Mars retrograde 2020 – a new era for humanity

Every two years or so Mars turns around and does a stint in retrograde. He’s got one planned for 9th September. But this year, surprise, 2020 just wants to be different!

Mars is telling the story of the second half of 2020. He holds all the cards and chooses when to turn them over. As he moves back and forward through three powerful gates, Mars is triggering shifts to human culture and consciousness that will leave us forever changed, and bring forth a new world.

Mars will pass over dwarf planet Eris three times during this period. Goddess of Discord, catalyst of chaos, Eris is drawing forth everything that has been hidden – corruption and discrimination, the pathways of dark money and power. And within you, the shard of soul that has been lost within the stories of others and is now waking up and asking to be heard.

Johannes Kepler Mars Retrograde 1609
Open Source, Wikimedia. Johannes Kepler’s Mars Retrograde 1609.

Read: Eris and Pluto Catalysing Chaos

Who’s telling the story of your life?

Dwarf planet Makemake is in the Gate of Correction (18), delving deep within our DNA to find the places where we have lost our way. With Chiron in the complementary Gate of Following (17), these two are working some deep magic in drawing out what is locked within the stories of the old patriarchy world view. We are so accustomed to telling our stories from the perspective of others (it has kept us safe, included) we don’t even realise what we have lost.

Read: Makemake in your Human Design

Mars is cracking open that dominant story, and in the process a shard of your soul is coming blinking into the light. From mid-2021, when Neptune goes into Gate 36, this newly emerging part of you will be instrumental in changing the world.

This is happening on the cultural level – we can see it with the #metoo movement and with #BLM. But wait, there’s more. We are multidimensional beings with both earth-based and galactic consciousness. These ‘other-worldly’ parts of ourselves will start to come awake, and as they do we will be birthing a completely new kind of human consciousness.

Three gates of Mars Retrograde

During this years retrograde period Mars moves through three gates, each of which have their complementary partner gate in the Spleen Centre. This will bring us a new more healthy way of being, and change our relationship to fear.

Gate 51 – complementary gate is The Gentle (gate 57), experiencing life on a very subtle level of how it feels from the inside out, allowing things to be as they are, entering into life and understanding your place within the natural order of things.

Gate 3 – complementary gate is The Vessel (gate 50), a time of new life, every experience is transformative in line with the new beginnings, this is about creating a new and more caring world.

Gate 42 – complementary gate is Duration (gate 32) an active creative process which weaves what you value into your daily life, you never arrive at a destination because you are always creating and this carries you through all the changes without losing your essence.

Mars Retrograde Timeline 2020

These dates start when Mars is still going direct, it covers three phases –

1. Passing in a forward motion over the three gates – this is when we are introduced to the potential;

2. Turning retrograde and moving backward over the three gates – this is when we have to find our resourcefulness, to turn our attention inwards;

3. Going ‘direct’ and moving forward again over the retrograde path – this third phase is the period of integration.

27th July – Mars direct in the Gate of Shock (51)

We experience shock. There’s the potential for us to shut down, lose connection with lived reality, and with our own pure self, our true life path and identity. But this is about waking up something inside of us that we wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of.

Read: Matrix of Brilliance

7th August 2020 – Mars direct in the Gate of Increase (42)

Shock brings us back into connection with the spark inside, and from here we know we can reconnect with a flow of vitality. Often that means completing things half-done or left behind and no longer needed. The Gate of Increase teaches us that our need to control life will never bring increase. Instead we become more skilled in flow, responding to life with purpose and movement. From our unique perspective. Telling our own story.

What does it feel like to flow, rather than to manage and control?

25th August 2020 – Mars direct in the Gate of New Beginnings (3)

As we connect in a new way with a greater flow, we have difficulties. Everything seems unfamiliar as we sink new roots in the unknown. This is a new pattern of life, and we are creating it as we go. We honour the unknowing as it comes into form. We embrace the uncertainty as it emerges into life.

9th September 2020 – Mars goes retrograde

Mars is in Gate 3, as he turns around and we get to go back over that process, to go deeper, to get more personal.

26th September 2020 – Mars shifts back into the Gate of Increase (42)

What energy do you still have bound up in holding onto the old dominant stories? Where are you trying to push your luck? Where might you be still trying to take control, rather than increasing your blessings?

15th October 2020 – Mars shifts back into the Gate of Shock (51)

When a planet goes retrograde, it enters the gate in line 6 and moves backward to line 1. Here we start out trying to impose order, to get control of the shock. But that just creates a mess and all we see is disruption rather than new possibilities. By mid-November we have learnt we can make use of this feeling of being fully alive and engaged with the power of life to bring change.

13 November 2020 – Mars goes direct

And now for the integration period! This is a powerful time, as Pallas is conjunct Jupiter and Pluto in Gate 61.3.

Pallas is like a hologram of every single thing women have been subjected to within the patriarchal times, and their powerful pathway beyond it.

The daughter (Pallas) speaks a new power of truth. It’s as if the clouds part and our future can be seen like a sunrise. You realise how much of the past you have still been clinging to, and that it’s safe to release it.

28th November 2020 – Uranus goes back into the Gate of Nourishment (27)

This is not a part of the Mars retrograde process, but when Mars goes into Gate 3 on 30th December, dwarf planet Haumea will be in the complementary gate 50, making a channel with Uranus in the 27. This is called the Channel of Preservation, and these planetary activations are a really powerful trigger for a new more caring culture.

15th December 2020 – Mars goes forward into the Gate of Increase (42)

I’m really aware that we are in the first weeks after the upcoming US election here, and that Mars is touching on Eris, which is making an astrological square with Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter in Gate 61.

This two week period will bring great change. Eris draws out the invisible hand of greed and corruption, Mars is exactly conjunct Eris on Christmas Eve – the 23rd December. This is one of the most positive positions in the entire HD chart.

Moving freely with the flow of increase, you go to the centre of things and become actively involved in the changes. Rather than making do with how things are, you disengage from the old evils and move into a more harmonious alignment with heaven. Clear communication is necessary for such a radical shift, earning the trust and consent of all involved.

This seems just an extraordinary possibility, that through clear communication we make radical shifts. The North Node is in the Gate of Gathering, a tribal energy of group investment in something that’s important to us all.

You serve a larger objective and are part of a larger gathering. You understand you don’t have exclusive responsibility for the outcome. It’s good to seek your place in this broader landscape.

Read: Eris and Pluto – catalysing chaos

30th December 2020 – Mars goes forward into the Gate of New Beginnings (3)

Here we are, finally back in the Gate of New Beginnings, picking our way carefully through all the possibilities, discovering what supports us, what strengthens and enriches us as we await a new year.

Saturn is joined by the crone, Goddess of life’s crossroads, Hekate, in Gate 60.

The situation will not fit with the rules or stories you’ve been trying to impose. Regrets vanish. What was not in accord with truth was never real. You find new rules that allow you to enjoy the sweetness of life.

11th January 2021 – Mars goes into the Gate of Nourishment (27)

Mars is clear now of his retrograde journey, but he finishes with a flourish, joining Uranus just as it is going direct. Mars and Uranus are a dynamic duo, a powerful energy that can be erratic and volatile. Remember everything you learnt about moving with flow, rather than trying to keep control. Remember also, you are one player within a spectrum of possibilities, all carefully choreographed to be here now.

Read: Haumea in Human Design

Haumea is there, in Gate 50. I really feel this is the beginning of an entire new era of human evolution, right here on 20th January 2021.

Rain falls, releasing tension and liberating blocked potential. Seeds stirring from their dormancy begin to grow. Regrets diminish in this larger and longer term view.

In January Saturn goes into Gate 41, and this is the true beginning of our run into 2027.

I'm Kim Gould, founder of Love Your Design. I have been innovating and taking Human Design to the next level since 2003.

Beyond Type and Strategy, beyond the keywords and rigid rules, there are Asteroids, Dwarf Planets, Multidimensional Human Design and Holographic Human Design to explore. Come join me!

Want more? Join our Love Your Design Communitywhere we break the bounds of standard Human Design and explore it's full multidimensional potential.

17 thoughts on “Mars retrograde 2020 – a new era for humanity

  1. Now it’s clear to me why I finally said yes to a Shamanic course. And I have gate 50 both personality and design, and it was this morning only I mentioned how the word “vessel” in context to watching The Witcher allowed a deepening of awareness of women often being the vessel for the patriarchy. You truly amaze me in your skills and I am ready to be a part of what comes next. Thank you for showing us the way.

    1. That idea – women being the vessel for the patriarchy, so yes. And now we need a new kind of brew in that transformative process! Enjoy your Shamanic course Cindy, wow how exciting!

  2. Hi Kim, great insights. I will launch my first ever online global Venus Sequence Retreat this November. It is over 6 months and centres on Mars and Venus….pretty cool timing. In Gene Keys, Mars represents our Core Wound, which is the final stage we arrive at in month 6, which will be May 2021.

    1. Richard thanks for sharing that, perfect timing of course!! And it lines up with what I see in the transits around the core wounding – that we are having to dig deep to something we may have pushed so far down we lost sight of it.

  3. I have been saying that by January 2021, things will change for the better. Your writing helps me hold onto that hope, wish, intention and dream. Thank you

    1. Hi Vladimir, so lovely to hear from you. Your country is inspiring the rest of us!! Hope the info helps.

      Lots of love, Kim

  4. Thank you so much, Kim!

    I just love the blend of Human Design & Astrology. I’ve been watching the transits of 2020 for quite a while now and pretty much following my #2 hermit line and only ‘going public’ with my insights occasionally. I have also incorporated asteroids, etc. in my work. Your clear explanations of complicated energies inspire me to look at communicating more… there really is a better world on the other side of all this chaos.

    Once again, thanks for your trailblazing!

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