I keep mentally coming back to Mars Retrograde in Scorpio. It’s proved itself to be a thorny, restless energy, digging into old issues — emotional, psychic — and bringing them to the surface. True to Scorpio’s nature, it’s kind of like reaching into the drain and pulling out a soggy mass of hair. It isn’t pretty, but in the end very necessary.

Mars is powerful in Scorpio — even in retrograde. In the classic rules of astrology we say Mars is in dignity in Scorpio, which is to say that it’s right at home in the sign that it rules. Mars does its work unfettered in Scorpio, it shows us the true might of the sign and the true depths, for better or for worse.

We’re in the build up to next week’s station of Mars. It will turn direct at 23 Scorpio on June 29. We’re feeling the ripples and waves of the energy in the collective. Mars rules Volcanos, so, as a result, we may feel like we’re ready to blow. Our anger and aggression may be more on than off. We may pace in our cage, ready to leap out the door when it opens. Jupiter is trine Pluto, too. Our appetite for destruction is that much larger.

Take care of yourself over the coming days. Mars in Scorpio has been showing us the skeletons in the closet on the collective and personal level. Use Mars in a conscious way. Transform how you talk about your feelings. Let go of an old secret that has been gnawing on you for ages. Talk openly about your shadow, your abuse, your survival. Take back your power. Embrace the chrysalis.