Mars opposition Uranus: December 23-27

'Sombra' by JM Serrano (March 2008, public domain)

This is just something of a reminder that there is now an opportunity in the making (theoretically) if we will allow ourselves to work through our sticking points. At some level or in one or more areas of our lives we are in conflict with someone or some thing…but that conflict isn’t about them – it’s about us.

What we are trying to do now is either reconcile or achieve some sort of freedom to operate (or perhaps combine) our own inner person – that person inside who really needs to simply be who they are – with some sort of ‘external’ thing. For you this may be something which is ‘expected of’ you. Or that you’re ‘expected’ to be or become. You may disagree with some idea, some rule, someone else’s way of doing something – or even their attempt to change you.

Questions of how ‘overt’ something is and the ‘intent’ behind it rise going into this period. Then, as we get past the moment when Aries-Libra oppositional polarities create an intensity of experience (however that occurs) this energetic will become more abstract, more diffuse, more generalized both in time and space.

Our time and space.

The Moon will be in Virgo for much of this time…the Moon enters Virgo on December 22nd at 7:20 in the evening UT/+0 time and doesn’t move on into Libra on December 25th at 6:18 in the morning (UT/+0). If you feel stressed, take a breath. Try not to let everyone and everything else affect you. A lot of people are going to be getting more and more intent on various things during this time which isn’t going to help. By decompressing our focus we think more clearly now and get more done, more easily.

As the Moon moves into Libra, look for situations to fluctuate – some, wildly. This doesn’t have to be bad – far from it. Surprises as well as shocks could be on the menu, which says nothing about whether they’re good or bad. By experiencing the day instead of trying to ‘make it work’ the flexibility which is such a hallmark positive wherever Uranian energies are concerned is accessed. Taking care is always good, taking ourselves too seriously – probably not!

Once the Moon shifts into Scorpio on the 27th at just shy of 2 in the afternoon UT/+0 time (adjust to your local time zone) an airy lack of necessity gives way to the ‘I need to deal with something’ sense which is so very Moon in Scorpio (which we all no doubt remember from the recent September-October lead-in to November’s Scorpio solar eclipse, right?). As always under transiting Moon in Scorpio (which in this case lasts for the next couple of days) we tend to try to ‘safeguard’ ourselves most of all from our need to discover more about who we are.

This is worth mentioning here because not only is this the very sort of ‘resistance’ Mars-Uranus energetics seem so very good at blowing through, but given that Mars is the ‘in door’ ruler where  Scorpio is concerned, it is to be suspected that many a person (maybe even you) will take many a step towards something they’ve been hesitant about.

Or maybe it’s something they’ve just been dying to do – but had to wait for.

Mars-Uranus connections indicate a change of circumstance or ‘rate of processing.’ Where we are already doing things it can help us or indicate that for good or ill we’re pushing something beyond some limit. And that can be good. Of course, it can make for a lot of breakage, too – especially if or where we have been resisting something about our Self or something we have gotten into…or where we clearly know we need to do something but have been just not getting to it.

Come to think of it…if you see Santa, tell him to be careful. Jumping down chimneys and landing on  rooftops while entirely Uranus/Mars in the sense that it’s an unusual occupation (…yes, I’d like to apply for that chimney jumper job…?) would not be something to risk one’s neck doing on such a day with such a transiting global transit.

In other words, like they say on the TV shows, if you see Santa do his thing, do no attempt this trick at home. Santa is an experienced elf – you aren’t.

Or are you?

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This Mars-Uranus opposition will have a short term effect. It will also be part of a far longer-term Mars-in-Libra transit we all will be experiencing for months to come.

link to…Mars in Libra (December 7)

link to…Mars Opposition Uranus: the Road Signs (December 9)

link to…Uranus Station-Direct: Enlightening in a Bottle (December 12)

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Mars opposition Uranus: The Road Signs

Uranus (top) and Mars (bottom) (photo credits: NASA-JPL)

 

Once Mars entered Aries back on December 7th it was inevitable – considering how Uranus is spending some eight years doing it’s sideways roll through Aries (manifesting as a periodic herking-jerking of our lives around like so much cosmic puppetry) – it was inevitable that Mars would end up opposing Uranus.

Well, that time has come…and I’m not sure whether I’m of a mind that this highly unpredictable patch of metaphysical is better crossed sooner than later.

But then, the universe didn’t ask me now, did it?

It’s always interested me that between Uranus and Pluto, Pluto gets all the drooling and panting. Uranus gets proper lip service, but Pluto gets groveling.

Then again, Uranus is the clean shot out of the blue – the thing which is over before you can register its begun, where Pluto is so much slower that we get time to tremble at life’s exquisitely painful joys and wallow in yearnings, fears and loss.

Let’s face it – Pluto energies are dramatic, and whether you’re an action-packed A-type personality or the I’d Rather Be Meditating type, there’s something innately Plutonic in us all.

The craven side of Pluto trends towards sex, carnality and violence. The productive side of Pluto leans towards the kinds of transformations which elevate and purify us.

And if that last sounds a little Neptunian, that would be because Pluto – the dwarf planet – is controlled by Neptune, intriguing and full-fledged planet that Neptune is.

Planet Neptune

(photo credit: NASA)

Have you ever thought about what this sort of ‘evidence’ by our solar system says in mythic terms? I mean…if you think of the Greek Olympus, there are three brothers. Jupiter (Zeus) is in charge of the whole Olympian shebang with siblings Hades (Pluto) and Neptune (Neptune) (sorry…couldn’t resist) in charge of the underworld and oceans, respectively.

I mean…gee wiz people – I’m a writer. The idea that in our solar system we have a planetary Pluto whose orbit is controlled by a planetary Neptune would tend to say that the Olympian Neptune (god of seas and thus water – which metaphysically equals emotions) controlled…or in ‘mythic-metaphysical’ terms should be seen to control all things Plutonic.

And before you jump to bite my copy yelling THEY DO! let’s remember…that would put the power which drives us to handle our Pluto effectively or not in Neptune’s court.

(I’m thinking water polo court here, personally.)

(That’s a joke.)

But it thus all comes down to: what are the cardinal rules for dealing with Neptune…which as opposed to Pluto is not what your emotions want but rather dealing with why you want – or desperately don’t want – ‘that.’

All of which has absolutely nada to do with Uranus, I know. But it was on my (alleged) mind, so I thought I’d stick it in today’s post.

(I’m just frivolous like that.)

Uranus – the planet which rolls along its orbit instead of spinning along it like every other self-respecting planets does – Uranus is the different thing. Whatever the status quo it, pure and simple, Uranus and Uranian energies represents that which changes it.

Or which changes us enough so that we understand things from a bigger, less ‘us-involved’ sort of perspective.

And considering how egocentric and me-centered humans are…? Well, let’s just say that the less flexible you are in life, the more drastic your Uranus transits are likely to be.

All and all it would seem that there is a ‘quotient’ of ‘change energy’ in each of our lives. Some of us let a little of it out constantly (a life built on ongoing change), some of us ‘vent’ the energy periodically – either intentionally or unconsciously (a life path built as an extended series of incremental steps) and some of us simply resist all change, and end up living a life which periodically experiences some terrible ‘breaking’ of the status quo (usually with aftershocks) which has to be weathered over some period of time before things settle back down.

And yes, Uranus is the metaphysical symbol of earthquakes. It’s also associated with lightning, explosions, anarchy, electricity, power grids, technology (including computers and the internet), ‘eruptions’ of social-mass movements, science, innovation, experimentation and modernization. Anything which changes ‘what was’ is Uranian.

We each know who we are and where we fall on the Uranus scale, no doubt – though we may have areas of our life which are more or less flexible, granted.

So then there’s Mars. Outermost of the personal planets which represent our daily life and ‘operation’ of our life existence, Mars is where our idea of who we are (the Sun), what we think (Mercury) and want (Venus) reaches the motivation-to-doing stage.

From where Mars orbits, in heading out into ‘the rest of what exists’ (the world, what we can learn) we traverse a lot of subjects and confront many facets of our Self and life (the asteroid belt) before we really have a clue what we are capable of being and how to be that person (Jupiter) and achieve our place in the world and – maybe more importantly – in our own regard (Saturn).

 
Motivation…initiation…doing. Mars symbolizes the pedal-meeting-metal moments of our lives. It represents that feeling we get when necessity builds to sufficient urgently to cause us to act.

But Mars is in Libra – the sign of the Other. Libra is the metaphysical hinge (a fact Gen X is slowly but surly learning!) where cause meets effect, where the fuse burns down to the powder – and a result is generated. And if that result is explosive, it is. What we put out there generates what comes back to us.

So the dynamics of that explosion? Whether it’s a little pop or a scene scarring blast?

That’s an attribute which would seem to be uniquely Uranian.

Thus we come to the crux of the issue: Uranus is in Aries, sign of the Self – the who we are, our physical existence and what we are motivated to become. So these years between 2011 and 2018 are not designed to be calm. We’re supposed to get rattled. We’re supposed to feel our flaws and learn to roll with our rocky times. We’re supposed to change. We’re supposed to become more of who we really are, regardless of what that is – for in that Self lies the energy, the attributes which we can turn to the betterment of all.

And in the process – so lore promises – we will become ever more enlightened.

Which is probably the thing about enlightenment, I guess…you can’t find it by hiding from your Self and who you (we) really are.

It’s not a neat process – and maybe that’s what this Mars opposition Uranus period is going to represent at some level: the meeting up with some new part of ourselves. Maybe for you it’s going to be something you can do in spite of all. Or it’s some attribute you thought you couldn’t do which you actually (shock!) like.

Still….let’s not be unrealistic here: if you were going to pick a couple of planets (from the astrological perspective) and say ‘these two, mixed together, are dangerous’ you would probably pick Mars and Uranus.

This pair is so well known it doesn’t really matter what aspect (conjunction, opposition, square, etc.) they are to each other. When Mars and Uranus start playing footsie, flexibility is our friend and staying on one’s toes is entirely sensible – either because you don’t want to miss a sudden opportunity, because things are simply hectic, because (probably after a lot of thought) you resolve yourself to make some sort of quick or unscheduled change….or because you don’t want to be caught standing in the line of fire when the sky falls. (Always a good idea, that last one.)

By opposition, any Mars/Uranus opposition can represent discussions, confrontations, ‘breakthroughs’ which lead to stronger understandings and even personal epiphanies. Such a transit will also have three parts: Mars approaching Uranus (development of dynamics), the actual ‘by degree’ conjunction (the change) and Mars ‘departing’ – the ‘moving on’ part of our experience. (And yes – specifics in your personal chart can cause these dates to flex by a day or two.)

Date-wise, these three ‘sections’ of this month’s Mars/Uranus opposition sort out as follows:

Approaching Orb: December 15-25

Conjunction: December 25

Departing Orb: December 25-January 6

I’m somehow sure a lot of people are going to look at that list and react to the fact that the conjunction date is Christmas.

For the record, me too. I have an odd feeling about this particularly because of the degree of the opposition as well. The degree is 8 Libra, and 8 Libra is one of a very few zodiac degrees of have a such a ‘reputation’ as to have acquired a nickname.

It’s called ‘the Widow’s Degree.’ And yes, this can mean violence or loss. Or it can be your experiencing of what you’ve learned through loss.

Or your realizing that you’re a whole new and different person…a changed person…because something startling – even shocking has happened.

You know more about yourself – and that’s a gift.

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If you would like to read more

about 8 Libra, click HERE

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Mars in Libra

 image: 'Stars' by Maxfield Parish - Mars photo by the Hubble Space

Telescope (photo credit: NASA, JPL, Caltetch)

A friend and I stood chatting a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those comfortable chats you know you want to go on for hours, but that day neither of us had time.

So we decided to make a plan about getting together.

(Him) ‘I have exams coming up – I can’t do it until after December 7th.’

(Me) ‘December 7th…?’ My brain was already busy checking references.

And just as obviously, his wasn’t.

(Him) ‘Sure - December 7th . We’ll finish the conversation then. Celebrate a little.’

CLICK: my brain delivered the answer. And being one of those Pisces girls who can’t resist a good line) I gave him a smile. ‘You mean we could get bombed, right? I can’t actually think of a better day to get bombed on than December 7th....’

Hearing myself say those words, the writer in my soul sighed in pleasure. And yet, bright and brainy as he is, he still didn’t connect: for my painful pun I got one of those ‘what the fern are you talking about now?’ looks.

(Me) ‘December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day…what better day to get together and get bombed?’

So today is December 7th and it is indeed Pearl Harbor Day and I am duly grateful for the peace my life and my nation is graced with. I give thanks to those who have served.

It’s also the beginning of the Geminid Meteor Shower which brings up that whole conversation we had on November 28th about Rock Comet Phaethon.

Link to: PHAETHON, ROCK COMET

Phaethon energy has a reputation for being (overly) headstrong - possibly to the point of destroying an aim or ability to achieve that aim, at least for the moment. And since Phaethon’s radiant (the ‘place in the sky’ the comet appears to ‘come from’) is in constellation Gemini, the inference is that Phaethon's 1.43 year-long cycle is saying something to us about our mentality or something experienced on a mental level.

In being like ISON (you remember ISON – the comet which failed to die?) in that Phaethon’s orbit takes it all the way inside Mercury (in other words, 'right into the face of the Sun') speaks to how close or personal we might take such matters now...or how people or forces from 'out of the blue' may bring to us some perspective on what we're doing in our lives. As a ‘rock comet’ (a comet with no tail and thus no dapples of meteoric insight), Phaethon’s origin in the asteroid belt and its lack of ‘spark’ says good or bad, mundane or magnificent, what we're going through is just part of life - and thus something we have to live with or get through.

And so, on this Pearl Harbor Day, as our thoughts are being touched off, as we're going about our efforts (some of which, in true Phaethon style may be hasty or not as yet 'matured')…THIS is the day that Mars enters Libra at 8:42 in the evening, UT/+0 time.

The lower reaches of Mount Sharp, as photographed by the

Mars Curiosity Rover (photo credit: NASA-JPL Caltech, August 2012)

 

Of course once inside the proverbial 'door' of Libra, Mars comes into the orbish auspices of M87…the black hole of relationship alternatives (whatever that means to us at the moment)…and that's a quality, an energetic which may well affect much which happens between now and  mid-December, when Mars leaves M87's orb. Wherever we are coming from, we are either able to see or maybe graced to see or at last willing to see things from a different point of view.

And yes, that perspective might be the perspective being held by somebody else.

Then again, you may now see ("perceive") possibilities in or for your own life which you have never seen before.

Or as you have never seen such an idea before.

Whatever that becomes, Mars entering the orb of opposition to Uranus on December 12th (which happens at about the moment Mars that emerges from M87 territory)...that becomes a time of restlessness or energy, when the need to 'do something' (or change things) becomes rife. And though ordinarily we would think of Mars-Uranus in opposition as explosive (and it may be despite all) there is that relatively genteel Mars-in-Libra energetic to provide us some critical negotiating room with ourselves and others...so instead of being explosive, this may just be when we finally get 'to' something. When we make that change happen. When we 'break through' our own reluctance or hesitation. And that’s the genius of Mars in Libra: it’s ability to ‘trip the balance’ of some situation not through assertion but through asserting yourself in the cause of getting the results you truly want.

There are a few challenges however, with Mars in Libra. One comes from Libra being an air sign. Air signs deal in theory and Mars is an energetic which is all about ‘can we just get on with this?’ (You know…the making it happen part.)

Then there’s the fact that Libra is one-third of the zodiac’s 3rd or interactive quadrant and Mars’ primary rulership is of Aries – the quintessential Me-I-My Ego/Aim sign, one which comes from the ‘I’m Learning About Who I Am and How to Be Me’ zodiac quadrant.

So to capsulize Mars in Libra – (and I’m being very blunt here) - we could say it’s all about how to be (Mars) me while caring enough about them that I get what I want…which is sort of asserting ourselves by being nice enough to not go around being a butthead.

(Actually, there are those who in reading that would immediately insist that there’s time enough for Mars assertiveness to take on that butthead thing once Mars reaches Scorpio come JULY 2014.

(Wait, I hear you say. Did she just say JULY of 2014?)

I did, I did – I did say July 2014. As of December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day), Mars will be in Libra until late July, 2014.

That’s seven months. You know...over a half-a-year.

So it’s pretty much your choice: are you going to be ‘having to deal with’ relationship issues from here until late July 2014? Or are you motivated to pay attention to how you relate to people and to work with(in) yourself on whatever will get the responses or results you want from one and all (personal and professional, platonic, familial and intimate)?

It’s our choice. The things which cause us to choose along these lines (eventually getting us to think more about the subject as a whole, most likely) will occur in many a different venue. We’ll probably make such choices thousands of times between now and July, and slowly we will come to understand why what we do or don’t do…or how we do something (or don’t do it) makes all the difference – both to ‘them’ (whoever they may be) and to how ‘they’ and ‘things’ and the world as a whole responds to US.

Which yes, is what we tend to care about most. Even when you are barely breathing with concern over a loved one – or over some grievous threat to somebody else, there is some degree of not wanting to feel that tension. That (Mars) wanting to act but knowing your Mars actions are being curtailed. That wishing there was something you could (Mars) do but knowing the situation isn’t yours to (Mars/Pluto as Scorpio) control.

If you’re thinking that this super-sized cupful of Mars in Libra must include a retrograde, you’re right. Mars will go retrograde in Libra on March 1st (with Saturn following suit on March 2nd, should you need any convincing that something needs contending with, lest it become problematic). Mars in retrograde can be very annoying, granted. And with this one occurring in Libra, that ‘someone else’ or ‘them out there’ side of the Libra quotient may well be bothering you. If you can turn that ‘bother’ to self-examination without getting defensive, you may well come to understand, appreciate and benefit from what your learn now.

And if you can’t redirect that ‘they’re bugging me’ energy? Then either that energy turns inward (not pleasant!) or you are likely to attract people who will “own” that energy for you…which could be helpful, but might manifest as criticism.

Obviously this is a looooong, long transit. With regards to December (specifically), especially as the Sun will be moving towards the end of Sagittarius as Mars opposes Uranus on December 17th things may get out of hand – or (alternately), you may feel sufficient conviction… motivation… courage… whatever it takes to get past some sticking point. And as this happens just barely prior to Venus going on station to turn retrograde as of December 21st, it is to be guessed that Mars/Uranus is also a stepping-stone in some greater process, though Mars-Uranus connections are plenty vital to herald an event you’ll remember.

And maybe learn from.

That Mars reaches that singular degree of 8 Libra on December 24/25 suggests a couple of days when feelings may be touching, haunting, telling…or even overwhelming – and it’s all in how you use it. This is not an energetic which works particularly well when focused on the Self, particularly not under a Venus retrograde except where self-denial is a conscious choice made for the benefit of someone else.

The overall sense of Mars in Libra is connective. It’s about working with others and on ourselves in connection with how well we ‘work’ with - or get along with, or are able to get what we need from - others. Every time Mars goes retrograde (a bit less than every two years or so), we experience a period of testing where we are ‘pitted’ against ourselves in some regard. The last Mars retrograde began in January 2012 in Virgo, when we dealt with our own ability to keep ourselves on track.

Now we’re seeing how…and if…and how well we are able to ‘take’ our (Mars) efforts out into the world. The who and the what and the why and the why not and the highly Libran question of what and who am I equating myself to? in life…?

These are all important questions.

We’re not going to answer them all at once…but by and by we’re going to know we have to answer them –lest we either lose our Self, our life, our sense of identity and ability to fulfill ourselves.

This is just the start of a process. And a conversation. Where Mars is concerned, being aware is a positive. Being overly certain is iffy. With Mars entering Libra, there is always what the ‘other guy’ has to say...and at the moment they're busy going through their own Mars in Libra issues - which are as important as ours, but not more valid, nor more human.

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