Buckle up for battle, my babies.
On August 6, Mars — the planet of drive, desire, sex and other collisions — moves into Libra, the sign of its detriment, and on August 8, the war lord opposes Saturn retrograde in Aries.
When the planet of will gets blocked by the planet of limitations, the energy can feel stalled, frustrating, and emotionally cuckolded.
For some, this roadblock will take the form of a romantic relationship where tenderness turns to tenuousness, compromise to obstinance, and in the push and pull — you’re all but threadbare.
While we’ll all be feeling the effects of this opposition, four signs in particular will bear the brunt and feel the tension between these opposing forces.
Read for your sun, moon and rising signs.
Saturn retrograde in your sign has amounted to a heavy course load of emotional management, Aries.
Now, with Mars, your ruling planet setting up shop in your seventh house of trusted partnerships, the theme is ‘trigger warning.’
“With Mars now opposing you from your seventh house of relationships, old wounds, boundaries, and criticisms get triggered. You might feel poked at or misunderstood, and it’s hitting deep. Don’t shut down. Say what’s on your heart, even if it’s messy. This is how healing starts,” said Neda Farr, resident astrologer at Flirtini and founder of the Starcrossed app.
Cancer folk are feeling the pull between career and family, roots and ladders.
“Mars is heating your 4th house (home, family, emotional roots) while Saturn is slowing things down in your 10th house of career and long-term plans. You may feel like your partner isn’t getting the best of you right now, or that emotional safety is hard to come by,” said Farr.
Your best offense for this opposition is a strategy that prioritizes presence.
“Schedule the phone-free dinner. Love needs your attention just as much as your inbox,” she added.
“Mars enters your sign and lights a fire under everything, Libra: your libido, your drive, your need to fix what isn’t working. But Saturn is retrograding through your relationship zone, forcing you to pause, reassess, or confront walls in love you thought were already gone.”
Farr advises the people of the scales to practice patience and restraint, understanding that not everything can or needs to be solved or resolved in a single conversation.
Assumptions are your enemy, choose warmth over control and don’t hesitate to initiate.
“Mars is charging through your 10th house of public image and career goals, Capricorn, pushing you to show up and be bold. But Saturn’s in your 4th house, pulling emotional weight from the past or the people closest to you. You’re juggling ambition with intimacy, and something might crack.”
According to Farr, sea goats needn’t choose between passion and vulnerability but rather seek the places where they intersect.
“This Mars–Saturn opposition isn’t here to punish your love life – it’s here to mature it,” Farr said.
“If something cracks under this pressure, it wasn’t built to last. But if you’re willing to show up honestly and emotionally accountable, you’ll come out of this more in alignment with the kind of love that’s worth your time.”
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.
