Leslie Tagorda 0:06 Hello everybody, it's Leslie Tagorda your bad astrologer and designer here and today I'm coming to you from a closet in Palm Springs. If you're watching this on YouTube, you'll get to see the beautiful tropical wallpaper and if you could only see the Flamingo pink ceiling and interior it's pretty amazing. Anyway, I am on work occasion. I am not at the place in my podcast yet where I have episodes you know pre recorded because I'm more on the fly kind of gal I like to feel into the energy. So, you know, recording podcasts ahead of time is a little challenging for me when I'm talking about astrological energies for our business, right. So here I am in orientation. My son is in quiet time right now. So wish me luck as I record this podcast, a information packed podcast about this upcoming March. retrograde. I know there's a lot of questions that you have about this Mars retrograde. The people in the savvy luminary in my free Facebook group have been asking all kinds of questions from do I launch during this time? How do I prepare my business for this time? So I have answers for you. Aloha and welcome to the savvy luminary, and astrology podcast for entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Leslie Tagorda. I'm an Aquarius boss woman, a brand designer, business astrologer and overall business navigator helping you reach your highest potential using astrology, you're not going to find any fearmongering here. I'm going to teach you how to use astrology as an empowering tool that helps you believe and achieve your greatest gifts. As per usual, at least To share a review of our work here in the savvy luminary. Gisele Allen says, Leslie has been revamping my brand using her signature astrology based approach. And it's been a dream. I've seen the elements from my branded pieces before. But this podcast cover is the first time I've seen everything put together and it's just perfect. I wanted to share it with you all in case you're looking for someone to do brown design for you because Leslie is the business. Yeah. So you may or may not know that we do brand design as well as brand strategy using astrology. And so gizelle Allen, a powerful coach for women of color entrepreneurs is launching a brand new podcast called revolutionary rising so please be unlooked for her podcast. Of course we designed the cover, but he's all is the real deal and has lots of great information to share. Alright, so Mars retrograde is coming. So we get a cycle like this a cosmic cycle the Mars retrograde for about 10 weeks every two years. And you know, it's 2020. So of course we're having it this year from September 9 through November 13 2020. Right? Mars retrograde is not a time to fear now, right? I just want all of us to understand that none of these retrogrades are times for us to fear. But it's a time that we get to re affirm what energizes and motivates us in our businesses and brands. Of course, you can apply this to your your personal life, but here we are about to talk about our entrepreneurship journey. So, if Mars retrograde is a time where we reaffirm what energizes and motivates us, where it falls in our chart, then comes under the magnifying glass to highlight where we need to save energy, feel stress, heal our frustrations, and up My energy better. We get to use this time to stop and see exactly what motivates us. And if our motivations have shifted, right I mean, gosh 2020 has been this epic year and who you know, probably the things that you set out to do in January when you are doing your annual goals are not what you're setting out to do right now. So similar as to when Mercury and Venus or other personal planets go retrograde. These energies ask us to reevaluate, reflect redirect. And because it's Mars, we're highlighting our energy, activation and power. In this episode, I want to share with you the wisdom of the Mars retrograde. I'll be sharing with you exactly what is a Mars retrograde. We'll be going over the exact Mars retrograde schedule so you can kind of put these dates in your calendar I want to share with you how to proceed Analyze the insights of Mars retrograde according to your natal chart energies. And then of course, I'm going to be sharing with you the five things to do and not to do in Mars retrograde. So throughout this episode, I'll be sprinkling in questions that members of my free Facebook group, the savvy luminary have been asking about this important upcoming cycle. If you are an Astro curious entrepreneur and want to join a beautiful community of other like minded souls, head on over to Facebook, search for the group, the savvy luminary. So you know if you've been following me for a while, you hear me get really excited with mercury retrograde so I know they can cause people some headaches, but I love Mercury Retrograde even though I'm not born during Mercury Retrograde Mercury's in Pisces. So by just by the signs if you know anything about mercury mercury rules, Virgo Pisces is that Opposite of Virgo. So it's in its kind of contrarian zodiac sign so it's kind of like being born during a Mercury Retrograde now with my Mars. My personal Mars is in Taurus, right? Taurus is ruled by Venus, Venus and Taurus is a very opposite energy of Mars and its home sign of Aries. So with my Mars in Taurus, also in the 12th house, it's almost like I was born during a Mars retrograde right, because I'm not really motivated by normal Mars motivation motivational things like motivated by competition are motivated by sex drive or power right. I'm more motivated by spirit by rest by patience by slow, methodical work by being in flow with spirit and by being abundant, all torian energies all 12th house energies. Now the reason why I'm sharing this is because you By this time, you know, I'm a little bit older, I finally figured out how to embody myself with my own unique powers instead of working against it. So I really feel that for all of us during this Mars retrograde, we really get to reassess, you know, our own inner powers, right? We all have different powers, and they're all right and sometimes are working against them. Right, and we can find this out during Mars retrograde. And then we can also figure out what is really motivating us because motivations shift, you don't always have to stay in one track minded and so it's these retrograde seasons that allow us to reflect and get realigned with everything. So what is a Mars retrograde right, you've probably heard about Mercury Retrograde and it is when a planet this time Mars appears to be going backwards from our position on Earth. Of course, my is not changing its orbit, it's not actually going backwards, right? Because in astrology, we look at it from this earth centered approach because we here live on earth. And so we are looking at the planetary energies and how they're affecting us by the relationship that we have to it from our position on Earth, right? So Mars normally the energy of Mars in our charts in astrology, represents our energies to initiate, and to take action on what we want and desire and our wants and our desires come from our Venus energies, right? And it's the ability to initiate and take action based on the information we know, which comes from our mercury energy, right? These are again, all of our personal planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars. These are the planetary energies that are closest to Earth. So we feel them very, very closely. Right and more teaches us right how to productively direct our anger and frustration, right? If we're not being conscious, we're not being mindful, like Mars can get out of hand and we can show our anger and express our anger and rages and just unproductive and productive ways. But anger is very important tool. And it's only when we can learn how to express it and communicate it constructively, that we can really use it in empowering ways in our business. Anger can serve us if we bottle it up or release it aggressively in violent ways, right? So during this Mars retrograde our task here is now to focus our energy so that we can use it wisely so we can manage these energies for the projects that bring us the most joy, right? So we look also our Mars energy, right our energy to get what we want and what we desire. There's all of these coins, these different sides of the coins for this energy, right? Mars can represent it itself as courage. They could also represent as fear. morrows can also be represented as competition or cooperation. It can be motivation, but you know, there's a there's a shadow side of motivation too, right? It's like the all or nothing kind of motivation. Like I'm going to either do this because I love it or I'm not going to do anything at all right? Mars energy also represents initiative, the ability to take action, when I'm not shadowside it can be like this forceful initiative where you're like you're, you know, controlling others to do what you want. Of course, we always talked about Mars energy representing aggression versus assertiveness, right? assertiveness is being able to stand and ask for what you want. And aggression again, is now trying to control others or being too forceful. And of course, Mars energy or represents our anger, our frustration or stress and how that manifests in our body. So you can see how during this retrograde season and the ability to reaffirm how we use our energy is so important on all of our energetic levels for emotional, physical, and spiritual levels. Now, Alicia and the savvy luminary asked if I could explain the differentiation between Mars moving direct and Mars moving retrograde energy. Now, this is such a great question, right? Because if we know that Mars retrograde we look at the cycle of Mars going around the zodiac, Mars takes about two years to go through the Zodiac. So, when Mars is moving direct on a regular basis, it's going through each zodiac sign about once every two months, right and going forward all of the energies that Mars reference Like courage and motivation and initiative, we are going at it on our normal day to day basis, right, using our energy to get what we want, right? And of course, our Mars energy is going to be determined where you know what zodiac sign Mars is in as well as what house is it. But now during the Mars retrograde cycle, which happens for 10 weeks out of every two years, the way we go about getting the things that we want, is a little bit different. And so we can't just normally use our drive and our motivation and our anger and our frustrations to get what we want. We now have to refocus and realign our actions so that we can learn to reassert our place in the places that matter, or else during the mercury retrograde if we're not really really conscious of this energy, lots of anger, lots of frustration, lots of features. Lots of just like pent up fiery emotions, right? Mars and Aries, all fire all wanting to go forward. That can really give us a lot of frustrations during this Mars retrograde right. But if we know how to use this energy by looking at the themes that Mars represents and being able to then reassert and realign and reaffirm how we need to manage all of this energy, then we can use this Mars retrograde so well and harness this time, because, you know, unlike what our Western culture has taught us and corporate culture, and you know, patriarchal culture has taught us to go go, go, go, go go, that doesn't give the real. That doesn't honor the cycle of Mother Nature, where there's always a time of reflection, and always a time of going inwards, to see if things are still on track. So they met An earlier Mars retrograde is when Mars appears to be going backwards in the sky from our perspective on Earth, right? And as Mars goes retrograde in this cycle in 2020, it's going to be spending its entire retrograde cycle in Aries, right? And so Aries is the home of Mars. And as I mentioned a little bit earlier, Mars normally goes through a zodiac sign every two months, but because of this retrograde cycle, and because it's 2020 You know, every biggest thrown out the door, every big cosmic shift that we can have happened in like this chart. 12 months of 2020 Mars retrograde will be going back and forth in its sign of Aries and so Aries in our businesses and in our brands, is where we're supposed to show up as the leader where we are supposed to take risks and where are we are supposed to trailblaze You can see that, you know, Mars our energy of activation and areas representing the part of our chart where we're supposed to take initiative initiative and be the leader. You can see how now all of this is coming under a microscope. It's coming into like this kind of magnifying glass so that we can really assess and really highlight and really figure out if we're moving in the right directions and using our energy wisely. With Mars going retrograde, it's going to mean that Mars is going to be an Aries all the way until January right? Now, anytime a planet is going through a retrograde cycle, one of our our personal planets Mercury, Mars and Venus. That means that during the retrograde cycle, this planet is the closest to earth and because their personal planets I mentioned earlier, we feel this on an intimate level right? collectively we are all experiencing this right? So, you know on the earth and in our communities, we're collectively feeling this as this Aries kind of retrograde, looking at collective leadership abilities looking at collective risks, taking abilities, but on a personal level, we get to dive a little bit deeper and look at which house is ruled by Aries and also Scorpio because Scorpio is co ruled by both Mars the traditional ruler and Pluto, the modern ruler, I'll go deeper into how your personal energies through your natal chart will will affect this Mars retrograde season for you. Now, Riedel from the savvy luminary asks, What if you were born during a Mars retrograde? Oh my goodness. Yes. So similar to what I was saying. Because my Mars is in Taurus. So it's kind of a contrarian Mars. If you are born during Mars retrograde, I know a few of you actually out there, there's you read and there's also this woman, Emma, if you're listening for you, just the normal ways and your normal drives are very different from the way other people approach them, right? All those themes that we've talked about Mars around getting what you want, and being motivated, and having that initiative, your approach isn't the normal way. What you do to get what you want, you don't go about it in the same assertive ways. Maybe you use anger a little bit differently from those around you. Maybe you exert the way that you maintain control a little bit differently from those that are around you. Maybe you express or experience anger. A little bit differently than the others around you, right? But one of the wonderful things about those of you that are born with a Mars retrograde is that you're going to feel really at home during this 10 week season. So I imagine you'll have more energy you'll feel really alive and you'll feel you'll feel really excited to get things done. Now, if you want to check if you're born during a Mars retrograde. If you look in your natal chart and you look up the symbol of Mars, which is also the symbol of the male, you will see a little r x at the bottom right of the Mars symbol. If you have one of those are axes you were born during the Mars retrograde season. Also, for those of you if you have Mars retrograde, I want you to really take a look at what area of what house Mars is in at the time of your birth and what sign that's going to give you further into information about how to harness your energy and use your energy effectively. Just remember, because you have an RX, it just means that during this lifetime, you're meant to really continuously be mindful about how you wisely spend your energy on things that matter. Alright, so let's talk about this Mars retrograde schedule, because we're already in the schedule, so Mars doesn't go retrograde until officially until September 9. But if you're listening to this before September 9, I know that we are currently in the shadow zone, the shadow zone. Before the retrograde is the area that Mars is going to go backwards or any really any planet is going to go backwards where it's going to retrace its steps. So we have been in the shadows zone since July 26. Right and so Because Mars will be going retrograde from September 9 through November 13. It's going to be spending its time stopping at Aries 28 degrees and going backwards to Aries 15 degrees, then it's going to turn it on and go forward again back up to 28 degrees and then out. Right so it's really highlighting this area of your chart. So I want you to remember Aries 15 degrees to 28 degrees. We're going to come back to this when I teach you how to personalize your Mars retrograde according to your chart. So again, during the retrograde cycle, Mars is the closest to Earth as it ever will be. And so we're going to feel this very deeply. Right. Mars will come to a stop at 28 degrees of Aries on September 6 ish, right? Because you could imagine like you when you You're in a car, and you're going forward and then you hit on reverse, you know, you change gears, you can't just change gears as you're going straight forward, you have to kind of slow down, come to a complete stop, and then hit reverse. So you don't, you know, bust your car or anything or cause an accident, right? And so similar with these planets, so Mars is slowing down right now, before September 6, it's like slowing down, it's putting on the brakes, putting on the brakes, putting on the brakes. And then on September 6, it's coming almost to a complete stop, it's going to look like from our eyes on the earth, it's going to look like it came to complete stop, and this is called the station. And it's during these three days or so before it shifts gears into the retrograde into reverse, where we're going to feel it the most intensely, right because Mars is stopped. It's not moving. It's not expressing or sharing any of its energies. It's just sitting there like on the hot spot, right? And so at 28 degrees of Aries, this is going To be this one big hot spot where over those next three days from September 6 to the ninth, we need to be really mindful because your energy will be building here your Mars energy for all of us on a collective all across the earth will be building up here, like the rubbing of an engine, right? And so you know that with our times right now things are very uncertain. There's a lot of conflict on a collective level. So be really mindful and cautious of what might be happening in your communities between September 6 and September 9. I feel that just there's going to be lots of buildup of energy and look for this how it's expressing in your business as well because our businesses are just expressions of our solar consciousness. So on September 9, Mars will finally shift gears and it's going to be going backwards, where we are going to get to notice these themes of re energizing are frustration and you know, a week We get to choose this idea of frustration right? There is going to be part of this Mars retrograde especially in this beginning part from September 9 through October 13. This is like the phase one of the retrograde cycle where we need to start noticing what is coming apart at this time right? What feels like it's unfurling what is giving us lots of headaches, what's giving us a lot of frustration what's giving us a lot of stress because it's draining our energy, right? Because Mars is energy and this frustration is basically our energy being Miss managed and giving a stress and frustration. So notice the things you don't have to do anything except for notice right now, what's coming apart at this time. Then on October 13, with Mars is opposite the sun, right? So Mars energy of energy and activation is opposite the solar consciousness. At this time on October 13, and Libra season, Aries and Libra, right, we're going to be midway with this Mars retrograde position, and this is going to ignite the second half of the Mars retrograde season. Now, this halfway point is kind of also like an an overload, overload of energy, right? And depending on your, your unique energetic profile, right? For me, when there's an overload of energy, I shut down, right? Like, I need to take a nap like this is like real for me. And for some of us who have an overload of energy, they need to like go out and do some like really physical intense workouts and like just, you know, punch things out or work things out, sweat things out, right. So on October 13, I want you to notice what this overload of energy is coming up for you. It may be a high point assessment Or if you've been really mindful, it could also really express yourself as like, instead of frustration, this like kind of the creative, inspirational, energetic boost, but just notice on October 13, what is happening for you there? after October 13, Mars opposite sun, you can think of it as a full moon for Mars. Right? We are now at the full opposition of the sun and Mars. And so this is kind of like a completion of the cycle right at the beginning of Mars retrograde. Until now, you're noticing the themes of frustrations or things that need to change. Now that we have everything in full moon might or Mars light rather, this is kind of the blossoming stage just like in a full moon stage of the Moon and Sun cycle where you are letting go and release Seeing and blossoming right right before harvest. It's the same thing. Everything is illuminated with, what your motivations truly are, what your energies truly are, what really your desires that you are going to initiate and take action on. Everything is in full light at this midway point of October 13. Now as the Mars retrograde cycle comes to a close for the next five weeks before me, before November 13, now you get to make a plan of action of the things that you need to modify. What pieces do you have left to work with? Right? What are you going to bring with you into this next evolution of motivation and desire and initiative? What are you going to keep? What are you going to delegate? What are you going to let go of right? Make a plan of action of all the things that really lights you up all the things that you need to get rid of that frustrate you and figure out what you're going to do what you're going to modify in your work life. So another really important thing that happens during the Mars opposite sun, right, this kind of the full moon phase of Mars and the sun cycle. We have another shift going on. That's really going to be informing all of the places that you want to reaffirm and reignite your aligned energies. We have a Mercury Retrograde that starts on October 13. Oh my gosh. So the mercury retrograde is going to be happening all in the Mars retrograde. Mercury Retrograde is going to be happening from October 13 through November 3 and where Mars is our ability to initiate and energize and take action. Mercury is our energy that allows us to decipher and to process and exchange that information. So getting really clear on our mindset in order to support our action are aligned action. So just note that Mercury is going to be in heavy support with our Mars retrograde, just buckle up a little. Then on November 13, or actually, let's go back a few days on November 10. When Mars comes to kind of a stop again, right? If you're, if you've been heading in reverse and you want to go forward again, you have to slow down, come to a complete stop, then shift gears forward that's going to start right around November 10. When Mars is going to come to a stop right around 15 degrees of Aries. Again, the shifting of gears as a time these three days is kind of to notice, right? Because anytime a planet comes to a stop, the engine is ready. Right, you're going to feel this shift in directions a little bit more intensely. So really feel into what is coming up, it should really validate everything over the last 10 weeks, right? Because now after November 13, when Mars begins to shift forward, you're going to now take that plan of action, and now implement, you're going to get to redo and reprioritize and reaffirm and take future movement in your business in an aligned way that leaves little to no stress or frustration, if you've done things correctly. So I hope that in November, when you notice all of the effects of Mars retrograde when Mars begins to move forward again, I hope that you will have time to reintegrate your reaffirmed energies into your world and benefit from this cycle. All right, so I know you probably have tons of questions. I'm going to be hosting a live workshop or masterclass on this Mars retrograde, where I will be doing some chart readings, and we'll be going over all of your questions. I'll be giving you some worksheets and assignments about how to really make use of this Mars retrograde in your business. So this is going to be happening on September 8, Tuesday, Pacific time at 2pm. Pacific. Again on September 8, if you would like to join me for a Mars retrograde masterclass, this will be happening on zoom. I'll be giving chart readings. We'll be going over how to really harness this energy of Mars retrograde in your business on September 8. It is a sliding scale. So you know you can pay what you can to join us And I would love to have you there. So head over to the savvy luminary.com forward slash Mars to sign up. Alright, so let's make it a little bit more personal right? So of course Mars retrograde is happening to everyone all each and one of us and collectively we are feeling it through Aries. But now how do we personalize it and customize it to our Natal energies in our businesses? pcell in the savvy luminary asks, hey, what do I need to check in my personal chart? And Sarah asks that she's having a Mars retrograde to the 10th house activating her Natal sun and a Natal moon. What does this have in store for her? So yes, the biggest key to understanding a transiting planet transiting means where the planets are collectively here and now in our own natal chart is to look at where that transiting on it. So this time we're looking at specifically Mars retrograde is transiting our house. If you've been following for a while you know that astrological houses is a part of our life or because we're talking about business and brand astrology, a part of our business that we need to focus on. So there are 12 houses in astrology and each house represents a different part of our life or a business and we're a transiting energy this time, Mars retrogrades, where the transiting house where that planet is going through shows us where we need to look at and because it's Mars retrograde, we're looking at the house to see where we might have overextended our energies, right. This will give us a time to reflect and review and take care of any energy leaks and loose ends. One of the reasons that we really use this time right is that We get to take responsibility for our actions. Oh my gosh, you know, the most successful people I see take full responsibility for their actions. They don't blame others for their inaction or their unknowing. Oh my gosh, I just can't stand the blame game, right? Because successful people learn to take responsibility, even if it's at fault of others, they're not blaming others, they're taking responsibility for their passions and doing what they need to do, so that they can grab on to their success, instead of looking at everything as a failure and, you know, staying stuck. You know, we don't want any of that and Mars can really help us through this, especially the Mars retrograde because we get to re examine where we can take responsibilities for our actions. So there are several things that I want you to take a look at in Your chart to understand and gain more insight about what this Mars retrograde wants you to know. So first of all, yes, we want to look at the house in which Mars will be retrograding. Right? So this house is going to have Aries in it. And we talked about Aries, wherever Aries shows up in our chart shows us where we need to be the leader in our business. So for Sarah in the 10th house, the 10th house is about visibility. It's about our professionalism. It's about our career and our public persona. That's where Sarah needs to be a leader. Right? And so we're looking at if Mars is going retrograde in your 10th house, all of those themes about being visible about being the leader about showing up professionally, what is causing stress right. Now I mentioned also that Mars rules Scorpio and so well Aries is about the action and the initiative square Theo's powers is about transforming and healing, right? So we're healing from stress, we're healing from frustration. We're healing and transmuting all of that energy, so that instead of getting frustrated, we can use it for fuel that really drives us forward. So we also want to look at what house is ruled by Scorpio, that is going to give you even more insight as to what stresses need to be healed in your business. So again, look at your chart and find out where 15 degrees to 28 degrees of Aries is occurring. And that house placement is going to give you information in the area of your business that needs reaffirming. So the next thing that you want to take a look at is for any planetary or luminary energies that are in Aries between 15 and 20 degrees or any other Cardinal signs. So Aries Aries, cancer, Libra and Capricorn are our Cardinal signs. Just like Aries Cardinal signs are the action takers, the initiative takers because these are the beginnings of the different seasons right? The start of the different seasons. So if you have any planets in any Cardinal sign, right, so again, Aries, cancer, Libra or Capricorn. If you have any planets, or luminaries luminaries or the sun or the moon, or if you have any of your lunar nodes, or if you have like your rising sign or midheaven or your icy, if you have any of those really important energies between 15 degrees and 28 degrees of any Cardinal sign, those energies are going to be activated. They're going to be pinged as Mars crosses over it's going to be like, Oh, if Do you have your moon in Aries? Between 15 and 28 degrees, well, your emotions are going to come into play and your intuition. If you have your son in any of these energies, your consciousness and your creative desires are going to come into play. If you have mercury in any of these, any of these signs, then your thought processes are going to come into play. You see how each of these different planetary energies, their energies that represent if they're being activated during this Mars retrograde, then those energies want to have a voice in determining what you can do to reaffirm and re energize and, you know, take care of any energy dreams in your business. Now, let's not forget Scorpio because Scorpio is ruled by Mars. The same thing if you have any planets between 15 and 28 degrees of Scorpio if you have any planets or luminaries or angles, those things those energies are going to want to have a say in your Mars retrograde. So again to recap to personalize this Mars retrograde and give you more insight as to the themes that are coming up for you to harness and for you to take some mindful consideration. You want to look at the house between 28 degrees and 15 degrees of Aries where Mars is traversing that is the area of your business that needs special attention. And if you have any planets luminaries or angles, in Aries, cancer, Libra, Capricorn or Scorpio because it's ruled by Mars, if you have any planets between 15 and 28 degrees of those signs, those planets those energies are going to want to add their voice into the things that you need to reconsider to use this Mars retrograde information. Okay, so now we have Come to the main event. Five things to do or not to do in your business during Mars retrograde Okay, so these five things to do and not do in your business during Mars retrograde was definitely inspired by the questions that the people in the savvy luminary, my free Facebook group that you are welcome and invited to join us asked. So Keisha asks, How do you prepare in your business for this Mars retrograde? gizelle asked, Is it a good time to launch? and Sara asked with a launch coming up in October, how can I get the messages I need from this Mars retrograde and not fall apart? Oh gosh, I believe as I go through these five things, you're going to be able to gather and glean a lot of information that will help direct you Alright, so number one, do let go of stress and frustration. Right. So of course, Mars, we talked about what Mars represents and also It shadowside Mars is a leak of energy, right? a leak of energy that can cause you stress, you know, that can bust your adrenals because you're just like working in the stress mode that can you know up your cortisol that can you know, harm your liver because that's where we hold on anger, right? And it can give us a lot of frustration. So classic Aries, frustrations, results in headaches, they manifest and headaches if we think about like from the physical level, and when we're running a business, we don't want to be working and stress and frustration. It really works against us, and it works against our energies and customers and clients can really tell if we're stressed or frustrated and I don't think anybody wants to work with somebody who's stressed and frustrated. So number one thing during a Mars retrograde is to let go of stress. And so the first step of letting go of stress is to really understand where the stress and frustration is coming from. Right And then not only to understand where the stress and frustration is coming from, but then to actually do something about it. You know, I've, you know, I've met people who have been in this like constant state of stress and frustration and I need to be, to be honest, I used to be one of those people, right? And I knew I was stressing me out what was causing me frustration, but I would never act on it. And so I just kind of repeat this cycle, right? So you want to look at where in your brand and your business needs energy management, right? If our brand is the experience and kind of like this outward face that people you know, people meet our business in, is there anything in our brown that may be causing other people stress? Or you know, misuse energy, right, like, are they not understanding our communications? Are we always constantly repeating ourselves is our customer service lacking you know, like, those would be kind of like the brand frustrations right? But in like, the data operations of your business, you know, looking at what's causing you anxiety, what's causing you frustration, right? We get to assess and then modify these things, right? Is it something that still needs to be done, but it really stresses you out? Well then delegate that shit, right? Is it something that you just need to let go of? Maybe you have an offering that is just like not bringing you joy anymore. You in the last episode, when I talked about the lunar nodes, I have personally been going through a huge place of release. Has it been stressful? A little bit? Has it been, but you know, every time I release something, it makes room for even more opportunities. In one single day. As soon as I released something, a flood of other opportunities came in. So there is also this trust, right? This release that something greater and better is waiting for you, when you decide to let go of things that are giving you stress that no longer serve you, right? Or maybe it's simply something just needs to be recalibrated. Right. Maybe it's Just like it's not like a 180 shift, maybe it's just a couple of degrees shift that maybe you need to make something simpler or provide less information in your offerings, right? Or, you know, use a different ingredient in everything that you put in. Or maybe this is an idea of frustration, where it needs to be transmuted. So for example, there are certain times that there are frustrations in your business that can't be delegated, that can't be hired out where you need to dive in deeper to get to the very bottom to maybe experience a little bit more stress so that you can really understand the gold the gift that hides at the very bottom, so that you can then transmute it. I know that might sound really Woo, but I think you're getting what I'm having to say that sometimes if there's just frustrations that you need to face, head on to really understand them, and then to be able to use that challenge of the frustration and harness that energy into a focused below torch of change of that. So number two, do reassess your motivations and priorities. Right? Do you love what you're doing? Or are you really just doing this for others? You know, how are your priorities shifted? Like I imagine they have, especially during this awakening that some people call COVID-19 this pandemic that is shaky, shaky, or rather this year of 2020, this spiritual awakening, right? I know my priorities have shifted, right? Um, what has shifted for you, right? Because we want to understand that our desires change that they evolve, and we have to be able to then move And shift our motivations to go along with those desires and new priorities right. So what has shifted for you and your motivations and priorities and don't feel guilty about it this this is an unprecedented time we are allowed to evolve you are allowed to shift and you are allowed to love what you do just for you okay that So, this is the probably the million dollar question, do I launch or do I not launch? So, yes, do launch during the Mars retrograde as long as you are harnessing and using the themes of this specific energy, right? You must work with the Mars retrograde energy right? So if Mars retrograde energy is asking us to redirect our motivations to see where we have stresses, right, the the antidote to that Doing the inner visionary work that allows you to find your business motivations, or doing relaxing and retreat kind of work that allows you to let go of stresses, right? So working on projects that allow you to you and your customers to focus on D stressing to focus on realigning to focus on re motivating, re energizing. All of those things work really well, because you're using the energy of Mars retrograde. So if you listen to the very beginning of this episode, we talked about all of those things about Mars, and the frustrations and stress and anger that can it can cause if you're working on things that are antidotes to that, then this is the time for you to launch those projects. Now, of course, because we're still in Mars retrograde and Mars is having on and off of alignments. With Saturn, do expect to put in consistent effort. This isn't necessarily a time for even though we want to work with ease and we want to work in flow, we do need to put in consistent effort. The one caveat I would add is I wouldn't launch any new long term projects. So for example, you know, if you're starting a brand new LLC, or if you're starting a new year long membership that isn't in alignment with these Mars retrograde energies, I wouldn't necessarily use that energy or use this time, this 10 weeks to launch those kinds of things. Now, of course, there are always exceptions, right? If you have a Mars retrograde in your chart, then yeah, like this is your time, right? So the best thing you know is to trust your gut. to really feel into it and, and ask your highest self if this is the right time. Again, we don't want to use astrology as a crutch either, right? We don't want to use astrology in this way of fear mongering like, Oh my god, I shouldn't do this during a Mars retrograde. I am not here to do that. I'm here to teach you to use astrology and empowering ways in your business. If you feel like a fear coming up, because you heard from somebody not to do this during a Mars retrograde. I want you to dig deeper. I want you to get really in touch with your intuition and use your intuition to make the final choice. All right. Number four, do use anger and assertiveness in productive ways. This is about using anger to create boundaries. This is about turning your frustrations into fuels. This is about transmuting aggressiveness in assertiveness, right? For many business owners, especially women and women of color, right? We've been taught to not prioritize ourselves. And because of this a lot of resentment builds up, we get afraid to get paid, right when somebody asks us to do free work, right? They, you know, they automatically assume that we just be willing to do free work, but no, we deserve to get paid for our expertise. And sometimes, you know, people stop paying us, right, but you deserve to get paid on time. So using this Mars retrograde to be really assertive, and telling people that you deserve to be paid and deserve to be paid your value and deserve to be paid on time. Telling clients No, right. If there's something that you don't enjoy doing or something that's a little bit out of your wheelhouse and you really want to specialize having the assertiveness To be able to tell people No, right? This also, you know, it's about in queries, if you know lots of people are asking you to, you know, show up on their podcast or do this and do that. And you're just you're tapped out. Yeah, use your assertiveness to say no. And especially, what are the consequences when your expectations are not met? It's one thing to say, hey, client, you need to pay me on time. And then it's the next thing in assertiveness and using your boundaries as created with anger in Mars in a productive way to say, hey, if you don't pay me on time, here are the consequences. What would you like to do? Right? So you can see how during this Mars retrograde, we're really looking at anger and assertiveness as a gift, but we're using them now in productive and constructive ways instead of bottling it up. Having it turned into resentment, which, you know, that kind of resentment normally just kind of poisons our own physical manifests in, you know, physical cells manifests in like horrible ways, right? We want to get this anger and energy out and use it to really firmly create boundaries of what is acceptable in our lives and in our businesses. And so this flows into the fifth thing that I would love you to discover and learn during this Mars retrograde, which is I want you to step into your own power. Right? Our own individual power is different, right? We each have our unique power source. We each have our unique motivations. And when we can be reconnect with our Natal Mars with our own power, we can really understand our leadership style are activated. style or initiative style, our motivation style, right? So by really examining what gives us frustrations right during this Mars retrograde is going to help us like change that dialogue so that we don't have to be giving away our power. So we don't have power leaks, right? You can look to your natal Mars by the Zodiac and its elements of modality and house placement for clues into your own tapped in embodied power. So remember I mentioned very early in, in this podcast, my Natal Mars is in Taurus. Right. So that is a paradox in itself right being like it's being bored during a retrograde but I know with Mars in Taurus that I have to value patience, I have to and in the 12th house, I have to value retreat and relaxation and rest, right. So what does your own power look like, how can you reconnect and reclaim with your own power, your leadership style and your activation style? And what does this retrograde cycle teach you about how you must reaffirm and realign to your specific energy? So that was a lot of information. So, I'd like to recap for you. These are some of the questions that I want you to really dwell upon. And of course, I'll share these questions but remember, if if you want to join me for a 90 minute masterclass where we will talk about all themes Mars retrograde in our business, and I'll be answering your questions and we'll be doing a few natal chart readings for those of you that attend right, please head over to the savvy luminary.com forward slash Mars to sign up for a master class on September 8, two Tuesday at 2pm Pacific, again, the savvy luminary.com forward slash Mars. Alright, so here's the recap of questions I'd like you to ask yourself. Are you in a constant state of stress? What needs modification? What needs clarity? Are you motivated by your own needs, wants and desires? Or are you motivated by someone else's desires someone else's priorities? Are you launching offers that are aligned to the Mars retrograde energy in these 10 weeks of Mars retrograde? If you are launching offers? Are they in alignment to the specific Mars retrograde energy? Are you living in alignment with your own unique energy? Are you constantly overwhelmed by living up to others energies and expectations? Are you being aggressive or assertive? Are you using your anger in productive ways and what new stress Can you develop so that you can use anger in productive ways? Are you taking responsibility for your actions, passions and influence? Is it resulting in your current success or not success in your business? And lastly, are you embodied in your own power? Do you know your own power well enough to live in it? Well, that's all I have for this week. Again, please join me for my Mars retrograde masterclass on Tuesday, September 9 at 2pm Pacific you can find the link at the savvy luminary.com forward slash Mars. It's a sliding scale so you can pay what you can. I'm trying something new with my astrology of the week. If you're on my email list, you can get your monthly astrology business planner and if you head on over to Patreon, you can download a PDF Calendar. Or if you're a tech nerd like me, you can actually get a downloadable ICS link that you can import into your Google apple or outlook calendars. Oh my gosh, I am so excited about this ICS link. I haven't seen anybody else do these ICS links before. But what we do is we put all of the astrological events into the calendar. We have all of the notes for this event so you know how to use that energy. And you can see things at a glance and your business, right, and your business calendar so you can plan and use those energies to your benefit. So again, get on my email list. So head on over to the savvy luminary.com to subscribe to my email list, or head on over to patreon.com forward slash the savvy luminary to either get a PDF downloadable calendar Or at the higher levels, you can get a downloadable ICS link that you can import into your Google apple or outlook calendars. Alright, until then Until next week, I'll talk to you soon. Bye. Mahalo for listening to this brand new podcast. If you enjoyed learning about astrology for entrepreneurs help me spread the word by sharing this podcast with your business besties and hop over to the savvy luminary for links to episode notes and our free Facebook community where you can send me questions about astrology or branding as well as connect with other like minded businesses. Transcribed by https://otter.ai