Copyright
2003. All Rights Reserved
In celebration
of 1,108 subscribers, soon to be 1111. [Cool Numerology, in case
you’re scratching your head]
Astrology
For The Soul Newsletter
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
My dear
friends, it’s time to look at the pugnacious and ruddy-skinned
man we call Mars. It’s high time, because we’re going
to be seeing a lot of him for about the next six months, and I want
to talk about the opportunity this gives us. Everything that I discuss
below can be considered a kind of guideline to at least some of the
major astrological themes of the next six months.
A. Mars
Doing That Thing
B. Mars-Uranus in Pisces in the News
C. Do That Thing with Mars
D. Anger, Rumblings, and Grumblings
E. Would the Buddha Play Football?
F. Good, Good, Good
Mars Doing
That Thing
The red
planet entered a new sign, Pisces, a couple nights ago (Monday, the
16th) at 10:25 pm Eastern. Any time a planet enters a new sign we
see its signature popping up all around us, but this ingress of Mars
into Pisces (an ingress is when a planet enters a new sign) is much
more significant than usual. For one thing, Mars is very close to
the Earth right now, and he will be going stationary retrograde in
July; this retrograde will lead him to spend exactly six months,
from June 16th to December 16th, in the tropical sign of Pisces.
Mars’s first stop on the Pisces train is its conjunction with
Uranus (and trine to Saturn), and Mars will be effectively conjunct
Uranus until we get to November. That is a lot of Mars-Uranus.
As Mars
ambulates his way up to the Uranian world (and they conjoin exactly
on next Monday, June 23rd), his fire will burn brighter than normal,
stirred up by the electrical windstorms on Uranus. And that means
we have the chance to re-envision our connection to our own red warrior
spirit, and to raise his warlike and competitive drives into something
more spiritually evolved.
Uranus
stimulates. It charges. It excites. It forces you to evolve and grow.
Uranus is like lightning. And Uranus can bring unexpected shocks.
Well what happens when the impetuous Mars gets struck by lightning?
You can probably imagine that it’s not all good.
Mars-Uranus in
Pisces in the News
There
are plenty of unconscious ways that this powerful transit could act
out. Arguments. Accidents. Feet-in-mouth. Impatience. Violence. Ruined
reputations. Of course these are not the things we’re interested
in. But we’re already seeing such symbolism all around us.
I turn on CNN on the first full day of Mars in Pisces and see that “Jane
Roe,” the formerly anti-abortion plaintiff in Roe vs. Wade,
is seeking to have the 1973 US Supreme Court ruling overturned, threatening
a new round of legal battles over one of the most sensitive issues
affecting women. Tony Blair (who’s Mars at 3 Gemini is being
squared by this conjunction) is being hounded in the UK for the scant
evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction used to justify the War against
Iraq. This issue is also making Bush & Co. look worse in the
US.
A Priest
in Phoenix, AZ has shocked his community by driving away from the
scene of an accident where he killed a pedestrian, bringing more
scandal and bad press to the Catholic Church. Patience and understanding
are in short supply after recent violence between the Palestinians
and the Israelis. Very serious riots have been breaking out in Benton
Harbor, MI for the last couple of days. Last night an off-shore oil
rig exploded off the coast of Texas. In Arizona, numerous wildfires
just popped up. In West Virginia, floods are raging. A couple of
nights ago, MSN popped up a news headline on my computer reading: “Courtney
Love Puts Foot in Mouth” (she has Saturn at 4+ Pisces where
Mars and Uranus are right now, btw).
Of course,
crazy things happen all the time. But those who understand the language
of astrology will easily see the handiwork of Mars conjunct Uranus
in Pisces in all of the above events. Keep watching the news, and
you’ll have many more opportunities to point out such events,
but what I’d rather talk about is what we can do in a positive
sense, with this transit. It’s not a transit that is generally
positive on its own. But we can make it that way, at least for ourselves.
Do That Thing
with Mars
Mars,
while it has its wonderful and spiritual qualities, is also a symbol
of conflict, aggression, and warfare. And it is by spiritualizing
our connection to the energies symbolized by Mars that we can make
this transit into a more uplifting one. Making this transformation
will require conscious intention and focus.
Remember,
Uranus is a force of evolution. The Martian nature within us is being
called on right now to either evolve, or to act out unconsciously.
Let’s envision a clenched fist, a pretty decent symbol for
Mars. Imagine that fist being figuratively struck by lightning. At
that point it can only move in two directions. The first way is unconscious,
and that is the way of wild and uncontrolled anger and violence.
The second way is conscious, and that is to bring awareness to the
anger and tension that is driving the fist, even though there
is pain there. Through this commitment to seeing what is happening
inside more deeply, we can raise awareness around the real cause
of these issues, and literally transform that lightning into consciousness.
Obviously this is not an easy thing to do because the first thing
a fist is likely to do when challenged is to hit back, or in other
words when things are stirred up, the first reaction is to quickly
react out of that feeling. We are all learning now about staying
with the pressure that we feel and bringing awareness to it, rather
than acting out against others or against ourselves. Those who can
do this will make very, very significant leaps in self-awareness
over the next four months.
Anger, Rumblings,
and Grumblings
So what
is it that we can bring more awareness to at this time? There are
a number of strong possibilities. Certainly anger is one. Anger is
a natural emotional response that arises out of self-protection and
self-preservation. I see two important things to “do” around
our anger. One possibility is to let it motivate us, to let it be
transformed into energy, drive, and focus. Of course if we use anger
this way, we want to make sure that our passion is still directed
by something on a higher plane than the anger (or revenge) itself.
In other words, the anger can provide a kind of kick start, but then
we still want to find our driving inspiration in things like love
and good humor. Anger can get us moving, but our hearts can only
create the most good when they are feeling peace.
The other
thing I recommend “doing” with anger is, after we have
passed our “pent-up” stage where we do things like scream
and punch walls (in other words, after we have “owned” our
anger by realizing it is within us), to sit calmly with that anger
and see if there is something more tender underneath it. If we keep
investigating, I think we’ll find that there is a very sensitive
kind of sadness underneath the cover-up of anger, and that that sensitivity
just needs to feel its pure sadness sometimes, and shed its tears.
In other words, it’s good to find the hurt that is really the
root of the anger, and honor that hurting by realizing it is there,
and simply feeling it without thinking about who did what to whom.
It’s most healing to just feel the sadness or hurt that we
feel, and not think of or indulge in our stories of how we are a
victim.
Would the Buddha
Play Football?
There’s
something else very Martian that I think we can be more aware of
at this time, as well. It’s one of my most favorite, and also
least favorite, Martian concepts: competition. When it comes to playing
sports or games with people, I absolutely love the experience of
competition. Despite enjoying competition in games, I’m not
a sore loser or a sore winner, I just enjoy the fun of playing. Years
ago I saw a wonderful Buddhist teacher speak at a college in Durango,
CO. A man that many would identify as a “frat boy” in
the audience asked him what he thought about competition. Sitting
there in his bright orange robes, the teacher seemed to really pause
and think about the question. Then he said something like, “I
think it’s good. When you play games, you need competition.
No competition, no fun. But when there is jealousy, then it’s
not so good. Competition is good, but not when there’s jealousy.”
In my
own perspective, I feel like there is a great place for competition
when it comes to sports and games, but that there is no place for
competition when it comes to real life. I don’t compete against
people in life, as you can probably guess by the fact that I am promoting
the work of twelve other astrologers on “my” website.
And this brings me back to this time of Mars. With Mars and Uranus
coming together in the sign of Pisces, a sign that ultimately aims
towards oneness and unity, I believe we are meant to have either
a breakthrough or a regression around the issue of competition-versus-oneness.
Because Mars by itself prefers the competition side of the spectrum,
we will probably have to really concentrate on what is most important
to have that breakthrough about our true oneness with one another.
On this
subject of unity, there is another important thing about Uranus worth
noting. Uranus is also about the power of MANIFESTATION. Manifestation,
of course, requires intention. One of the very highest and most amazing
possibilities for this entire transit of Mars with Uranus in Pisces—and
this is what I most want to say to you in this newsletter—is
that of committing to a more spiritual vision of oneness and non-competitiveness,
and looking very deeply into the illusion of separation. Dig very
deep, look very profoundly, and manifest your intention to realize
the oneness of us all, and live radically out of this same understanding.
This is a unique opportunity that we have right now, and throughout
at least the next four months. If we are resisting this realization,
it is quite possible that life will force us to look at this issue.
We will have to go forward, or else we will go backward. Luckily,
we have some say in the matter.
Good, Good, Good
One of
the greatest keys to consciousness that should serve us very well
during this Martian time period (or throughout our lives, for that
matter) is this:
Be for
what you are for, rather against what you are against.
In other
words, promote the positive things you want to promote, rather than
opposing the negative things your ego wants to oppose. If you want
to help the cause of homelessness, help a homeless person, rather
than yelling at a politician. If you have something to say, say the
positive thing you have to say, rather than negatively attacking
any contrasting viewpoints. If you feel you are in some kind of competition,
do your own work well, rather than fighting against what you perceive
to be the enemy. If you’re going through a break-up, do good
things for yourself rather than being resentful about the ex. Be
positive, positive, positive. It’s the insurance policy of
the soul ;)
Aloha,
Moses
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