Mars in Cancer Wisdom

On Mars in Cancer, Larry Mitchell, and The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions

This winter, I felt compelled to re-read The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, but I really wanted to do it out loud, with a group of friends.
I couldn’t tell you why exactly I felt I needed this (aside from seeking guidance given the general state of the world) but this reading group ended up being one of the most nourishing parts of the end of my year.

Author Larry Mitchell wrote and published The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions in 1977. This Fairytale-Manifesto tells of the decline of the empire of Ramrod and the rule of the “men.” Through a series of vignettes, we learn of Pinetree, Moonbeam, Loose Tomato, the faggots, the faeries, the queer men, and the strong women. Their stories map onto our present declines of empires and offer a salve for a harsh and sobering reality.

As my friends and I read, I kept having the thought: this book feels like it was written by Mars in Cancer. And unsurprisingly, the astrology matched this feeling exactly.

Larry Mitchell's Astrology

Larry Mitchell was born in Muncie, Indiana on July 12, 1938 at 1:23 PM.

He was born on the afternoon of a very Full Moon in Capricorn, with the sun high in the sky in Cancer and Scorpio on the eastern horizon. Mars, the ruler of Scorpio and therefore his ascendant ruler was in Cancer. Mars was also closely conjunct the sun, and the moon was moving from its opposition to the Sun (the moment of exact fullness) into an opposition with Mars. With Mars in such a prominent position, Mitchell embodied Mars in Cancer.

Finding out that Mitchell was born with Mars in Cancer as his ascendant ruler clarified The Faggots and Their Friends' connection to this energy. But the original release of the book is also tied in with Mars in Cancer - and with Mars’ retrograde cycle.

Mars Retrograde Cycles

Mars only retrogrades once every ~26 months and unlike other planets, the cycle of signs it stations in is much less evenly distributed and regular. Unlike Mercury which is retrograde 3-4 times a year or Venus which retrogrades in the same spot of the zodiac every 8 years, Mars’s retrograde cycle is far less predictable retrograding in some signs every 15 to 17 years and others only every 32 to 47 years.

Our current Mars retrograde began in Leo and will station direct in Cancer. Looking back at the 20th century, Mars stationed retrograde in Leo and direct in Cancer only four times. The most recent time prior to now was on December 12, 1977. Mars stationed retrograde at 11° of Leo and then on March 2, 1978, Mars stationed direct at 22° of Cancer.

We don’t have an exact date for the original release of The Faggots and Their Friends but we do know that it was published in 1977. This means that the year it was released Mars went retrograde in the sign of Leo, and stationed direct in the sign of Cancer. Because of this retrograde motion, Mars was in Cancer from August 31, 1977 to October 26, 1977 and then again from January 25, 1978 to April 10, 1978. With Mitchell's natal Mars in Cancer, that means he had four and a half months of a Mars return right around the release of the book.

Let’s also look at the degrees of the retrograde and direct station.

Mars stationed retrograde at 11° Leo, in Mitchell’s 10th house of career and public reputation, and in a conjunction with his MC at 12° Leo.

Mars stationed direct at 22° Cancer, in Mitchell’s 9th house of publishing, and in a conjunction with his ascendant ruler Mars at 23° Cancer.

When a planet is stationing it moves so slowly, pulling focus to that point in our chart and when a planet stations on a natal planet, it can indicate that something in your life is getting tied in with that cycle. With Mars being his ascendant ruler, Mars stations are always going to be a little more important for him. This particular Mars retrograde through his 10th and 9th houses of career and publishing, with its station points on his MC (the most visible spot in his chart) and on his Mars (the planet that represents him in the chart) - seems pivotal in the release of The Faggots and Their Friends.

And the connection between that retrograde and our current one might explain why I at least am feeling pulled to return to the book.

Mars has a challenging time in Cancer, the sign of its fall. Mars heats and activates, Mars severs, Mars fights. Cancer, the sign of the Moon, is wet and emotional, desiring comfort, intimacy, and emotional connection. So Mars in Cancer can struggle to take action directly and proactively. Instead, Mars in Cancer can be very defensive, in particular about the home and those we consider family. Mars was in Cancer from September 4, 2024 to November 3, 2024 and it just returned to Cancer on January 6, 2025. This may have us feeling like we’re wading through water trying to get anything done, like we’re really concerned with who is “in” the group and who isn’t, like we need to defend the most vulnerable ones in our group but like we don’t really know how or where to draw the line. Add to this the fact that Mars is also currently retrograde - we’re in the process of reviewing all the muck as we wade through it.

Mars in Cancer themes - the interplay between the need to fight and the need to care run centrally through The Faggots and Their Friends. And I think Mitchell, as the embodiment of Mars in Cancer, offers us some useful ways to engage with Mars in Cancer. Here are a few of my favorite examples of what I’m considering to be Mars in Cancer wisdom from The Faggots and Their Friends.

I intend to keep returning to The Faggots and Their Friends while Mars is in Cancer (until April 18), maybe you'd like to do the same. Maybe we can read together? More on that soon. In the meantime, I hope this makes Mars in Cancer feel a little less daunting.