December’s Mars Retrograde in Leo is 2024’s last cosmic explosion: Ready for a fiery finale?

Mercury and its backspins don’t necessarily get a bad rap for no reason. The planet of communication, intellect, and the mind is known to uphaul a lot as they force us to claw into ourselves. Graphic, but anybody whose TRULY felt the frequent bouts of Mercury Retrogrades knows that this is an accurate description. Nonetheless, contemporary meme culture has a tendency to blame every last astrological speed bump to a random uninformed question like, ‘Is Mercury in renegade or something?’ To correct you, it’s ‘retrograde’ not the viral COVID TikTok dance challenge. And also, no. It’s not. But Mars sure is, and it’s backspin this time — scheduled to come in every 26 months or so — is taking place in the fiery sign of Leo. So, get the spiritual armour in place and brace yourselves. Mars goes retrograde in Leo today: Here’s how to come out a winner on the other end In Astrology, the planet of Mars represents the themes of energy, action, desire and courage. Now apply the principles of you surviving through all the Mercury Retrogrades of the year to the next month down to the date — January 6 to be exact. While Mercury Retrogrades tend to impact interpersonal relations, romantic, business or platonic and largely the facet of (mis)communication, the rare Mars Retrograde is here to dabble with the accelerator when it comes to your ambition, passion, energy and desire. Now you may want to close out the year with a bang, and all means, you still can. What you need to do in your down time but, is stabilise your own drive, whatever you feel it’s geared to towards the most as of now. It’s ok to feel lethargic and it’s ok if others aren’t matching your energy or passion, be it for projects or romance. So, take it easy, it’s not the end of the world. That being said, while it’s ok to sulk about the vibes just not vibing, you are highly advised to not waste this time. This is actually a great period to gain clarity on the inside, to find answers and reach proper conclusions to things like, ‘what drives you’, ‘how do you express your anger’, ‘WHY you want something’ (as opposed to just wanting it) and other such musings on the same wavelength. The one advice to harbour for the next month? Try to reign in the anger. Everything does not need an outburst, even if it feels so in the moment. Some restraint will serve you well, considering the fact that Mars will be in retrograde as it enters its own year. For context, 2025 is actually the year of Mars. How? The digits add up to a 9, which astrologically, is Mars’ number. So, survive or thrive, your choice!