Mars In Leo: Courage Returns, Egos Inflate

More of the first part, please.

Today, blessed be, fiery and combative Mars wraps what’s felt like an endless slog through Cancer, its “debiliatated” position in astrology. Cancer rules home, family, women and safety—and with hotheaded Mars here, it’s been a rough road in 2025.

The red planet, which likes to MOVE!, has been waterlogged in this whiny, passive-aggressive position since January 6. As revenge, Mars has been side-swiping us all, serving Mean Girl energy, xenophobia and chaos to the rest of the galaxy.

Now, Mars moves into Leo, the zodiac sign that rules the heart and spine—two things we’ve had a dire shortage of all year.

Let’s look at a few of the Cancerians who have been crab-walking through our newsfeeds during this Mars cycle:

• Elon Musk (b. June 28)

• Peter Navarro, Trump’s tariff advisor (b. July 15)

• Howard Lutnick (b. July 14), U.S. Commerce Secretary and key figure in the tariff war

• Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Mexico’s President who’s been navigating border and tariff issues with Mars strength (b. June 24)

Cancer also happens to be the ruling zodiac sign of the United States—because OFC July 4 falls during Cancer season.

On brand indeed. Since the start of 2025, Amurrica has given a live demonstration of what happens when Mars (aggression) combines with Cancer’s self-protectiveness. Think of the crab fortressing in its shell—after delivering a fierce flurry of punches and pinches to anyone that it feels threatened by, whether friend or foe.

Mars in Cancer can also manifest as internalized aggression. During this cycle, we have turned our hostility onto ourselves: from trafficking our own legal residents to El Salvadorian prisons, to the senseless alienation of our allies in Canada, Europe and Ukraine, we’ve ruthlessly dug up our own roots.

Unfortunately, Mars in thin-skinned Cancer has weakened many leaders who we hoped would fight back. The fear of speaking up, the insecurity and uncertainty, has all been part of this transit. Cancer specializes in “loss aversion’—holding on tight to the familiar out of fear of the unknown, only to risk losing even MORE in the end.

Cancer also rules women, and this has not been a banner year for the ladies. We’ve seen Mars aggression on display from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Virgo), Attorney General Pam Bondi (Scorpio) and “ICE Barbie”/Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem (Sagittarius).

And heyyyyy…how about that Blue Oligarch Origin space tour that sent an all-female group out of the Earth’s atmosphere for a few overhyped minutes? The Martian thrust of a rocket tried to give us all “glamnesia” with a cringe coating of Cancerian feminine stereotypes, all the way down to couture flight suits and the absence of hair-mussing helmets.

While triple-Scorpio Katy Perry flashed the moon her upcoming set list (why not at least a sign reading “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights?”) and Gayle King snarled, “Have you been to space?” at critics with Capricorn haughtiness, the billions of women and female-identified people still on earth are being stripped of rights and protections.

Our hot take on women defying gravity to the tune of a million bucks a minute? Perhaps those funds would be better spent defying the patriarchy or at least, creating a matching campaign that put funds into STEM for girls and women, fixed the climate instead of destroying it, protected reproductive rights, and bolstered programs for women that have lost their federal funding.

But alas, Mars in Cancer gave us performative female courage—lipstick and lip service—and free PR for Capricorn Jeff Bezos, whose political alliances make him no friend of womankind. His face plant while running around the ship to welcome his Sagittarius fiancee Lauren Sanchez back to earth? A perfect metaphor for how flat this whole stunt has landed.

And now, Mars marches into Leo from April 18 to June 17. For a look at where we’re picking up, we can page back to late 2024, when Mars first entered the lion’s den before turning retrograde. Mars was in Leo from November 3, 2024 until January 6, 2025. That was far from a high point (remember that election?), but unfinished business remains.

With Mars going into Leo, here are a few Leos who we expect to be all up in the headlines:

• JD Vance

• Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s President

• J.K. Rowling, who’s doubled down her anti-trans vitriol

• Obama? Clinton? Any past U.S. Presidents wanna help out here?

• Doechii, Charli XCX - paging the pop culture mouthpieces who aren’t afraid to speak boldly

• Meghan Markle, who sold out of her As Ever brand launch in milliseconds and has been a polarizing cultural figure all year

• Possibly…Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s President (the country’s far-right Prime Minister, Capricorn Giorgina Meloni, just paid an unnervingly sycophantic visit to the White House)

Sketchy as it sounds, there’s reason to be hopeful. Already on the eve of Mars moving into Leo, (Capricorn) Senator Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador (we’re awaiting more details of the visit at this writing).

“Fear fatigue” is giving way to more courageous acts, like Taurus Alan Garber, the President of Harvard, refusing to sell out on the university’s values in the face of threats, and the growing turnout at the Fighting Oligarchy rallies.

Ironic as it is to end this post quoting Katy Perry, we are gonna hear a lot more people roar in the coming two months, while Mars journeys through the Lion’s den. Will it be the low-vibe Leo lineup of bluster, bravado and ego…or the elevated expression of strength, dignity and leadership? Undoubtedly both.