2025: The Mars 9 Year
The numerological cycle takes us through the numbers 1-9, a full journey of personal and collective growth.
While a 1-year can initiate us into new beginnings, filled with potential and forward momentum, the 9 year closes the cycle with a graduation to another 1 year.
As the years progress, challenges, learning, and growth accumulate, each year building on the previous one, reaching a head in the 9 year.
A crossroads of change.
We know this story well, as it is one that mirrors life itself—from birth, growth, maturation, and finally, the wise acceptance that everything eventually ends, only to begin again in a renewed form.
Our life is a constant becoming of something new.
A Year of Closure and Completion
2025 may feel a bit like we’re doing “emotional housekeeping” all year—unresolved feelings or situations that we’ve tucked away in the back corners of our minds suddenly come to the forefront.
And we may find that we’re finally ready to deal with them, not because we want to, necessarily, but because the energy of the 9-year makes it clear that it’s time.
There’s a bittersweet feeling of sadness or nostalgia as we say goodbye to things that were once important to us—relationships, jobs, habits, or even long-held beliefs.
Especially if we saw these things as infallible or something that would last forever.
But at the same time, there’s often a sense of relief, like we’re finally shedding old skin and getting ready for something new.
Especially because, if we’re honest with ourselves, the signs to let go have been there for awhile.
Whether it’s a job that no longer fulfills you, a relationship that has run its course, or even a mindset that’s been holding you back, the 9-year has a way of showing you that holding on is no longer an option.
And while that can be liberating for some, it can also stir up a lot of resistance and sadness, especially if the ending feels unexpected or unwanted. Letting go isn’t always easy.
2016 was the last 9 year for the collective.
That was a year where we saw the culmination of major political cycles (the end of Obama’s 2 term presidency, Brexit), financial shifts (the impact of China’s slowing economy), and an unprecedented wave of social movements like BLM and MeToo in the news.
Protests like Standing Rock, which stood against the Dakota Access Pipeline, also grew to global recognition, exemplifying how 9 years tend to bring unresolved issues to the surface and demand change.
In my own experience, a 9-year feels like lingering in an eerie liminal space—you know something is ending, but the next chapter hasn’t fully begun.
There’s this quiet sense that things are shifting, and that space is being cleared for something new, even if you’re not entirely sure what that “something” is.
This invites us deeply into an emotional balancing act—you’re acknowledging that a chapter is closing while trying to keep one eye on the future, trusting that what comes next will be worth the letting go.
And while the process can be intense, it’s also what makes the 9-year such a transformative time.
Mars and the Seed Cycle
Mars rules over cycles of the seed, of death and rebirth, guiding us through the process of letting go so that something new can emerge.
I want you to imagine the life cycle of a seed.
For new life to begin, the seed has to be buried deep in the soil, where it undergoes a kind of “death” before it can sprout into something new—a plant, a tree, something greater than even the seed can envision.
This mirrors what happens in a 9-year: parts of ourselves, our lives, or our beliefs must be released in order for fresh, vibrant growth to take root.
The idea of necessary and blessed destruction is central here.
Think about how we burn or cut down old plants to clear the land for new planting. Without this step, the land would become overgrown or exhausted, and no new life could thrive.
In much the same way, a 9-year is about clearing the ground in our lives and the collective.
Which means we may see a closing of political chapters—government structures may collapse or transform, leadership might change, or there could be reforms that mark the end of an era.
This could look like the retirement of long-standing leaders or the conclusion of major legislative battles.
We could even see major recessions or corrections in the market that signify a necessary “reset” before growth can begin again in the next cycle.
We could also see heated political debates and civil unrest, especially as issues that have been bubbling under the surface come to a head.
Through this, I want you to remember that Mars is about destruction. We won’t be able to escape that. But it’s also about initiation.
Endings in a 9-year aren’t random or chaotic; they’re purposeful. When one phase closes, it creates the doorway for the next.
Maybe most importantly as we move through a 9-year and shed old layers, I want to emphasize that this year is not just about loss (especially because we have the potential to become hyper fixated on what is moving away from us).
But rather, it is about redistributing energy.
What once fueled outdated systems, governments, and ways of being is now free to be channeled into new, exciting ventures.
Shifting our mindset around why this change happens makes sure that this transition feels empowering rather than depleting.
