Here’s the basic scenario.
Major Aspect Time Line:
Mars sextile Saturn on October 8, 2007 (before the Mars Rx station)
Mars stationed Retrograde on November 15, 2007
Mars sextile Saturn (while Mars is Rx and Saturn is Direct) on December 8, 2007
Jupiter conjuncts Pluto on December 11, 2007
Jupiter enters Capricorn on December 18, 2007
North Node enters Aquarius on December 18, 2007
Saturn stations Retrograde on December 19, 2007
Mars enters Gemini on December 24, 2007
Mars opposes Jupiter on December , 2007
Mars opposes Pluto on January 2, 2008
Pluto enters Capricorn on January 25, 2008
Mars stations Direct on January 30, 2008
Mars is Retrograde in Cancer. During Retrograde stations, the Retrograde planet APPEARS, from the Earth, to be moving backwards. From the Sun’s perspective, all planets are always moving in one direction. But because the Earth is also in motion, the other planets appear to stop and start, depending how close or far they are from the Earth. So Mars is seeming to move backwards through Cancer. When Mars arrives at 0 degrees Cancer it will continue moving backwards and enter Gemini. But at the end of Gemini, 29 degrees 59 minutes. Mars will continue to move backwards into Gemini until it gets to 24 Gemini on January 30, 2008. Then it will appear to stand still for a few days until it starts slowly moving forward again.
The Sun doesn’t retrograde, yet the effect at the solstices is similar to a retrograde. As the Sun gets to its highest Northern declination, which is 23 degrees 26 minutes, or the Tropic of Cancer, it seems to sit there for ~ 12 days, which is the 12 days of Christmas, or the Solstice period. The same things happen at the beginning of Summer.
Mars Retrograde can be frustrating. Just when you’re SURE you can make quick progress, things slow down and may even come to a halt. Nothing is moving. But you HAVE to hurry and get there NOW!
You could “blame it on the holidays”. At this time of the year, there is more to do, more to plan, more to shop, more to clean, more to cook, more more more more more and that makes many of us NERVOUS because our minds are constantly racing to the future.
THIS holiday season features Mars Retrograde, Jupiter conjunct Pluto, both Jupiter and Pluto changing signs and moving from Sagittarius into Capricorn, Mars oppose Sun, Jupiter, and Pluto; that’s a lot of intense interaction. If you’re looking for the type-o’s or the wholes in the argument so you can refute it and be right, you may be missing the BIG picture and this is a very good time to look at the big picture.
Why?
Because the BIG picture will show you that you have a choice. And that choice can seem more vivid and clear in December.
You can let the planets rule you and react emotionally. Or– you can let Mars Retrograde teach you how to rise above your usual automatic reactions and live from your heart. The more consciously you can control you RESPONSES, the less of an effect negative emotions will have on you. The person with the worst behavior is the person in the most need. They may not let you get close enough to help them, but that’s because they are in so much pain they have disconnected from their heart.
Do you feel emotionally supported? Do you support others emotionally? When Mars is Retrograde in Cancer we may not feel the support that is all around us. And that lack can make us feel needy instead of strong.
Where do you live from? Your ego or your heart? If you live from your ego, you see YOU against THEM and respond in “kind”, which may not really be all that kind.
The people who are the most offensive and attack most readily are the ones who are the most defensive. And why is this such an issue now? Well,
If you read previous posts on Mars Retrograde, you’ll already know that this Mars Retrograde can get personal and physical.
Mars Retrograde in Moon-ruled Cancer can demonstrate how closely your thoughts are connected to your health. And this can realization give you an opportunity to detect any imbalance that exists in the energetic, or spiritual realm– BEFORE it manifests physical symptoms. The Moon and Cancer represent our physical bodies. And Mars Retrograde makes Mars, or hot, aggressive energy, more of a wild card. Actions just “come out of us” seemingly from NOWHERE, but really from our subconscious.
If you don’t know how to access your subconscious, this Mars Retrograde will provide opportunities to see it in action.
Astrologers will warn you and tell you not to do this or that during a Mars Retrograde. Which can make you want to try it out. But the point isn’t not to do what you feel you must. It’s to know how energy will be flowing so you CAN go with the flow, and not always struggle against it, which creates… more struggling. Mars Retrograde asks us to slow down.
Astronomically, Mars Retrograde means Mars is getting closer to the Earth, which makes its effects more localized as well. [Mars will be closest to the Earth when it opposes the Sun on December 24.] We FEEL Mars energy and if we react before we think, we can overreact, move too fast, and go the wrong way. Backwards.
But we all do it, so Mars Retrograde is the time to take care of your emotions. What’s your pattern of reaction? What makes you react, or overreact? Look at it, again.
Cancer is a WATER sign, so that a clue on how to use this part of Mars Retrograde for your benefit. How can you use WATER to heal? Take baths, drink more water. Do not let ourself get dehydrated or it could effect your mood and your health. Water is essential for calming and balance, even more so now.
The journey of Mars
This Mars Retrograde, like all others, starts right after Mars trines the Sun and ends right before Mars trines the Sun, again. The midpoint of the Retrograde is when Mars opposes the Sun, on December 24, 2007. At the Mars-Sun opposition, Mars is closest to the Earth.
The aspects that Mars makes, right before and during the Retrograde, help us to understand the message of this Retrograde period.
Mars, traveling backwards or Retrograde through the zodiac, will oppose the Sun on December 24 and the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction from December 26 (Mars opposes Jupiter) through January 2 (Mars opposes Pluto). 2008 promises to be a year CHARGED with TENSION. And the more we are attached to our ego’s need to be right— so we can seemingly hold onto power— the more this Retrograde period will have a negative effect on you. And if you can’t see it on an energy level, it can be physical– just so you pay attention.
Perhaps you are experiencing physical problems because you need to FEEL your body again. Do you MOVE? As you move, movement can work through energy blocks.
Instead of paying attention to our higher Self, we get caught up in the negative flow, thinking that is what we “have to” do to survive. But when we disregard our own creative power, it makes us easy victims for more negativity. The opposition of Mars to Sun-Jupiter-Pluto at this holiday season can make any underlying tension and conflict more obvious. If you need your family, friends, and neighbors to be always happy with everything you think and do, you can get caught up in chasing their approval and lose sight of your own creative power. And projecting resentment onto others is not going to make you more powerful, although it can make your creativity harder to reach. You’re not paying attention to your creativity or intuition, you keep making it harder to hear your own inner voice or guidance system.
And if you DON’T give yourself the right to STAND in your own creative power, you run the risk of manipulating others to give you the approval to own your own power. You’re asking others to let you love yourself. And they can never really do that. So you resent them and don’t do anything. Yet, doing it for yourself gives YOU your own power. It doesn’t take power away from others, although manipulating does.
And because life is a work in progress, there’s more to come….
in Love&Light,
Lauren
ps, if you benefit from the articles on this blog, please let me know by buying my absolute favorite gift – an Amazon gift certificate. My email is lauren@artcharts.com Click Here! Thanks:-)
