see how the other planets may help or hurt by aspect, and how the sign ruler is going to influence everything. If you’re not comfortable doing your own research, you can always get a reading from a trusted astrologer (like me!)
Part 3: How Past Mars Returns Impacts Me
Let’s start with this season (August 11 2026 to September 27 2026).
In a nutshell - my fridge broke and I lost a bunch of food. Then my mental health was so wrecked I had to miss a great opportunity to read and speak at a conference. And now my mouth has an awful infection, where I can’t eat and can barely tolerate drinking. All of this in a span of less than two weeks.
Before I dive into how all of this connects to this transit, let’s also look at an exacerbating factor: Saturn is squaring Mars from Aries. Saturn is a malefic planet and he is in fall. In fact, if it isn’t obvious - both Mars and Saturn are malefic (harmful) planets! I should expect sudden chaos and bad things for this entire transit, basically.
What does Saturn mean? Saturn is connected to things that move slowly, especially things that require endurance, and can cause delay. He can give rewards when these things finally come into fruition, however. He is also in charge of time and what I call ‘consequences’.
Going back to the medical astrology, he rules:
Bones, joints, teeth and cartilage
spleen and skin barrier
Chronic issues, aging issues
Aries is a fire cardinal sign. So while he likes moving forward and is driven like Cancer, he is very quick to move, impulsive, and happy to destroy things if it helps him accomplish his goals - his half-formed, easily-changed goals.
You can see why Saturn would HATE THIS. It may also make sense that Mars rules this sign - their attitudes are very aligned.
My explanation for this combination: imagine being in a car going 70 miles per hour that occasionally and painfully brakes. If you ever had your car’s safety mechanism decide something BAD was happening and suddenly slow down/stop, possibly causing accidents and panic in everyone involved - this is the panic and potential for damage this combination can cause.
Now let’s talk about why This is a Problem.
First, Saturn is squaring Mars, which means Saturn is causing problems for Mars - causing sudden issues in things that were supposed to progress, delaying the resolution of things that are currently going wrong, and so forth.
Second: Mars is the planetary ruler for Aries, so Mars is reaching back and ‘helping’ Saturn. Not only is the car suddenly stopping, it’s catching on fire as it’s doing so. It’s making all of those delays feel SO MUCH WORSE, often emotionally (because he’s in Cancer), and making your or others’ anger or emotional state negatively contribute to the situation. If the car that’s stopped on the freeway isn’t on fire, then the passengers in your car are screaming at you about it. On top of that, the 6th house influence means the whole process is going to feel thankless (no reward), and also likely to hurt you physically in the process.
This analogy is partially because Aries is my 3rd house, which rules communication, education and relationships from early life, and local travel - so I naturally move toward car analogies. If you want a second analogy, imagine cutting through a jungle with a machete, but you never get to where you’re going. Just when it feels like you succeed, you get another setback (Saturn), or your plan backfires.
As a side note, this is a warning on choosing analogies that can actually happen to you. I got into my first car accident in 8 years right after Saturn entered Aries, so… maybe I should be more careful on the analogies I use.
Saturn squaring Mars also gives additional context to my disastrous Mars return.
The fridge suddenly stopping is Saturnian while food destruction via heat is Martian.
For the breakdown before the conference, it was prefaced by problems with my printer breaking down and ruining all of my handouts. Saturn for the delay, and stoppage via lack of communication (3rd house), Mars for destruction in general.
Current health issues: a feverish, painful inflammation of the mouth, especially the gums. Mars rules the face and inflammation, Saturn manages the teeth and skin barriers.
As a bonus, the infection started on Sunday, when the Moon was in detriment in Capricorn, and therefore was opposing Mars in Cancer. We already know that the Moon rules Cancer, and in opposition it’s going to provide extra tension as a ruler of health (things about you that change over time, so health can be part of it). It’s in detriment in Capricorn, so its influence is going to be direct, physical, and more likely unpleasant because it’s uncomfortable.
Sometimes in situations like this we say #astrologygood. It’s used when a bad thing happens that is strongly explained by astrology - it’s an ironic statement about the astrology being good, even though the circumstances suck.
Part 4: The Value of Looking at Previous Transits
This transit is a spectacular (if awful) example of how transits can work. However, it can be very helpful to look at previous, similar transits to better understand what kind of events or energies will come. To stay on theme, I’ll stick with previous Mars in Cancer returns.
Part 4(a): The Most Recent Set of Transits
The most recent three transits are connected - Mars passes through Cancer, retrogrades, then moves forward again. We would expect this to all be connected, so I’m going to treat it as one block here.
2024-09-05 → 2024-11-04
Saturn was in Pisces, so he trined Mars, and this is where he stayed for all of these prior transit entries. That’s a much more positive aspect, and he was neutral by sign instead of in fall, so he didn’t interfere like he is in the current Mars Return. In fact, I would give him some of the kudos for allowing things that had been problems for a long time to finally reach a conclusion, but that’s not that solid of a statement, so take it with a grain of salt.
Were there problems? Yes.
First, during a trip I realized that my dietary restrictions had stopped being a choice I was making and had crossed into orthorexia. I decided to remove these limitations until I could think about food clearly again. Having to destroy the old so that the new could prosper is very on-brand for Mars, and although it was terrifying short term, I am in a much better place now.
Second, this trip also destroyed my feet, which led to a realization of bigger muscle/abdominal-based health issues that I was able to resolve through the next few Mars periods. The trip started Sepembert 12, when the Moon in Capricorn opposed Mars in Cancer (causing trouble, just like it did in the current transit).
2025-01-06 → 2025-02-24 - retrograde in Cancer
This was the period when we realized there was more to my health issue than we thought. I got multiple screenings and tests to see what was going on. Retrogrades can be seen as ‘review’ or do-over periods, so this makes sense.
2025-02-24 → 2025-04-18
This is when the specialized PT started to finally fix an underlying issue that had been causing chronic pain issues for decades. I never would have gotten here if not for that trip.
Part 4(b): Previous Transits: A few more small bites
2023-03-25 → 2023-05-21
This is when I got surgery to fix a cervical disc herniation. First PT to try to help started the week of March 25th. Recovery care lasted until May 17th.
2021-04-23 → 2021-06-11
This was while I was finally getting diagnostic treatment after messing up my wrist when falling down some stairs (injury is 6th house, joints and ligaments is Mars). This was also during a Cancer profection year - an intermediate Hellenistic technique, just know that Mars in Cancer was the ‘theme of the year’. Career-wise, I was at the height of burnout and was feeling unappreciated by my bosses (discouraged from going for promotion for stupid reasons, boss then denied doing so). I haven’t focused much on my career for these, but I thought it worth noting as it matches so well with the thankless tedious work often inherent in 6th house activities.
As a note - these were all of my major injuries since 2020, which is pretty spectacular. It’s pretty obvious I’m capturing more events now, so now feels more intense, but it’s hard to say if that’s because I’m actively journaling now or if now truly is a worse time than usual. My theory is that Saturn in Aries is the key factor here, but because Saturn takes 30 years to make that full circle I would have to look back to the mid-90s - which predates electronic calendars and photo albums, so I just don’t know if it’s true or just my imagination.
Part 4(c): Final Thoughts on These Transits
Here’s thing I want to note in this transit section. I skipped over several major career events that happened in these periods, for two reasons; the first is that I had events OUTSIDE of these transits, so I can’t blame/praise Mars in Cancer for what has happened. Second, most of my career events in this period, especially the Saturn in Pisces period, have been more about releasing the tedious work and embracing what I consider my higher calling (astrology and tarot). Still relevant because the 10th house (career, vocation, legacy) is Scorpio, which is ruled by Mars. Some of these events may be triggering not just because Mars was interfering in the tedium of my old job, but also because he is in charge of my greater career and activated in general - and Pisces also trines Scorpio, so the Saturn in Pisces was touching Scorpio and the 10th house topics as well. There are other advanced techniques that also indicated this last era would be one of change, so again - interesting, but Mars in Cancer is a side story instead of the main attraction. I bring this up because one of the key things of astrology is that you will often not just see one marker of an event or theme, but several all reinforcing each other.
Part 5: Closing Thoughts
If you want to take anything away, find a way to journal your life - good calendar events, saved photos, or an actual journal of things if you have the time. This is really valuable if you want to interpret your own transits, and will also help more advanced techniques like lunar progression charts, solar returns, profection years, and especially zodiacal releasing. Understanding how past events intersect with astrology gives you vital information about the future.
For this transit, I know things are likely to crescendo when the transiting Mars matches by degree with my natal Mars on September 16th - I will be staying at home, wrapped in a blanket, and promise to post on Instagram etc. if something truly exciting happens.
The next Mars transit through Cancer will begin July 20th 2028 and end September 4th 2028. I expect that transit story to be much quieter - Saturn will have moved into Taurus, and be in sextile with Mars - beneficial, but more minor, and Mars will be conjunct with Venus for a good portion of the transit - Venus is a beneficial planet, even in neutral territory (she’s neutral in Cancer). I’m not sure if Mars’ negative will be overpowered by Venus, or if his issues will take on her themes of prosperity, love and beauty. We’ll see!
Finally, I know that my late 70s - when Saturn is back in Aries and Mars is back in Cancer - is going to be a Big Problem. In the meantime, whenever Mars enters Cancer I’ll make sure painkillers are in my purse and I’ll pay close attention to any unusual aches and pains, to manage them before they get too bad. I’ll also pay attention to my urges to push toward my vocation more and tedious work less - especially now that I’m more aligned, that energy may push me away now from those business basics that are actually important (like bookkeeping, ugh).
I hope these examples were helpful! Good luck with this transit, and I’ll try to cover another predictive technique or a less catastrophic transit in the future.