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Mars retrograde: 2026 and 2027 dates, shadow, tradition

Mars retrograde would be read as a time to catch your breath rather than to charge ahead.

  • action
  • energy
  • patience
♂︎

Now: direct, in Leo

The essentials

Mars retrograde at a glance

For you

An apparent slowdown that tradition associates with held-back energy, to be taken up differently.

A strength

A rare appointment, about every twenty-six months, that Mars makes easy to follow: it is then very bright.

Something to watch

Tradition speaks of restraint, not of blockage: no study links this period to conflicts.

In the zodiac
From Virgo into Leo
Length
81 days retrograde
Read more
The 2026 and 2027 periods Calculate my rising sign

By Thomas Guilhot · updated

The dates

The periods 2026 and 2027

Paris time. The shadow begins when Mars reaches the degree where it will turn direct again, and ends when it passes back over the degree where it had stopped.

  1. No period in 2026Next: starting January 10, 2027
  2. From January 10 to April 1, 202714 h 01 → 16 h 10 · 81 days · Virgo → Leo
    Enters the shadow
    November 5
    Stations retrograde
    January 10, 14 h 01
    Stations direct
    April 1, 16 h 10
    Leaves the shadow
    June 8

What tradition says

Mars, the Roman god of war, governs energy, will, anger, and courage in astrology; he leads Aries and, in the old tradition, Scorpio.

His retrograde motion would therefore be a time when action turns inward: stalled projects, energy looking for a way out, anger rising again. Tradition would advise against launching big undertakings or cutting sharply, and for using these weeks to finish, to rework, to settle an old dispute methodically. Ptolemy ranks Mars among the malefic planets, which explains its bad reputation. These are reported customs, never findings.

Class
Personal planet
Nature
Lesser malefic
Cycle
About 2 years (687 days)
Detriment
Libra, Taurus
Fall
Cancer
Joy
6th houseHellenistic tradition

A reading of the sky to take as food for thought, not to be followed blindly: the dates are calculated, and what tradition associates with them is reported in the conditional, announcing nothing. Why?

Before and after

Before and after: the shadow

For Mars, the entry shadow begins several weeks before the station, and the exit shadow lasts as long as the planet takes to regain the starting degree: the whole stretches over several months.

The other planets

The retrogrades of the planets

The Mars profile →

How is it calculated?

Stations: the moments when Mars’s apparent speed drops to zero, found to the second by the engine.

Frequently asked questions about Mars retrograde

When is Mars retrograde in 2026?

No Mars retrograde begins in 2026. The next one begins on January 10, 2027.

When is Mars retrograde in 2027?

From January 10, 2027 (14 h 01) to April 1, 2027 (16 h 10), from Virgo into Leo, Paris time. With the shadow, the period runs from November 5, 2026 to June 8, 2027.

What is the shadow of Mars retrograde?

It is the window, before and after the backward step, during which Mars crosses the degrees it will pass over again. Astrologers added it to describe the build-up and then the ebbing of the period. It is particularly long for Mars, which moves slowly, and the table specifies its two ends.

Does Mars really move backward?

No, Mars continues along its orbit in the same direction. The backward step is an illusion of perspective: every two years, the Earth overtakes it on the inside, like a runner catching another on the track. During those weeks, our line of sight sweeps the sky in the other direction.

What does tradition say about Mars retrograde?

It would see a period when energy is held back: better to finish than to begin, to talk than to fight, to wait than to force. The advice is old and reported in the conditional. Nothing proves a link with accidents or arguments, and you can act whenever you see fit.