What this period actually is
Between February 14, 2029 and May 5, 2029 Mars moves back through 19.0 degrees of the zodiac, from 13°55' Libra to 24°56' Virgo, without changing its own direction at any point. Mars is further out than Earth, so the 80 days between February 14, 2029 and May 5, 2029 are the stretch in which Earth overtakes it on the inside track and the planet appears to fall behind.
The mechanism behind the Mars station of February 14, 2029 is the same one described in what retrograde motion is. Read astrologically, the convention is that Mars — drive, temper, appetite and the willingness to act — turns inward between February 14, 2029 and May 5, 2029, which is a habit of reading rather than a claim about the sky.
The dates in full
Station retrograde: February 14, 2029 at 13°55' Libra, 08:17 UTC. Station direct: May 5, 2029 at 24°56' Virgo, 19:00 UTC. It begins in Libra and backs into Virgo, crossing the boundary between 13°55' Libra and 24°56' Virgo rather than working one stretch of a single sign.
Mars first reaches 24°56' Virgo — the degree it will retrograde back to — on December 10, 2028, and does not clear 13°55' Libra, the degree it stationed at, until July 9, 2029, so counting both shadows the passage runs 211 days rather than 80.
What the period is good for
For the 80 days between February 14, 2029 and May 5, 2029 the workable version of the advice is narrow: finish what is open instead of opening more, and treat low drive as the cycle rather than a personal failure.
If one thing is worth timing around the stretch that ends May 5, 2029, it is starting a fight, starting a business, or starting a training programme that depends on momentum — not because the sky forbids it, but because a marked period is a reasonable prompt to check work you would otherwise wave through. Treating the whole of February 14, 2029 to May 5, 2029 as a general curse is the version worth ignoring.
Which house it falls in for your sign
Counted from each sign as the first house, this Mars retrograde, stationing at 13°55' Libra falls here:
| Sign | House | What that house covers |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | 7th house | partners, opponents and anyone you deal with one to one |
| Taurus | 6th house | work, routine, health and the small maintenance of a life |
| Gemini | 5th house | play, romance, children and anything you make for its own sake |
| Cancer | 4th house | home, family, roots and private ground |
| Leo | 3rd house | conversation, short trips, siblings and daily information |
| Virgo | 2nd house | money, possessions and what you consider yours |
| Libra | 1st house | your own bearing, appearance and the first move |
| Scorpio | 12th house | rest, solitude, what is behind you and what runs unattended |
| Sagittarius | 11th house | friends, groups, networks and what you are aiming at |
| Capricorn | 10th house | career, public standing and what you are known for |
| Aquarius | 9th house | distance, study, belief, travel and the long view |
| Pisces | 8th house | shared money, debt, intimacy and what is not said out loud |
The cycle either side of this one
The previous Mars retrograde ended 685 days before this one began, and the next station comes 693 days after May 5, 2029.
- Previous: January 10, 2027 to April 1, 2027
- Next: March 29, 2031 to June 13, 2031
- All Mars retrograde periods: the full list
Questions people ask about this
When does Mars go retrograde in 2029?
On February 14, 2029 at 08:17 UTC, at 13°55' Libra.
When does it end?
The direct station falls on May 5, 2029 at 24°56' Virgo, 80 days after the turn.
What is the shadow period?
For this passage it runs December 10, 2028 to July 9, 2029: the stretch in which Mars crosses the same degrees it covers three times in all.
Does Mars retrograde break things?
No. Between February 14, 2029 and May 5, 2029 the planet only appears to reverse, and the tradition reads that as a stretch better suited to review than to launch.