Mars in Cancer

Mars in Cancer

When Mars is in Cancer, whether in a natal chart or in the sky for the collective energy, we are working with a level of sensitivity that can be overwhelming. Our courage-seeking warrior, Mars, struggles deeply in our Cardinal Water sign, Cancer, but wise ones know that where we struggle, we have the potential to mature deeply. It all depends on how we greet the day.

So let’s set a foundation for this exploration.

Often Mars is pigeonholed into being about sex and anger, but there are much richer lessons that Mars teaches. As a teacher, Mars works with physical energy in the form of the blood in our veins, the mitochondrial source of our energetic juice. He gives us MORE energy and amplifies loudly the sign he is in. This is because his primary goal is to PROVE HIMSELF (to himself although that may not be obvious) and that’s generally not something that’s done from the couch.

Considering Mars teaches through courage, the sign he is in is the WAY he goes about it. It’s his methodology. In Cancer, this is a fertile battleground. Cancer is the most emotionally sensitive sign of the zodiac. Her purpose is to experience the most extreme emotions possible while also having the safety of an outer protective shell in which to retreat. She literally cannot survive without it!

There is something that Mars and Cancer have in common right out the gate though and that is that they both like to make things happen. There’s a motivation to get the energy moving and that can be both a positive and a negative.

I want to mention here that some people, men especially, with Mars in Cancer can truly struggle with this placement due to the conflict of what the “world” and our modern construct says a man is and should be. Without wisdom and care, this can develop into a passive aggressive tendency, hyper defensiveness, or legit anger issues due to the nature of Cancer being Mars’ sign of “fall”. Here Mars can doubt his chances of victory and that can have him feeling inadequate around his worth as a man or his “masculinity.” Mars sensitivity in Cancer can be exceptionally confronting to folx who think crying or being emotional makes a person weak.

Mars in Cancer can create a distorted view of both femininity AND masculinity as it rejects confrontation, aggressiveness, and personal power. Often the ambitious drive is starkly different than again, the “world” says it should be in order to be valid. The ambition is there, don’t get me wrong. It just may not be in the traditional Mars way we think of it.

The fertile ground of this planet and sign matchup is extraordinary though and those with this natal placement can be some of the most psychic individuals on the planet, especially in the latter degrees of Cancer. It is absolutely imperative that these natives have a sacred space in which to retreat that no one else’s energy enters. They need that protective shell in physical form one way or another. When Mars is in Cancer in the sky, we may all feel the need for more energetic shielding.

You won’t see a more fierce protector though. While Mars in Cancer generally would rather die than stick up for themselves, they will stop a train with their bare hands if it’s coming toward a loved one or an innocent being like a child or animal. Hell hath no fury to be sure.

Along this thread this energy can serve as a lighthouse for those who need healing or comfort. Stray people and/or animals follow the scent of a warm lap and an empathetic ear straight to the door of a native with Mars in Cancer. Again, this is another reason that sacred physical space or a “shell” is important because the EMOTIONAL boundaries are generally lacking and can deplete the individual rapidly.

As lovers and partners, those with Mars in Cancer seek to prove that every one of your needs for intimacy, care, and healing can be met within the relationship. They may take it personally if you have any complaints in this realm because it matters to them so much that they provide this level of care. They may even smother their loved ones in their efforts to provide care or otherwise bulldoze boundaries with their love, for better or worse.

To be sure, this can be a supremely romantic energy. William Shakespeare and Lord Byron both had Mars in Cancer. Byron is one of my absolute favorite poets of all time! As a child, I memorized this poem and would recite it to my family at their frequent request.

She Walks in Beauty

By Lord Byron

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!”