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super-volcano Tierazon fractal
(image credit: Soler97 - public domain)
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Mercury and Mars are changing signs on the same day - March 31st. Any time we see a planet changing signs we pay attention, as those are the kinds of astrological notices which will be reflected in real time changes of attitude and emphasis.And those changes of attitude and emphasis often result in shifts of perspective - and thus the choices which result from those perspectives, depending on which planet moves in what kind of sign.
That being the norm when only one planet changes signs, we would expect that two planets changing signs would increase variables, options and complications - especially as there’s no guarantee those planetary or sign essences get along!
In this case, there’s some good news on that score as both Mars and Mercury are personal planets. So at least we know that Mercury entering Aries at 1:45 a.m. (UT/+0) virtually in tandem with Mars entering Taurus at 16:28 (4:28 in the afternoon, UT/+0) is all about us - each one of us - and what we’re (Mercury) thinking, saying and (Mars) doing... or not thinking, saying and doing - astrological symbols can as easily manifest as symbolic spigots which are turned off as on, after all.
That Aries is ruled by Mars is also worth noting - this quality of Mercury being in Mars’ most personal ‘home sign’ speaks to a lot of (Mercury) mental (Mars) energy being stirred up, motivated, invested in and applied towards things which either are very personal ... or which pertain to something which affects others/us very blatantly or personally.
The Mercury side of this pairing speaks to a clarity and decisiveness of mind, manner and speech. Mercury in Aries has a reputation for courage - and sometimes even a little testiness, whether called for or not. That Mercury arrives in Aries by passing over 29 Pisces - the degree of the March 20th eclipse-- also says there are qualities of ‘having been burned’ ... or something being in ashes ... or having lost something, whether that means your interest in something (or someone), your keys, your phone - or even something which for you, has functioned as a support, validation or personal comfort, this last being a sideways reference to Mars in Taurus.
As a sign, Taurus refers to our security and ability to feel comfortable with what we’re doing, who we’re being, with how life works and in a very real and almost overriding sense, whether we’re feeling comfortable with our day-to-day existence. Associated with the 2nd house of the chart, Taurus-the-sign generally applies to our likes and dislikes, our generosity (or lack thereof) and the sort of want or desire which (eventually) leads to Gemini investigations and plans on how to get what we want - which makes sense when we think of Aries, Taurus and Gemini as primary and basic signs about the necessities of life and our life-long process of learning more about how to apply our (Taurus) abilities as we (Gemini) figure out how to (Aries) get from where we are to where we want to go - either literally or figuratively - so we can (Aries) be seen as the person we want to be seen as and (Taurus) feel intrinsically comfortable about who we are, that being what ultimately allows us to own, assemble and act on our own (Gemini) thoughts and/or ideas.
How we go about any of this is of course obnoxiously personal - no two people are going to go about doing things exactly the same way, and despite the all-too common expectation that others should act like our clones, its not ‘their’ problem when our estimation of who they are (or aren’t) doesn’t pan out.
That’s about us.
And lest we forget, Mars has been transiting is home sign of Aries since mid-late February. Why is this important? Because Mars in Aries, besides having a habit of manifesting as an impulse to focus on what we’re doing also tends to do two other things. One: Mars in Aries tends to manifest as reasons why we need to focus on what we’re doing ... and two: for those who have a habit of going overboard here and there in life, the period denoted by Mars in Aries tends to be a time when we either do that ‘going overboard’ thing (which we then will have to deal with under Mars in Taurus - with there being a tendency to try and stonewall one’s way through) ... or Mars in Aries becomes a time when we find out that we have gone overboard in the past, which now leaves us to cope with consequences and repercussions ... most of all the internal ones ... during the time that Mars transits the sign of Taurus.
Sounds jolly, doesn’t it?
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Compared with the Sun, everything seems small - particularly Mercury!
(photo credit NASA)
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Actually, there is nothing which says we can’t all have a perfectly nice time moving forward ... except for glitches of human nature, that is. There’s a lot of energy centered in first quadrant signs at the moment - so we are each and every one of us going to be taking things personally for a while yet, and in all likelihood, whatever is occupying our ‘top level’ mentality is going to have a distinct tinge of ‘how is this going to work for me?’ being included in the mix in light of other things we also deem important.This issue of priorities and the associated need to juggle things so that priorities and deadlines can be met is seldom simple under this sort of combination, and since Mercury in Aries/Mars in Taurus can get us so entangled in our own thoughts and frustrations we may break out in a rash of surliness from time to time, though Mercury isn’t going to be in Aries all that long. Mercury will only be in Aries until April 14th, outlining the idea of a brief couple of weeks of up-and-down intensity decorated with bubbling events, a few gasps of delight - and the occasional eruption of irritation.
Even ire.
Where things don’t go well, some measure of not feeling ‘good enough’ or that we’ve done enough is likely to figure as Mars in Taurus represents the kind of motivation which gets us to do something new because we’re unhappy (or even disgusted) with things as they stand. That can of course, be serious. Then again, it could just be a matter of having something sink in - such as how that unkempt garden really isn’t going to neaten itself up, meaning if you want a nicer garden, you’re going to have to deal with your mess in a proactive manner.
This quality of inertia which gets pitted against motivation in various ways is to be expected with Mars in Taurus: Mars represents the drive to get things done and here is paired up with Taurus, a sign whose fixed modality is famous for not liking to be hurried.
Taurus always seeks to know the benefits and possible down sides before committing to, or initiating an act or action. And when we add the Mars ‘push’ to that, irritation of the ‘don’t push me!’ type is easily provoked. Mars in Taurus is often very good at getting things done very correctly: this is a combination which when not headed in the self-indulgent direction can manifest as a considerable power of observation and a focus on matters which is both nuanced and insightful, often focusing on what motivations really are.
Which makes sense, as Mars in Taurus tests our ability to risk anything, be it our feelings, our money, our time, our loyalty or anything else, testing it more or less specifically through our ability to operate in (or through) any milieu while remaining aware of our various personal need(s) or interests as an individual.
So if Mars in Taurus tests our ability to remain balanced, aware and positive on an internal basis (and as that may apply to what we do on an external basis)... what do we think Mercury in Aries is going to add?
Mercury being about thought, communication and that which ‘communicates’ anything (a thought, a piece of mail or a person) from one place to another ... in Aries, all that becomes very dynamic because Aries is very much a sign about being who we are and getting those things done which we need done in order to accomplish our personal aims.
Make that OUR aims.
Yes, Aries can be a little ‘it’s all about me’ oriented, which when added to Mars in Taurus could spell a couple of weeks of Mercury-in-Aries boisterousness, fervency, enthusiasm, immaturity, wanting to be heard - and of course, a bowlful of Mercury in Aries opinions - before Mercury moves on into Taurus as of April 14th (UT/+0).
Then again, Mercury in Aries plus Mars in Taurus can equal the sort of putting-your-head-down-and-plowing-through determination which leaves talking to others, preferring to say less and do more.
So much depends on who we are ... and if we have any real idea about who we are - and how that may vary from who we’re being during this time. For those who have taken on the facing of their own psyche and how they wall things (or people, or the fact others have feelings) out, though things may not yet be perfect or perfectly wonderful, there is the beginning of a sense that things can - and will be better provided we work for, and towards such ends.
And for those who haven’t learned anything - or who have spend the period of the eclipse swaddled in what they want to feel about people and things and the direction of life...? Well for them, the Aries Mercury/Taurus Mars period is likely to be a time in which they try things, but not much works all that well because there is a lack of true ‘connecting’ with the world and values of others.
Either way, Mercury will conjunct the position of fixed star Alpheratz (with Uranus sitting right there) on April 7th, a combination which is scattered, messy and a bit clumsy at one end of its spectrum and expressive of sudden changes which can be effected quite ‘gracefully’ or through a great deal of disruption with the difference between exactly those we see in the eclipse. In other words, are we owning our part in some greater picture, or are we merely projecting and pointing fingers out of some instinctive need to NOT consider our part in whatever ill, problem or challenge?
Mind you, whatever you are dealing with may or may not be perfect. It may even be part of the greater emotional pressures we would expect as a result of the eclipse because so many of us don’t want to face our own emotional issues (biases, gaps, manipulations, projections, etc.) About now, how we react becomes more real to us - we ‘see’ or ‘feel’ ourselves doing something, and that something may be just what we swore we weren’t doing.
Or maybe we’ll catch ourselves doing that thing we were all up in arms about someone else doing so recently.
It’s that kind of moment. Mercury in Aries not only gets us to expressing our thoughts (and feelings) but is a signal that we will be thinking about our Self - and not just what we need or want, but also about who we’re being and what we’re doing.
Why do we insist on not understanding our own feelings? Are we so insecure with who we have chosen to be - and if so, what does that say about us?
Depending on where you are (i.e., your time zone), Venus also will be moving from Taurus into Gemini on April 11th or 12th. And as Venus makes that move, Mars will be crossing over (and re-activating) the degree of last year’s 8 Taurus eclipse - the one which conjuncted fixed stars Hamal and Schedir.
That eclipse occurred on April 29, 2014. And during that time, Mars was in retrograde in Libra - which tells us that as Mars conjuncts these still-sensitive points, matters which refer to last year or which have grown out of situations which began or took a turn during last April or May will now be being called back into focus, raising a lot of lingering - or new - feelings and thoughts. Where last year we may have been in one ‘place’ about relationships and learning about relationships (speaking to Mars having been in a Libra retrograde) at that time, now we see our Self either more clearly or from a perspective which is sufficiently different as to give us new reasons to reassess.
Maybe nothing is over. Maybe everything is just beginning. But maybe it’s not. Maybe something which seemed entirely valid then (under Mars retrograde) no longer seems valid - or even possible now.
A few days after that (on the 14th), Mercury will move on into Taurus - and Mars will still be in Taurus, setting us up for a period of days (April 18th through the 27th) where Mercury and Mars are within orb of conjunction - with the exactitude of conjunction occurring on the 23rd/24th, depending on what time zone you live in.
Why mention this?
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Looking southwest from the Mars Pathfinder landing site, two hills known
as the Twin Peaks are seen in the distance.
(photo credit NASA, JPL, September 1999)
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Answer: because Mercury plus Mars in Taurus, in an emotionally evocative degree of Taurus is the kind of energy we would expect would want - or require (need) an outlet.But why we would so want an outlet ...? That’s the Taurus question. And the answer there is simple: we do not want to be wrong. About what, is individual. But if you listen to what goes on during these days, whether that’s listening to the voices in your head or listening to your family or listening to the world at large as it goes about its business ... what you’re likely to hear are two very different ‘voices.’
The first is all about itself and its own perspective - exclusively. The other is all about a global or holistic perspective and how the ‘whole’ empowers individuality.
Once May dawns, Mercury will be in Gemini and working through its approach to another retrograde station as Mars finishes up its transit of Taurus. There will be more discussion and a smattering of new ideas with a lot of push-and-pull about the wisdom of everything (and anything) as Mars passes over fixed stars Capulus (at 24 Taurus) and Algol (at 26 Taurus) between May 3rd and 7th (the dates being a bit variable depending on what time zone you live in). Algol in particular carries a ‘purposeful negative’ tendency which can be indicative of the ‘pain’ we go through in doing something difficult or accomplishing something important to us. And because this star tends to represent a certain level of emotional preoccupation (within our Self) it wouldn’t be all that surprising if something went awry either because of a simple disagreement or the sort of lack of precision in communicating things which so often happens when we’re preoccupied and “not in the mood” to stop and have a long discussion.
But that’s the long run. The next few weeks ahead are all about the Mercury in Aries us and all which (Mars in Taurus) matters to us. Why it matters and whether that works well with the rest of our current existence is what we will look to first - hopefully remembering as we do so that after today comes a tomorrow which also matters.
And not just to us ... or in the terms which we define.
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