For fiery, bold, and assertive Aries, here’s what you might expect to enjoy, work through, and receive throughout February 2025.

Your ruling planet, Mars retrograde, continues its backward trek through Cancer for most of the month of February. While its celestial placement won’t change, Mars will return direct in the final days of the month. But before that happens, you must weather the delays and mishaps wrought by this fiery red planet. Remember: Mars retrograde is a time for deceleration, not inaction. You can slow down to better take in your surroundings without majorly impeding your progress. In fact, one could argue that your eagerness to rush forward without finding stable ground is an even bigger impediment.

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The waxing crescent Moon seems to reinforce this idea, forming a trine with Mars retrograde on February 1 just before the lunar body crosses into your celestial domain. Waxing crescent Moons signal the early rumblings of action. These lunar phases aren’t necessarily ripe for making major decisions or taking grand leaps of faith. However, they do provide an ideal opportunity to get your ducks in a row before you act. Don’t underestimate what proper preparation can do for your sense of self and confidence. Adjusting to this planning mode will be difficult at first, signified by a challenging square between Mars and the Moon on February 3. Nevertheless, the stars urge you to persist. The best things in life take time and energy.

February 4 will be a particularly potent day in your cosmic forecast as Venus enters Aries, Jupiter retrograde returns direct, and Mars retrograde forms a challenging square with Chiron. Venus’ entrance into your celestial domain coinciding with Jupiter’s direct return suggests there are significant external changes in love or finance ahead. Now that Jupiter’s expansive energy is once again turned outward, you can use the personal transformations you’ve undergone internally over the last several months to reach the goals outside of your inner state: promotions, new relationships, clearer perspective, what have you.

Prepare for potential conflict arising from past hurt as Mars and Chiron square off in Cancer and your celestial domain, respectively. Chiron’s rule over our vulnerable soft spots clashes with Mars retrograde’s urge to slow down and hedge your bets. It isn’t easy to admit that you’ve made a mistake. Sometimes, admitting others have made mistakes against you is even harder. In either case, learning from these experiences is crucial if you hope to avoid similar heartache in the future. If you keep pretending like the past never happened, it will find a way to remind you that, in fact, it did.

Several days later, on February 9, your ruling planet conjoins with the waxing gibbous Moon in the latter celestial body’s native domain, Cancer. At the same time, Mars forms a harmonious trine with Saturn. The ringed planet’s disciplinarian attitude provides much-needed patience and strength in the face of progress stalls and delays. Pushing through discomfort is inherently difficult, Aries. You are not somehow lesser than because events around this time prove more challenging than you anticipated. You still have time to back out if you want to. More importantly, you have time to adjust to this new reality.

February 12 ushers in the full Moon in Leo. A water-ruled celestial body in a fire-ruled domain makes an interesting cosmic forecast. Emotions will be at an all-time high, increasing sensitivity and intuition. Use these senses to your advantage but don’t let them use you. Leo’s focus on ego and pride can help bolster self-awareness and better solidify your place within your environment. But, of course, too much of Leo’s intrinsic focus can turn sour. It’s up to you to walk the line between paying attention to yourself for the sake of personal improvement and paying attention for the sake of personal (or external) adoration.

A tense square between Mars retrograde and the waning gibbous Moon on February 16 indicates a struggle or unwillingness to release the parts of your life that are no longer working. Optimism can be a good thing. It can also be a detriment. During this time, take close stock of the energy around you and how you react internally. Your subconscious mind picks up on a lot more than you might realize. Don’t be so quick to brush off nagging feelings or those flitters of butterflies in your stomach.

Conflicts begin to ease around February 23 when Mars retrograde and Mercury form an auspicious trine in Cancer and Pisces. These celestial domains are arguably the most emotionally charged in the entire Zodiac, which would normally bring about a lot of confusion, turmoil, and stress. But with communicative Mercury lending its energy to your ruling planet in such a positive way, it will become easier to express your feelings. Indeed, weathering the feelings isn’t enough, Aries. You have to learn how to translate what’s going on inside of you to the rest of the world if you want to maintain strong relationships.

Mars finally returns direct on February 24, shifting gears forward. Energy will increase, as will motivation to act on this newfound vigor. Keep the lessons of this red planet’s retrograde period close. Just because you made it through one valley doesn’t mean you need to try and break the record for how quickly you can get back there. Enjoy the smooth sailing while it’s here. There’s no need to look for problems unnecessarily. Although your ruling planet will be direct, it remains in Cancer for a while. Conflicts are still likely as your fire-ruled planet butts up against water-ruled Cancer’s gentler, more intuitive attitude.

We end the month under a new Moon in Pisces, which also forms a harmonious trine with Mars. There were plenty of hurdles to overcome in the month of February. Under the shadow of this dark Moon, allow yourself time to process, celebrate, and grieve where applicable. Ironically, the easiest way to release the past is to acknowledge it first before setting it (and yourself) free at last. Even if you manage to skip over this part and move on to your next pursuits, this unfinished business will find its way to you eventually. Wouldn’t you rather have a say in how this reflection begins, stargazer?

Thus concludes your monthly highlights. For more specific celestial analyses, make sure to read your daily and weekly horoscope as well. Good luck, Aries! See you next month.