Venus/Mars Retrograde and the Exhaustion of Strong Empowered Women

(Originally posted March 16th 2025)

There’s a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from carrying the weight of everything, being the nurturer, the protector, the provider, the one who makes sure nothing falls apart.

It’s an exhaustion that so many women are feeling intensely during this Aries Venus retrograde and Cancer Mars post-shadow cycle. A weight we're ready to put down.

The energy of the strong mother, the woman who had no choice but to be everything at once, who refused to keep the cycle going, who chose independence over unreliable partners, who chose present, engaged parenting over the distant, disinterested models she may have grown up with.

She became both the masculine and the feminine, the active and the receptive, the one who pushes forward and the one who holds it all together. She has fought to create something better. And she is tired.

This retrograde cycle is highlighting exactly where that exhaustion has been building and everything we're longing for and would do if we could not feel so much pressure for perfect performance constantly.

We see the places where resentment has quietly settled in. The ways in which we have been expected to pour from an empty cup. The ways in which “strength” has become both our armor and our burden.

But here’s the shift: This season is not just about recognizing the fatigue. It’s about reclaiming what was sacrificed in the process. As Venus moves back into Pisces and Mars steps into Leo over the next month, we will see a turning point, a shift from survival mode into self-reclamation.

For many, this will mean finally laying down the expectation that they must be everything to everyone. It will mean letting go of the belief that softness and strength cannot coexist. It will mean choosing peace over proving themselves, ease over endless exertion. Asking for help, trying something new.

This is not about abandoning responsibility, it’s about rewriting what responsibility means. It’s about saying, I matter too. My rest, my joy, my dreams, my ability to exist as more than just a source of strength for others, they matter.

Venus in Pisces will soften what Aries has hardened. Mars in Leo will ignite a new fire, and not one of obligation, but of passion, creativity, and self-love instead of constantly feeling on edge and at war to protect our home and our children.

For those who have carried everything for so long, this is a season of coming home to yourself. Reclaiming your softness, your ease, your wholeness.

You do not have to prove your strength by exhausting yourself. We can be both battle ready AND at ease.

Strength is also knowing when to rest. Strength is also knowing when to receive.