The Significance of Your Mars Return in Astrology
When Astrology's action planet comes back around
In an Astrology birth chart, the placement of the planet Mars represents your unique drive and energy patterns. If you were a car, this planet tells us what kind of gas drives you and what motivates you. Mars also rules the libido and how you go after whatever you want in life. Mars is your stamina.
Mars will reach the precise sign and degree in the sky where it was placed at the time of your birth approximately once every two years. This is a big deal, because this moment can illuminate how and where your energy patterns will best be expressed over the next two years of your life.
If your Sun or Ascendant is in Aries or Scorpio, then Mars is your ruling or co-ruling planet. As a result, you will find your Mars Returns to be especially meaningful for you to track. But regardless of your sign, your Mars Return is valuable to consider because it is the beginning of a new cycle involving your personal resourcefulness.
What can your Mars Return tell you?
Your Mars Returns offer insight about the most vital new endeavors you'll begin over the next two years. The energy you experience during your Mars Return, as well as your physical location, can tell you in what area of life your greatest efforts should be placed, and how to go about achieving goals.
How to read a Mars Return chart
At the exact time of your Mars Return, an astrologer can actually cast a special Astrology chart, that looks a lot like a birth chart, but it's called your Mars Return chart. By reading your Mars Return chart, you can pinpoint key time periods and influences. The Rising sign, houses, angles, and other planets in your Mars Return chart can greatly impact the energy you experience until your next Mars Return!
Let's say a Mars Return chart has Libra Rising, and Venus, the ruler of Libra, is placed in the 11th house of that return chart. Furthermore, Libra in the natal chart is on the cusp of the 7th house. This suggests that partnerships will be of primary importance over the next two years -- both in business and personal dimensions.
The owner of the birth chart will likely notice that he or she spends considerable energy cultivating relationships. Now, add in the Venus in the 11th house. Friends and networking might figure into the new partnerships somehow. A friend might turn into a romantic connection. A friend might turn into a business partner. Group involvement may lead to partnership opportunities.
Now, let's say this same person has Mars in the return chart conjunct the 10th house cusp, and in the return chart Mars is conjunct Jupiter but opposing Pluto. Then we know that this person will be highly motivated to achieve new career heights over the next two years, but with the opposition to Pluto, we can also see there might be a few power struggles along the way. Of course there is a lot of room for interpretation in these examples, but you get the idea.
So as you can see, Mars Returns -- or any return chart -- can be a valuable addition to your predictive toolbox! So, what's the energy that fills your gas tank?
