Contemplations on Spirit
'In this blog I contemplate the means to understand one self and the motivation that moves us to unfold in heart and soul.'
Mars, The journey ahead
Mars ingress into Cancer
Mars in the tropical zodiac went into Cancer on the 11th of August.
Mars is evoked by emotional engagement to whatever we need motivation for. Mars is the force and the archetype in our chart that directs energy. It allows us to be assertive. It governs energy and speed..... Basically, when we go out of bed in the morning, we need Mars to take the first step - it initiates that motivation, that primal sense of motivation to get you somewhere.
Focus in this piece is on the tropical zodiac. A separate piece will cover the Vedic sidereal Mars - a different kind, kind of
similar, but not the same.
Mars square Saturn - timeline and nature
On the twenty-fourth, Mars starts traveling within orb of the square with Saturn in Aries. Saturn is still retrograde in Aries, hence Mars rules the sign that Saturn is now visiting.
These two are both natural malefics, meaning that when we look at their astrological presence in life, there is an indicator for malicious outcome - bad luck can happen. They should be handled cautiously, and often we don't, because we're unaware.
Mars' motivation and action and energy is moving towards Saturn.
Saturn is structure, causal effect, limitations, but also boundaries in the sense of us setting boundaries. Saturn, being the last visible planet with the naked eye, had always been the gatekeeper - especially because in the tropical zodiac we also speak of trans-Saturnal planets. It is the one who governs the end - all about endings, also causing delay sometimes because of its distance. It's slow motion through the zodiac; it often takes long to build.
When we look at the transit of Saturn through a lifetime, we can learn much about the ripening of the human psyche - learning through cause and effect, taking responsibility for things, and having an active relationship with experiencing boundaries and limitations.
Assertivity and action and energy doesn't like boundaries. It's also a square, meaning that it's causing friction - and through that friction, growth. It's often paired with feelings of frustration, conflict of some kind, and that is something to be mindful of this time. Our assertivity, the way we direct our energy from emotional engagement, is being tested by Saturn on its sustainability, on its responsibility, and on its limitations and boundaries - more than often caused by some form of mistiming or conflict friction.
How to read this in your own chart
This is all generic, but it starts to make sense when you look at your own chart and see that Mars is traveling through Cancer currently. Somewhere in the outer edge of your chart you will find the sign of Cancer, and it will probably fill up a whole house or part of one. Mars is traveling through that house right now for you, and this can cause a sense of urgency in that realm of life.
For example, Mars in Cancer is traveling through my seventh house, meaning I will be very motivated to invest in equal partners and have much energy to live my 1:1 relationships, the seventh-house theme will be dominant and urgently experienced.
Saturn retrograde
Saturn going retrograde always has a pretty challenging demeanor to it. When we experience limitations in the outer world, it often already causes some form of unease - that's why it's called a malefic. But when it turns retrograde, it is closer to Earth astronomically and enhances strength, and then you also experience the feelings of limitations within - our own personal limits and our own personal capacity. We'll be confronted with that until Saturn stations (exact date to be added later).
Retrograde Saturn, united with Mars, can basically just put a fireball in this whole dynamic. When you're confronted with Saturn retrograde in some realm of your chart - which we all are - that is already usually a sense of unease because of the confronting features Saturn tends to have during that transit in that realm. It shovels up the loose ends, the untied ends, and confronts us with that - it demands of us to tie all these ends. That is already a lot of work. And then life basically asks of us: can we also do this through some inner motivation that we feel we can truthfully stand by and feel comfortable with, and also feel emotionally safe with.
That square goes exact on the first of September - Saturn will receive Mars.
Herodotus on the Scythians
Far from Greece, the historian Herodotus described the Scythians worshipping their version of Ares in a unique way. They built huge platforms of brushwood, placing an old iron sword (akinakes) on top as his symbol. To this sword-idol, they sacrificed not only horses and cattle but also, Herodotus reports, one out of every hundred human prisoners captured in war, pouring their blood over the blade.
So in other words; "How many prisoners of inner conflict and inner war are we ready to sacrifice?
Mars' longer journey: Leo, Virgo, and back
Mars will go to Leo, the fire sign, on the twenty-ninth of August. Then it will ingress into Virgo on the twenty-sixth of November. In January, when it goes retrograde again, it will travel back to Virgo and to Leo, and return again when it stations direct on the second of April. Then it will not leave Virgo again, because it ingresses in Virgo on the fifteenth of May until the sixteenth of July 2027 - which is super long. So we're going to have a combination of Mars in Leo and in Virgo for almost ten months.
At that part of your chart, things are going to get moving - in that realm. Look at the outer edge of your chart, or consult an astrologer - I'm open for practice - to see what that means for you. It's not just the journey of Mars through that realm, but all the sensitive points: the houses that are sextile to it, that are squaring it, that are conjunct it, that are trine and opposing it. You're going to experience this through your whole chart. It's going to set your chart on fire in a different way - through emotional engagement, through experiencing a sense of ease and safety within, and therefore directing your energy from that emotional conviction you have.
Convergence with the eclipse and Jupiter-Saturn
In the meantime, the trine between Jupiter and Saturn is still building, and it will go exact just before the square between Mars and Saturn goes exact on the thirty-first [of August]. Those are super active, expensive forces, and Saturn is the gatekeeper testing us on our durability. It's going to be an interesting time.
In the meantime, we still have the lunar eclipse on the twenty-eighth. This all ties together, because the lunar eclipse is very much about that Cancer theme. It's going to be in Pisces in the tropical zodiac - again a water sign - and lunar eclipses are always the emotional integration of the theme that was ignited in the solar eclipse.
This is all happening. Make sure you take some time for all of this.
Thanks for reading!
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