Mars in Leo

Mars takes 685 days to go all the way around the zodiac, meaning it spends an average of 8 weeks in each sign, but that is wildly variable. It can spend as little as 6 or 7 weeks in a sign, or as long as several months, like the 2024-2025 transit. Mars enters Leo on November 3, 2024 and goes retrograde on December 6, while making an opposition to Pluto in Aquarius, which is a potentially volatile aspect.

Mars will retrograde back into Cancer on January 6, and it will continue its retrograde movement until February 23, when it stations direct and moves back into Leo on April 18, where it will stay until June 17. So if you have Mars or any major planets in Leo or Cancer, you’ll want to take a note of those dates and the degree of your planets to see when they will be activated by the movements of Mars. These could be critical days for you.

The planet Mars can be in any house or sign because Mars’s orbit is outside the orbit of Earth. Unlike Mercury and Venus which, from our perspective on Earth, only ever travel a couple of signs away from the Sun. So for example, if you have a Virgo sun, you can only have Mercury in either Leo, Virgo or Libra, or one sign away.

Similarly, if you have the sun in Virgo, you can only ever have Venus two signs away at most, meaning Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra or Scorpio. But you could have Mars in any sign.

Mars is the planet of action of desire, activity, aggression and, as Alison Price likes to say, what gets you up off the couch. It also plays a significant role in relationships, along with Venus, as it describes the preferred style with which you go after what you want in relationships, career, exercise… and anything else that requires positive action and initiative.

For example, when Mars is in Aries, the sign that it rules (along with Scorpio), Mars is quintessentially independent, competitive, bold and fiery. Whereas Mars in, say, Cancer is not as naturally comfortable in such a watery, lunar sign.

Mars in Cancer tends to be highly emotional, maybe even passive-aggressive, and it may take a lot more to get the Mars in Cancer person fired up or moving. They may struggle with motivation, assertion, positive action. They may only be moved when their emotions are highly engaged, for better or worse.

If you have Mars in Leo here are some keywords that may resonate with you: dramatic, confident, expressive, dramatic, egotistical, possessive, jealous, competitive. This is definitely a drama king or queen placement.

They’re often driven to create or perform, and they have a high tolerance for risk. They tend to be idealistic but their anger erupts when they feel their pride has been injured or they’re not being respected. They can be self-righteous and egotistical but they always act from their heart.

They have a strong sense of right and wrong.  They can be very ambitious, whether in their career or in their pursuit of love or the object of their desire, but since Leo is a fixed sign, their energy is more about perseverance than initiating change.

They tend to make good leaders because they have a natural empathy despite their ego. They know what it is to need respect and unless you’ve done something to cross them, they will naturally extend that respect to you.

They’re passionate and fiery but not as impulsive as Mars in Aries. In relationships, they can be very magnetic, authoritative and proud. If they’re kept happy by their partner, they can be among the most loyal of Mars placements, but if neglected they won’t hesitate to seek out the attention and admiration they require outside the relationship.

If their heart isn’t in something, whether it’s work or a relationship, it’s very hard for them to get fired up and motivated. Picture the male lion relaxed at the center of his pride, being fed by the female huntresses and lolling in the grass, satiated and regal. Now picture a solitary lion in a zoo; listless, bones protruding, hair matted, thousand-yard stare on his face. Is there anything sadder or more out of place?

If you have Mars in Leo and you feel like the lion in the zoo, some things that might boost your morale and motivation are:

 

There is no expression of pride and mentorship quite as genuine as that of Mars in Leo. When the Sun King shines his rays on you, it’s almost impossible not to feel warmed and expanded by their attention!

According to Steven Arroyo’s excellent book, Person to Person Astrology, Mars in Leo has a fondness for living life to the fullest and delights in participating in group events, social rituals and robust, physical activities of all kinds. They usually have a big personality with a dramatic flair and a friendly nature, a knack for telling stories and jokes and an instinct for entertaining and encouraging others. They’re often good at sales professions and have a unique capacity to vitalize organizational efforts. They like to be in control.

Their overall tendencies are dramatic self-assertion, warmth expressiveness and abundant vitality and creative flair. They need to assert themselves dynamically and creatively, but may be seen as pushy or domineering and their physical and sexual energy is stimulated by attention and demonstrative generosity. They need to be complemented and appreciated for their sexual, physical or creative prowess.

Beyoncé, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, George Clooney, Hillary Clinton, Paul McCartney, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, Cher, Frank Sinatra and Colin Farrell.