“Retrogrades are where planets slow down, and appear to stop (station) and move backward (retrograde). It’s an optical illusion, since there is forward movement, like speeding by a slow-moving train – as it recedes, it appears to go backward.”
Mars is Retrograde in Libra from March 1, 2014, to May 19th, 2014.
When Mars is in its retrograde cycle, we are forced to re-assess our current projects, our approach to getting what we want, and our desire nature. Rather than directly asserting our desires, we tend towards introspection. While Mars in direct motion is direct, straightforward, assertive, and aggressive, with Mars in retrograde motion, Mars energy is essentially turned inward–it’s internalized, intensified, personalized, and perhaps pressurized. We can be hesitant about taking action, second-guessing our instincts or our natural impulses rather than acting upon them. The way we react to situations under normal conditions doesn’t necessarily work for us now, or we don’t exactly trust it.
When anger is internalized, there can be some rather negative byproducts, such as tension, resentment, depression, apathy, and even some paranoia. On the other hand, it can also be personalized and made more intimate. Our goal during a Mars retrograde period should not be, however, to simply sit on our impulses or to squelch our enthusiasm. Rather, it should be to better understand our impulses, our survival instincts, our anger, our sexuality, our inner courage, and the ways we go about getting what we want from life. The cosmos are asking us to look before we leap rather than throw ourselves into action, just for the time being.
In many ways, I think of Mars retrograde periods as similar to Mars transits through the twelfth house. It’s a time when hesitating is more likely than throwing ourselves into new endeavors. We might require more rest than usual. Some of us are more accident-prone or illness-prone, almost as if the cosmos are forcing us to slow down if we haven’t listened to our natural impulses to take a break. It’s time for regrouping, and this is important on both physical and emotional levels.
Rather than direct and healthy expressions or outlets for frustrations, we might resort to sneaky, indirect, or obtuse methods of going after what we want. If we push ahead impulsively, we run into problems, obstacles, and frustrations.
more: http://www.cafeastrology.com/marsretrograde.html