Ray Merriman

I was thinking about Mars and Saturn in square next week and thought it would be interesting to go take a look at Ray Merriman's site and see what he is talking about these days.  

A good read.

Short-Term Geocosmics


    Monday, September 9, starts a 24-day period in which nine important geocosmic signatures will unfold. The first aspect to take place will be Mars in Leo, square Saturn in Scorpio, on September 9. This aspect is usually not that much fun. In fact, it is far too serious in most cases. It can be downright depressive, repressive, and suppressive. You need to cancel all of your appointments that day, avoid situations that can result in injury or disputes, and catch up on the work you now find overwhelms you because you procrastinated in completing it for far too long. This is “catch up” time. It is not the time to advance some new and brilliant thought. No one cares. No one has sympathy for you, now that you waited so long – too long, in their view, for now they are critical of you - to do that which was necessary to have done long ago. Still, it is a Saturn aspect, and our rule is that any market declining into a Saturn aspect (+/- 1 day) is a candidate to buy.


    On Wednesday, September 11, Venus will leave the favorable confines of Libra (its home sign) and move into Scorpio, its detriment sign. That is supposed to also signify a shift from a favorable to an unfavorable climate, but having been born with Venus in Scorpio, I can tell you that I think the ancients had it all wrong. I like having Venus in Scorpio (but then, what Capricorn Sun would not?). Nevertheless, the subjects of credit and debt come front and center again, when Venus (money and credit) is in Scorpio (debt), September 11-October 7.


    Next Saturday, September 14 finds Mars trine Uranus and Venus trine Neptune. Trines are generally considered favorable in the study of astrology, so maybe equities (Venus) can continue their rally into this time, +/- 3 trading days. Let’s hope so, because the following week finds Venus conjunct Saturn, and Pluto going stationary direct. That becomes a little more serious, highlighting those aforementioned “detrimental” qualities of Venus in Scorpio (Pluto rules Scorpio).

Longer-Term Thoughts


“Ambition robs you of your childhood.” John Irving


We start the new week with a Mars-Saturn square, from Leo to Scorpio. Mars-Saturn hard aspects are more than just a little stubborn when in fixed signs like Leo and Scorpio (think Bill and Hillary). They are entrenched, and even if you clearly show how one’s position is counter-productive, they exhibit classical qualities of deafness. They don’t hear. They don’t want to hear anything that causes them to veer off their already-made-up mind, even if it is shown to be troublesome. It is almost as if they welcome a fight. They draw “lines in the sand,” and if you cross them, you pay. With Mars in Leo present, the fight is usually to show who is in control. However, more often than not, the battle that they fight and win usually turns the tide of the larger war against them.


This is not a favorable time to be the aggressor or to attempt to intimidate others with your strength and power. Mars in Leo – actually, anything in Leo - is the eternal quest to be young and innocent, to be the “hero” in the eyes of an adoring public. But in hard aspect to Saturn, especially in Scorpio, blind ambition for power and control can result in a major conflict, a struggle to achieve the ends that one thought possible, but now discovers is not so easily attainable because the support expected just isn’t there. You can’t force others to get behind your ideals if they sense your ambition is tied to motives they don’t share or understand, or even see. It is a classical aspect for a political disappointment if one acts in haste or without listening to others who might disagree with the means to your end, or even the purpose itself.


Loss of innocence and youth through ambition is in the heavens all month. On September 25, Saturn and the Moon’s North Node will be in conjunction in Scorpio. This is another signature of ambition to control, with a large dose of vengeance possibly tied into one’s actions. With so much Scorpio and Saturn involved this month, it will be a challenge to come up with win-win decisions. This is more of a case of “winner take all…” and then work like hell to hold onto it as others try to undo you. Someone loses. That’s the usual outcome with Saturn in Scorpio. It was easier when Saturn was in Libra just a couple of years ago, because at least everyone shared in the pain and the gain, or at least they believed they did at the time (think Arab Spring then; think Egypt and Syria today).


The Saturn-Lunar North Node conjunction is approximately an 11-year cycle. The last time in happened was June 6, 2002. World stock markets were falling into their 4-year cycle troughs, in October 2002 in the USA and in March 2003 for the rest of the world. It was also the time the United States was trying to build an international coalition to bring down Saddam Hussein. The allegation then was that Hussein and Iraq were stockpiling chemical weapons of mass destruction. You see these themes repeating over and over again in Mundane Astrology and you wonder: why “they” don’t see this. Probably because "... ambition robs you of your childhood."  Unfortunately, that ambition of some people robs a lot of people – innocent people – of their childhoods, too.


There is more to come shortly, and astrologers need to be thinking about this. Comet Ison is becoming visible in the skies. Ison is being touted as the “Comet of the Century,” and it is just passing Mars now. It will come closest to Earth (but not as close as it came to Mars recently) in late November. Comets, to astrologers, are messengers of the cosmos, or gods, if you will. They indicate the fall of leaders and a shift of power. It is noteworthy that Ison comes into view as it passes Mars. This means it will probably have a Mars-like impact upon the world in 2014.


Thank God, Neptune is in Pisces. Not everything has to be war-like. There is a way out. John Lennon sang a song about it 40 years ago. “Give Peace a Chance.” And hope that our leaders find the right balance between their ambition and childhood, one that takes into account the needs of those they were elected to serve, and not solely their own.