Mars Debilitated in Cancer

As I’ve mentioned on my May predictions, Mars is currently transiting his worse sign placement in Cancer. Mars entered here on May 10th and will remain in Cancer until June 30th. I think this transit is a great opportunity to understand the concept of debilitation and exaltation, as well as what lessons it teaches us.

Mars in Cancer transit: 10/05/2023-30/06/2023

Exaltation and Debilitation explained

All the 7 classical planets have a specific sign of exaltation and debilitation, as denoted below. An exalted planet sits in his strongest placement, an area where the planet and his meanings can thrive. Debilitation happens in the opposite sign, denoting the area where planetary matters are weakened or dampened in some form.

Planet	Exaltation	Debilitation
Sun	Aries	Libra
Moon	Taurus	Scorpio
Mars	Capricorn	Cancer
Mercury	Virgo	Pisces
Jupiter	Cancer	Capricorn
Venus	Pisces	Virgo
Saturn	Libra	Aries

To understand exaltation and debilitation, one must have a good knowledge of planetary significations. Explaining through examples, let’s understand the Sun. It rules inner strength, ego, confidence and character. A Sun in Aries is bright and strong, favoring a strong sense of self and a person who acts confidently. Sun in Libra will usually show some insecurities, a tendency towards over-relying on others or needing constant reinforcement.

The Moon is the planet that rules emotional stability, and the comfort derived from that inner sanctuary. Taurus is a fixed earthy sign, showing a huge knack for stability. Scorpio is the sign of mystery, occult matters and sudden events, going the opposite route. Taurus can provide the comfort and stability that the Moon craves, while Scorpio will create instability and discomfort with his murky territory.

Venus is the planet of diplomacy, agreements and relationships. Pisces is the sign of letting go, being loose and generous. Virgo is the sign of nit-picking, focusing on details, making a storm in a glass of water. Virgo promotes disagreements and conflict, as you will actively seek trouble or problems in a relationship. Pisces will, at the very least, make you shrug off small issues and problems. Usually, it will make you strive for peace and resolution.

Interestingly enough, a lot of wealthy individuals have Venus in Virgo. Which could be seen as strange, if we know that debilitation will show weakness and that Venus rules wealth. This is why I said above that to understand debilitation and exaltation, you have to understand well the planetary meanings. It relates to the most important, or key matters of a planet, other matters might not be so much affected.

For Mercury, one of his main matters is proper and correct communication. Virgo, with the sign’s attention to detail, will signal perfection in that area. Pisces could show communication troubles, delays, issues with schedules or procrastination. Another subject of Mercury deals with creativity and self-expression, Pisces does really well with this. A lot of creative types have Mercury in Pisces, the creative side of Mercury is not affected by debilitation. But usually, they will have trouble with schedules, routines and the proper handling of communications.

Again, the debilitated or exalted placement is derived from the main matter or matters of a planet, and it is somewhat of a very personal experience for each planet. The Moon seeks exaltation to find stability, to reduce the emotions and find peace. Venus seeks exaltation to maximize the enjoyment, focusing less on logic and smaller issues (signified by Virgo), so that it can spend more time enjoying. Nitpicking could create more wealth for enjoyment, but Venus prefers the free time (and free mind) gained by letting go.

Think of a fully equipped chef’s kitchen. It would be a dream come true for any person that enjoys cooking or baking. But for a person that eats frozen pop tarts, it would at best be a waste, at worst it would cause problems. Which leads us to Mars.

Mars exaltation and debilitation

Mars debilitation and exaltation are interesting, as they run away from “the norm” in some ways. The Sun, Moon and Venus all seek their exaltation in a quest for improvement, for finding a place where they can find comfort and thrive. Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter act in a similar manner. Mars, on the other hand, finds exaltation in a fairly discomfortable area.

Mars is exalted in Capricorn, the sign of Saturn, his planetary enemy. Why would you be happy in an adversarial place? Mars is the planet of war. If there is no war, there is no function for Mars. So a place of conflict becomes a good area for him. Similarly, Mars is a problem-solver, related to logical professions such as engineering. If there are no problems, there is nothing to be solved by Mars. Moon and Venus find their exaltation in places where they can find peace, Mars finds in a place where it can deal with trouble and conflict.

An interesting question would be why not Scorpio for the exaltation of Mars? It is a sign that deals so much with trouble and turmoil, but here comes the key point. Mars wants to use strength, and solve problems, but it wants to make a proper use of strength and it wants to solve real problems. Scorpio deals with excesses, so excessive use of force is a given. It also deals with revenge and vicious emotions, which a lot of times deal with made-up or exaggerated problems.

Capricorn, on the other hand, is the most level headed sign of the zodiac. It is the ideal placement for a gentleman’s war, or a fair resolution of conflict, rather than vicious arguments or destruction. Scorpio would be the kind of person to kick the dog while it is down, to want humiliation and revenge. Capricorn tends to be very stoic, keeping his eye on the target, reaching a goal rather than indulging his emotions excessively. A perfect fit for problem-solving Mars.

Which leads us to the debilitation in Cancer. The sign of the Moon is focused on emotions, everything runs around feelings and moods. Emotional responses are favored here, so Mars would act not on logic, but on emotion. Small slights are turned into huge quarrels, or treated as terminal offences. Mars in Cancer promotes fighting for no reason, fighting for stupid reasons and an overall misapplication of Martian energy. I like to make the analogy that Mars in Cancer is like handing a gun to an emotionally disturbed person.

When I talk about a weak Mars, people usually think that it shows a weak person, like a skinny stick that never raises his voice. But I usually see quite the opposite. The Mars in Cancer charts I see are usually people involved in bar/street fights, yelling matches, constant quarrels and arguments; as well as thrill seeking ventures or excessive sex.

Mars wants to fight or work to solve problems, to improve things, and create a result. Mars in Cancer loses sight of that and it just fights for fighting because fighting. Mars is debilitated in Cancer as it becomes impractical and dysfunctional. The person has energy, they probably have strength and they might even have a knack for fighting. But there is a pattern where their targets are wrong, and they seldom produce good results.

I frequently see Mars in Cancer people who will have a problem with someone, their boss maybe, and instead of trying to patch their actual issue; they will instead pick a fight with a random person, that has nothing to do with the situation. It is the “I lost a footy match, so I will beat my wife” mindset.

In other cases, they simply don’t understand the concept of tone and degree. They are binary, they either swallow their anger or explode at people, with no in-betweens. If you have a disagreement with someone, you can express that, and deal with it constructively. For Mars in Cancer, they either pick major fights, with screaming matches and big conflicts. Or they simply swallow their anger. There is no middle ground between doing nothing or going nuclear.

Again, this makes the native’s actions ineffective. When you make a major fight out of something small, it is hard to get things done, because people get defensive. When you don’t face problems, they similarly don’t get solved. Either by swallowing your anger or discounting your issues in others, things won’t get done.

Mars in Capricorn fights when necessary, it fights fairly, and it applies its energy in a proper way. This leads to productivity and results, problem solving at its best. Mars in Cancer wastes energy fighting the wrong people, for the wrong reasons, in the wrong places. It either avoids problems or turns small slights into big fights, harboring more conflict. Things don’t get done, either by a total lack of action or poorly managed action.

Mars mission and lessons

Esoterically speaking, debilitation in a chart tends to indicate a need for purity or improving in the matters of a specific planet. Someone with a debilitated Mars will have a mission in life to learn, improve and properly deal with Martian subjects. Similarly, I believe that while planets transit debilitated, it is a good time to learn and improve the way we deal with those matters. So lets understand the main missions of Mars.

• Proper usage of force/energy.
  • Pick your battles, and fight them properly.
  • Is it necessary fighting? Is it worth it?
  • Are you fighting the correct problem?
  • How do you spend most of your energy?
• Logic and Organization
  • Plans should make sense
  • Every goal should have a timeline, and actionable steps
  • Are your actions properly directed?
  • On a daily/weekly basis, is your goal being advanced or not?
• Problem solving
  • Finding the key issue for your life
  • Are you focusing on smaller problems and ignoring the big picture?
  • Are things in your life improving?
  • Are you solving or creating more problems?

A person with a strong Mars in their chart will dominate the three main ideas above. They will know how to manage their life properly, applying their energy on what is important to them, organizing their ideas and planning like a good general plans an attack. They won’t waste their energy on frivolous actions, or fighting fights that are not worth it. They will solve their problems and improve their lives, instead of procrastinating with minor side ideas and distractions. Overall, Mars deals with production, with executing a plan and creating tangible results.

With that in mind, I think this is a great moment for us to be mindful about Mars and how well we tackle life. Stop to think how well are you using your energy, are you wasting away most of your time on frivolous pursuits, or are you focused on something. What are your goals and desires? Do you have a plan to achieve them? Is your plan being executed, are things getting solved and improving with time? We should always be mindful of whether or not we are on target. This is not just about having a plan, as even planning can become a source of procrastination. Having a bad plan and executing it, is way better than trying to make a perfect plan and never executing it.

Mars wants you to concentrate on what matters, focus your energy, and improve things.