The 2027 dates at a glance
Mars stations retrograde on January 10, 2027 in Virgo. It moves backward through Virgo, slips back into Leo, and stations direct on April 1, 2027.
The full shadow period starts on November 5, 2026, when Mars first reaches the degree it will later return to, and ends on June 8, 2027, when it finally passes the degree where the retrograde began. Taken together, Mars spends about seven months working over the same strip of the zodiac. All dates are UTC and the tool converts them to your local time.
A rare event compared with Mercury
Mars takes about two years to go around the zodiac and turns retrograde roughly every 26 months, for about two and a half months each time. That makes it much less frequent than Mercury, which goes retrograde three or four times a year.
Mars retrograde happens when Earth, on its faster inside track, catches up with Mars and passes it. Around the middle of that window, Earth and Mars line up on the same side of the Sun, and Mars shines at its brightest of the cycle.
Virgo and Leo in this cycle
In astrology, Mars is linked with drive, courage, anger and physical energy. In Virgo, that drive is traditionally read as careful and task-focused, aimed at fixing and improving. In Leo, it is read as proud, playful and eager to be seen.
A retrograde that moves from Virgo back into Leo is often described in terms of revisiting: returning to unfinished creative projects or questions of pride and recognition, after a period of detailed work. These are symbolic readings, and astrology makes no claim that any particular event will follow.
Overlaps with other retrogrades
Mars will not be alone. Jupiter is retrograde in Leo from December 13, 2026 to April 13, 2027, so both planets move backward through much of early 2027. Mercury also turns retrograde from February 9 to March 3, 2027, inside the Mars window.
Astrologers often pay extra attention when several planets are retrograde at once and read such a stretch, in traditional terms, as a time of review. Track Mercury on our Mercury retrograde page.
Finding it in your own chart
The meaning astrologers give to a Mars retrograde depends on which house of your chart the Virgo and Leo degrees fall in, and whether they touch your natal planets. Enter your birth details to see that house, check your natal Mars in the Mars sign calculator, and follow the exact contacts on the transits page.