Retrograde planets deviate from the normal as they give unpredictable results in life. You are made to re-learn, re-experience, re-examine, re-do the lessons indicated by the planet till you understand it fully. This means that, you might be on the verge of success but you fail at the last moment, there are disappointments in physical life. Some rare meltdowns of epic proportions and general internal emotional turmoil.
About 10% of us have Mars retrograde in the birth horoscope. Mars is the natural agent of Life and Death both. He goes retrograde for about 2 months every 2yrs and 2 months. All of us feel the retrograde Mars energy when he goes retrograde in transit. But birth retrograde Mars effects are for a lifetime and need conscious management.
Retrograde birth Mars means that you have specific traumas from your past lives linked to Mars. This are very strong impressions stored in your astral body. And they have such an intense impact on you that you wish to relive these again. You wish to extract the maximum learning possible from these, events, understand them completely so that you are eventually able to accept them.
A typical past life event would be perhaps you were someone physically powerful eg soldier, slave, a thug who served under a master, perhaps a king. And under your bosses orders you were cruel to a lot of people but against your personal will. Or you were forced by a black magic practitioner to commit crimes against your will. Or you were a spirit bound by such a Tantric practitioner. In any case even if you were forced to commit crimes on others you still feel very guilty. You followed your master’s cruel orders but your internal conscience accuses you and the Mars retrograde indicates that you are still trying to come to terms with this past life episode.
This Mars gives some very typical personality traits.
You feel guilty and shy for no good reason. And you are unable to regulate your anger. Sometimes you lose your temper spectacularly, perhaps get violent, but then you feel ashamed and guilty for days, months.
You know a lot, you have several talents but cannot express yourself. You feel uncertain of your own potential. Or maybe you are not allowed, not given the opportunity to compete. And you feel mentally tired just by the thought of competing or standing in public and actually performing.
You are risk averse, cautious and think several times before actually acting. This is a good quality which can be used in specific fields, eg scientific research as you can effectively plan and organize projects. But if you ever act on impulse, this will generally causes you losses. Then you often leave your projects halfway, if you feel that it is a waste of your time and energy, and others think that you are wasteful, stubborn or uncompromising.
One typical result here is that you are capable of self deprivation type of activities. You think that this is some way of ‘punishing’ yourself for that past life ‘guilt’. For eg, you can easily take on excessive religious activities, like excessive fasting, or some rigorous anushthan where you have to take on extraordinary level of self discipline. You can take on intense spiritual practices easily and frequently. This means that if the rest of the chart if supportive you can be a high level Tantrik practitioner, Shri Vidya student or have the intelligence to appreciate Vedant. In practical life, this means that you can take on arduous jobs where you have to live alone, or in dangerous situations or continue working in minimal comforts. This Mars can also give very high levels of intelligence, so you will be successful in these projects and missions.
Then you do not express your real passions, interests, and wishes. This with time can make you depressed and create a negative attitude towards life. Eg this retrograde Mars will not allow you to express your aggression, confidence, innovation in a healthy manner etc. It will bubble inside till it reaches a breaking point where it will burst out with so much force that you won’t be able to use it productively, generally it triggers a melt-down, you might cry or rage uncontrollably. This will be a rare event, maybe once or twice a year but others might think you have an unpredictable temper.
You are also not very comfortable with your spouse, you cannot express yourself in this one to one personal relationship. And sometimes there may be issues in the reproductive system. Often intimacy is reduced or may be denied.
Then retrograde Mars is linked to medical conditions related to the digestive system, circulatory system, and the reproductive system. So take due care in case of any symptoms. And on the psychological levels, do try forgive yourself. Stand in front of the mirror and say this “I forgive myself” once in a while. It will help heal the subconscious mind. On the physical level doing some actual some charity work, where you actively help other people in person can also help you heal.
Then for managing your retrograde Mars here are some simple remedies.
- If you can take on a regular spiritual activity as a simple daily routine, this will help you hold your life together. The easiest option here is to give Arghya to the Sun.
- Or to light a deepak, lamp for your Kuldevata/ Ishtadevata.
- Mars is the son of the Devi Bhoomi, the earth. So an easy option is to think of the Devi Pruthvi, the conscious deity of this earth in the morning. Do this as you put your foot on the ground after you get out from the bed.
- Then doing pranayam with the Soham mantra is the best method of reducing the emotional / mental turbulence. You can do this whenever you feel agitated.
- Try to do 12 repeats of Anulom / Vilom with Soham mantra at sunrise and sunset if you can.
- If you cannot do these activities every day then at least do them on every Tuesday. If possible think of Mars and recite a mantra of your choice for Mars on this day. It can be as simple as “Om Shri Mangalaya namah”.
- And once in a while do donate the items connected to Mars to the local Navgraha temple or any temple or to the river/sea. You give away the unbalanced energy as Daan to an energy capable of absorbing it. These are actions powered by intention and thus work.
- Finally if you can learn Astrology systematically and understand yourself this is the ultimate remedy.
If you have more than two retrograde planets in your chart, do examine them carefully. These planets project their energies inwards not outwards. So if there are more retrograde planets they will weaken the outwardly directed power of the personality as a whole, as many aspects of your life will be influenced by these many planets. Retrograde planets are the impressions and events from our past lives which still influence us. And Jyotish helps us decipher this biggest mystery.
Dr. Tejaswini Arvind Patil
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