“Although I express myself with some degree of pleasantry, the purport of my words is entirely serious.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

When the planet of war and aggression goes out of phase from March 1 through May 19, you can expect even your most pleasant coworkers to suddenly get cranky and weirdly passive-aggressive. Mars is already grumbly in the sign of Libra, but add the retrograde factor and aggravation, frustration and irritation become a daily battle.

Libra is the sign of compromise, diplomacy and harmony, but Mars just wants to take actionand get physical. There is too much heady deliberation while in Libra. Plus the Venusian influence of wanting to keep everyone happy, in balance and sweet is about to get shadowy between now and May.

It’s hard to be assertive when you’re constantly worried what the other person will think or how they will take it. There is a maddening weighing-out of every thought, move and action that frankly gives Mars a headache while trapped in his sign of detriment. Mars retro also has a way of slowing things down.

Like all retrogrades, it’s a time to put the energy and attention on the inner work, by pausing and reflecting on the past. This is an excellent time to review your relationship with conflict resolution. How do you handle anger? Are you direct about what you want or do you beat around the bush until you drive your coworkers to the brink of insanity? Do you resort to passive-aggressive maneuvers when you’re afraid of rocking the scales?

This is a time to find the incredibly delicate balance between being assertive, direct and yet diplomatic at the same time.

To work on your inner Mars energy… please join us for the next Project 40 devoted to the Red Planet: starting on March 30th: Project 40:::21: Mars, Sex & Integrating the Masculine.