mars, the planet of action, drive, willpower, competition, masculinity, assertiveness, and motivation stations retrograde at 6° Leo on December 6th, 2024 at 3:33 pm PST // 6:33 pm EST. it will stay in Leo for the remainder of the year and will re-enter Cancer in early January. this retrograde only happens once every couple of years, and is a valuable time for us to assess what inner motivations are driving our external actions. we may notice through this retrograde how we've been taking action in order to gain others' approval, applause, or praise, as Mars in Leo can often be performative and act in the way that will get it the most attention. this retrograde will ask us to return to our inspiration, creativity, and authenticity; it will urge us to forget about how our actions may appear to others and return to the pleasure we can find when we act with passion. mars retrograde can often entail delays, slowdowns, and blockages in our physical progress, but considering retrograde planets are in a more feminine state, we can redirect our efforts toward making progress in our inner worlds. this retrograde may be having us addressing past frustrations, arguments, or issues, and will likely ask us to pay closer attention to how our childhood wounds may be impacting how we respond to such conflicts. this will be a valuable time for us to surrender to a slower pace in our external lives so that we can invest more time into our self-development processes. mars retrograde also often helps us clarify how badly we want the things we're pursuing, and may facilitate climactic points at which we will either stay decide to stay dedicated to actualzing our objectives, even in the face of delays or roadblocks, or abandon them, perhaps after realizing we were chasing them for unhealthy reasons. this may be a time in which we will be tempted to abandon our goals for matters that will perhaps be easier to obtain—granting us instant gratification—but will perhaps lack the quality and depth that the original object possesses. this is a good time for us to prioritize quality over quantity and to irradicate any distractions that may provide us with monetary, but meaningless, pleasure or comfort. utilize this period to bring more awareness to what your ego clings to to feel confident and how you may remain in stagnant or unfulfilling environments due to their familiarity. if you encounter delays in your external progress, consider how you may be approaching action from a place of needing approval or inauthenticity! #mars #marsretrograde #retrograde #retrogradeseason #leo #cancer #sunsign #moonsign #december #astrology #transit #rx #authenticity #motivation #approval #selfdevelopment #action #innerwork #selfactualization #selfacceptance #innerwork #selflove #astrotok #firesigns #watersigns #moon #sun #fixedsigns #cardinalsigns - @aspensuniverse