Mars Direct (Blogpost: May 19-20)

The atmosphere of Mars as photographed by the Viking Orbiter

(photo credit: NASA 1976)

Congratulations!

No, seriously - congratulations to you (and the rest of us) for making it through a sincerely pretzel-ing series of celestial psycho-pressure points. In arriving at the Mars station (and Mars direct), apart from anything else, for those who have become even a bit more conscious of who we are in light of who we aren’t, bravo. For those who have confronted what it means to be who you are in the moment as well as in the light of your history, our history or history itself... for anyone who willing to see any set of differences merely for what they are, my congratulations.
 
Why? Because this set of months (and retrogrades past) has not been easy on anyone. Our tolerance has run thin at times, especially where things have challenged our ability... or (more likely)... our willingness to factor in anything other than our own convictions, especially as that pertains to who we are.
 
In being driven into the depths of our Self, there we learned more about who we are. People seldom take time for such things nowadays...which may be why life has to do ever more drastic things to get us to stop and think, consider things on a feeling basis or simply breathe, depending we tend to run shortest on.
 
Does that metaphysically mean that our times are more turbulent because it takes more to get us to periodically stop being connected and resume being our Self?
Maybe. It’s a thought - beyond which I tender hearty applause to all of us for merely having weathered the past five months of convolutions - not that we’re quite done yet however, as in the process of May 19th coming upon us our Big Picture [Damocles] challenges still loom large, and though we would like to [Mars] ‘get on with it,’ we also know somewhere deep down inside that haste could make waste...and yes, how we have already done a bit of that, the [Orcus] results of which - good, bad and indifferent - have become apparent.
 
Waste, I mean. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially...somehow we all can remember something. And if we can’t remember, surely about now something (read: Orcus going direct in Virgo) will remind us.
 
Though there may be cost, the real ‘cost’ indicated by Orcus is the lack of opportunity to ‘go back and do it over’ knowing better from the start. And yes, there may be some regret, frustration or internal chiding of the ‘why didn’t I realize that?’ or some such which, considering Orcus and Mars are both going direct within twenty-four hours of each other suggests that something pragmatic having to do with having or making something work [Virgo] must be considered ‘dead’ [Orcus], meaning something else must be taken on or considered as a fact or tact or way of seeing things... just may mean this Mars/Orcus station is about really bringing us to some point where we’re willing to listen or communicate or negotiate something which is tough for us for reasons which are probably entirely personal.
 
For no other reason than because we’re sick and tired of things not going well, we’re becoming a whole lot more about actually getting things done. There’s an aura of [Orcus] consequence brewing which is challenging our misalignments of ego - most of all with/within our Self or soul - to resurface in some sort of humanely pragmatic form. We know that what is happening shouldn’t be happening - and if you’re more than personally observant you’ll probably notice how rather magically each one of us is being confronted with just that little thing which creates just enough vulnerability to bring about relating.
 
Oh yes...we have all been thinking it was about ‘them.’ The holdup or the problem? Ah yes, that was ‘them.’ No matter who we are, some ‘they’ (or that) was doing, not done or not doing something, leaving us with an odd taste in mind about sitting and waiting for some unknown shoe which may just drop. (Or not drop.) And while waiting with unconvinced anticipation we've been doing a lot of figuring...pondering...thinking about things near and far. Some such contemplations have been earnest while others were merely out of interest.

And some...? Some where just our needing some measure of distraction.
 
Yet were we really waiting? And if so, who were we waiting for, and why? What was that based on - or in, given our particular situation? We may know why we’ve been wait...we may even know what we were (hopefully) waiting for. We may even have been dedicated to the proposition of “waiting our turn.”

And then...wonder of wonders...just as we forget about the waiting, something pertaining to matters, shipments, products and concerns which under Mars retrograde (or coming into Mars retrograde) got stalled, backlogged, diverted, ignored, delayed or which went just plain ‘missing’ ...now, just as we reconcile ourselves to the reality of our imperfect world and all the imperfect people and things in that world, just as despite all we form some sort of recognition about the balance of pluses and minuses in our past, present and/or future...

...about then, something begins to shift. Under any circumstance (retrograde or direct, in other words) Mars in Libra has an odd ability to show us up to others so that through those others we learn about our Self (and beyond that, what works and doesn't work as motivated by our inner Self).

And that quality, that is what has brought us to our crossroads, a place where for the duration of the (May 18-22) station during which in a subtle if very real way we will achieve some sort of an understanding which in part lies beyond what others just say or think and beyond mere appearances. In essence we aren't learning about them at all right now, but about who we are in relationship to them (or some situation)...and why that dynamic (the Mars power of the Libra interaction) is what determines much of our success or rejection with others and in much of what we do in daily life.

These realizations may be exotic or they may be simple. Over the next few weeks they will remain with us and begin coloring our choices and abilities to converse, transact, interact and make whatever course corrections are or will be needed in the coming weeks and months - during which .

In other words, it isn’t about them... it’s about us - and yes, that’s what any astrologer would have been telling you all along. It’s what astrologers always say and because the nature of anything in retrograde tends to be inward, the basic facility to connect to and process that very information will be interrupted.

Question: So why don’t astrologers just hush up for the duration and wait for people to emerge from their cocoons to discuss things?

Answer: Because those who learn to recognize the difference between energies in retrograde and energies in direct motion will in time not be subject (or at least be less subject) to those facets of their persona, psyche, personality or inbuilt/knee-jerk reactivity/reactions which may well be less productive natures as time goes along. The difference between productive and problematic retrograde periods is pretty much just about this: the ability to recognize the problem and sort through it either in private, behind the scenes or personally (internally) before proceeding so that everything as a whole functions more effectively.

In theory, those who learn the process of retrograde cycles are still subject to the same ‘slow down’ periods but instead of being or becoming wholly stymied they learn to...(a.) understand the incoming cycle while (b.) watching for slowing forward progress which is the cue to - in keeping with symbol, sign and placement in your personal natal and solar chart - then becomes (c.) a period of less ‘outward’ or at least ‘final/finalized’ activity through which greater understanding and capacity is gained.

All of this could be summed up in the immortal words ‘to everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn...’ but then you wouldn’t think I was giving you your due as the not-so-local local astrologer even if the expression is sincerely true.That we have such a well-known phrase on such a subject, that we think such thoughts, all that - metaphysically - is because we are all connected, all contiguous, all part of each and every other person's life from our electrons to our understandings and on up the line as people.

Which would be why we take our time with each other: because we're people. You may be a very 'big' person and I may be little. Poor or rich, smart or clueless, responsible or otherwise, humans are all - in the end - just people.

It's our very best and worst quality all in one.

Amidst the gardens of Italy's Villa Hadrian (Hadrian's Villa) stands

this statue of god Mars (also known as Ares)

Mars is going direct at 1:32 in the morning (UT/+0) on May 20th. With much still undefined there is an odd combination of feeling stymied, a bit emotionally ‘mired’ (whatever that means in your life)... and yet a little restless, all of which amounts to one of those days-nights-experiences of not knowing quite what to do which leads to dealing mostly with whatever is right in front of us.

There’s nothing wrong with that as long as we are remembering to be aware, though that may lead to some degree of mental overload or [Neptune at 7 Pisces] utter confusion. Try as we may and protest as we might (trust me, some will - loudly) these qualities are unlikely to shift until just over twenty-four more hours passes and the Sun enters Gemini on May 21st at 3:00 p.m. (UT/+0 time).
 
And a note to the born yellers, debaters and confronters in the crowd: Venus is still in Aries. So though the boldly courageous which we are willing to embody may go well, when it comes to anything which smacks even vaguely of ego...well, let's just put it this way: do you really want to be known for what you are likely to be seen as/as doing? Care may be advisable in the short run particularly where we are using any form of “capital,” be that a physical resource or financial capital - even the ‘personal capital’ an established reputation or track record gives us. It isn’t that the action (or transaction) itself is necessarily problematic (it may or may not be, but that’s a different issue), it’s why we are doing or not doing something which can be out-of-kilter with our more “normal” feelings. Under Venus in Aries, even without Mars being in retrograde or on station people tend to think in more ‘first person’ terms than usual - which is a bit torturous to think about particularly as that concerns others, seeing how each party will be considering the other based on this somewhat canted perspective.
 
(See the problem?)

Some of us will be put on notice now for actions or choices already taken. Or when others may find out what you’ve been doing, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Whatever it takes to get us to see who we are (and aren’t) and what that means in the greater scope (generally greater than we have been thinking), that’s what happens now.
 
These effects DO NOT have to be violent, disruptive or even vaguely obvious. Mars stations often enough simply mark either a flinch-worthy or ‘light bulb’ moment - that thing which inspires and motivates us as we move on. With this Mars station being in Libra we are - and have been mirrors for one another, and for ourselves most particularly over these past months, exacerbating our own concerns in the process.

Metaphysically, our trials have not been about ‘them’: they’ve been about something in them which attracts us. We have been seeking some sort of lesson about ourselves and have (seemingly by magic) attracted anything or anyone we could learn that lesson from... or at least get keyed into learning that lesson by.
 
The tale which led us to or through our experiences began last December on a Venusian ‘how to get the rewards I want out of life’ note... moved through the organizational and mental Mercury (debate) phase throughout February - after which we were all unceremonially sealed into the turbulent confines of our own best stealing-or-steely psycho-emotional embrace.
 
No, it isn’t about them - it’s about us. As if to underscore this (at least astrologically), as I was perusing my ephemeris wondering when the next dose of Mars retrograde challenge (I would use a different word but I’m trying to be optimistic here...) when that sluice gate will burst open.

Answer: April 2016, and next time around Venus retrograde will be miles away in time, seeing as Venus’ closest retrograde escapade will run from late July 2015 through early September of 2015.

But that’s not really what I was looking at which so pertains to present-tense time. What I was checking on was the concept that each successive Mars retrograde falls in the following sign - which would mean the next retrograde would be happening in Scorpio, one of Mars’ two ruling signs.

You remember Scorpio right - from last year’s November eclipse, never mind the relationship we all have to any sort of [Scorpio] subject which asks us to risk our self-worth, sense of (emotional) security, life or personal or public reputation/image?

As much as we all think we adore Scorpio there’s not one of us who doesn’t fear it, and as I say that I’ll bet every Scorpio Sun, Moon and most of the Scorpio Ascendants are murmuring under their confidential breath in agreement...as are (now that I think about it,) all the Taurus Ascendants, since having a Taurus Ascendant means you automatically have a Scorpio Descendant.

And yes, I say that as someone who not only has a Scorpio Moon but who knows a bunch of people with Taurus Ascendants, all of whom may have thought they were going to get off without my mentioning the obvious. 

(No such luck, sorry.)
 
So when it comes to our next Mars retrograde (which I’m evidently done thinking about, never mind slogging through) it starts in Sagittarius and ends in Scorpio...specifically at 23 Scorpio.
 
Does that ring any bells?
 
It should...or if you’re into remembering degrees, it should, as 23 Scorpio is the degree that Saturn as at when it went retrograde on March 2nd, a day after Mars went retrograde this past March.
 
As a concept, that at least subtly links events or developments (the formulating of a goal, the starting of a relationship or something akin to that) which began back around the beginning of March and which have developed through or throughout this Mars retrograde to things which will play out or have a next ‘phase’ start-or-finish point near or just after the end of June, 2016.
 
Speaking of ‘end of June’s, it’s also worth noting that in keeping with the fact Mars will take over a full month to resume its “average” rate of moving through one degree every two days or so, meaning we should think of June as a ‘start’ or a ‘ramping up’ month which in also reflecting Mercury’s going into and being in Gemini retrograde is still highly functional if in a distinctly behind-the-scenes (and/or) ‘in process/not finalized’ mode.

  
Mars entered the shadow of its retrograde back in December, 2013 - just a few days before Venus went retrograde. And though Mars will go direct on May 20, 2014 it doesn’t emerge from the shadow of this wholly Libra retrograde until July 20th.

That means we still have time to build and rebuild - not just in the physical sense, but based in part on all we’ve learned to let go of and what that means we may do...and with a deal of conscious effort, yet become and be with and among others. 
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