The Cosmic Story: Mars Goes Retrograde Today, September 9, 2020

 

The Cosmic Story: Mars Retrograde in Aries,

September 9 to November 13, 2020

 

Mars

Well, today is the day astrologers have been talking about all year – Mars goes retrograde in it’s own sign of Aries today at 3:22pm PDT/ 6:22pm EST/ 11:22pm GMT.

Why all the talk? Mars in Aries can be feisty, war-like and aggressive and for Mars to stay in this sign for 6 months instead of its usual 6 weeks might be cause for alarm. But planetary retrogrades are also a time when we get to go over and review how we’ve used that energy before and come up with plans on how to change things. So it’s also the time when we can regenerate our masculine energy and hone our will to find our purpose in these chaotic and transformative times.

Mars’ energy is Yang energy – the energy of doing, of action. Mars is our will, our drive, our energy in action, our passion and desire and also our life’s purpose. Mars symbolizes men and the masculine principle which operates in all of us. Our cultural Mars is showing its shadow – we’re seeing the ugliness of aggression, domination, power-over and war. 

 

 

We can change the way modern culture views and uses the dynamic energy. So Mars retrograde is a time for all of us to re-imagine the masculine principle of life, especially in the sign of Aries.

Aries is the sign of the great ‘I am’ – it’s the sign where we seek to figure out just who we are. It’s the sign where our original energy wants to engage in life. In your own birth chart, look for the house where Aries is and that will help you discover where your greatest passion for life is. This is the place where Mars will be re-imagining you and your purpose for the next few months.

Mars entered Aries on June 27-28, entered it’s ‘shadow zone’ (where Mars will retrograde back to) on July 25 and will turn direct there on November 13. Mars will finally leave Aries next January 6, 2021.

As we’re seeing an uptick of violence and aggression in America and around the world even before Mars goes retrograde, we’ll be reviewing and reworking how we collectively deal with violence during the next two months. While we have many politicians around the world seemingly inciting more violence, we also have many peaceful warriors who are standing up for equal rights and social justice. All of us have the opportunity to be the citizens our democracy needs right now – we each have the responsibility (Mars square Saturn) to do something about injustice and not get caught up in mob-mentality.

Mars joined his sister warrioress Eris on August 17 at 25* Aries. The dwarf planet Eris, named for the Goddess of Discord, is the energy that confronts us when we go against what our heart desires (dis-against, cor-the heart). When these two planets work together, we can become Warriors of the Heart, sacred warriors who defend and protect rather than dominate and attack. The two meet again on Oct 4 2020 at 25* Aries when both Mars and Eris are retrograde and again on Dec 22 2020 at 24* when Eris is retrograde and Mars is direct.

All energy is neutral – there is no good or bad energy. It’s how we use – or are used by – that energy that makes the difference. This is our choice time, a time when we get to take responsibility for what we choose to do or not do. Mars will challenge the Capricorn planets – Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter, which are working to transform our society – to come up with better social systems that take individuals into consideration over the needs of corporations. But it is up to each of us to ‘make it so’ as that great spiritual warrior Captain Jean-Luc Picard would say.

 

 

In your own life, look at what’s been happening since the beginning of August, when Mars started squaring the Capricorn Amigos – Jupiter on August 4, Pluto on August 13 and Saturn on August 24. These are the issues you’ll be facing and dealing with in the coming months. How you deal with them depends on how conscious you are in facing your own Shadow energy. 

 

As you can see from the chart, besides the Mars square to the Capricorn planets, there is a T-square between the Virgo Sun opposite Neptune in Pisces, squaring the North Node and Moon in Gemini.  Do we value our dreams of a better world?  It depends on what we choose to do.

 

   

“Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.” Carlos Castaneda.

“To be a spiritual warrior means to develop a special kind of courage, one that is innately intelligent, gentle and fearless. Spiritual warriors can still be frightened, but even so they are courageous enough to taste suffering, to relate clearly to their fundamental fear, and to draw out without evasion the lessons from difficulties.”

Sogyal Rinpoche

“Whenever a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.” Carlos Castaneda.

To all of you spiritual warriors & warrioresses out there, now is the time to make the changes that will take you into the future. Our job is to make sure that we make those changes not only for ourselves but also for our world.

We hold the future of our world and Mother Earth in our hands. Be gentle, kind and courageous. Be true to yourself and your values. Become the change.

Blessed Be!

Cathy