Mars in August. Seatbelt On.

Mars will be a major player for the rest of the year as it travels in Aries and touches off aspects with Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn.  Mars is the action planet and he has tremendous energy.  When focused he can accomplish a lot from just pure willpower.  In the sign Aries the focus is on independence and finding a new way, carving a new path and finding self-power.   

Self- motivation can be very rewarding however, in the era of quarantine and Covid19, fuses could be short.   Plus, there is a component of Mars in Aries that can make war at the drop of a hat with a tinge of, “I’ll show you” accent on ‘I’ll.”  But getting lost in Mars anger and meaningless skirmishes is a misuse of Mars in Aries.   If you find yourself going down roads where you see an enemy in everyone, the lifeguard on the beach, the check-out attendant, the neighbor, you should figure a way to shift your energy.  Seriously, everyone is not an enemy.   Take a walk or move your body.  

On the personal front whatever house has Aries in your chart expect a lot of action.   Even if you do not know your chart you may find yourself digging in and doing battle on some area or theme and then doing it again and again.   For the record, in a normal year Mars stays in a sign for about six weeks.  But when Mars is retrograde it is in a sign for six months.  In this case Mars will be in Aries until January and along the way he’s getting into it with the planets who are already the big players in 2020.   Apparently, god has a sense of humor sending Mars in Aries retrograde this year.  Yi yi yi.    If you would like to get the flavor of Mars in Aries, play Gustav Holst’s Mars symphony. 

So, in order to prepare you for the Mars energy here are the important dates for this year:  

July 25     Mars enters Shadow 

Aug 4        Mars square Jupiter

Aug 13      Mars square Pluto

Aug 24      Mars square Saturn

Mars pushing on Jupiter (Aug 4) speaks to actions and beliefs.  Are your actions in synch with what you believe?  Do your beliefs need actions?   Is their conflict between the two?   What is the beef?  Do your beliefs serve you? Are some of them outdated?  Do they need a reality check?  There can be tremendous energy during this aspect.  Can you use your energy to your advantage?   But take care to not be sloppy.  There is a big money component to Jupiter in Capricorn.  Big business.  Big Government.  Jupiter does speak to travel, international and religious matters.    Breathe and take care to avoid accidents.  

Mars square Pluto (Aug 13)   Mars is action.  Pluto is death and rebirth.  There is power in both but how they approach it is different.  This is warrior vs spy.   The rub is working in your face or working behind the scenes.  The fact Mars is tangling up first with Jupiter then Pluto speaks to some awakening in our values followed by a deep desire for a change.  The square between the two suggests ‘being sick and tired of being sick and tired.”  What actions can be taken that focus on new independence and a new personal journey while letting go of something that is dead and no longer serves?  There is big business, government and financial component to this aspect with Pluto in Capricorn.    Stories around power struggles will be in the news.   New energy.  Independence.  Personal freedom.  Status quo.  Infrastructure.   Systems.   Old versus young, finding the middle ground is challenging, even if it is the old and youth inside of us.  

Mars square Saturn (Aug 24) There is a deep desire for action but cold, hard reality is a thwarting influence.  Even if we can get our head around something and feel the energy pushing on us, the timing may still not be ‘right’.   Or perhaps the energy we felt from the previous weeks helped clear out a lot of debris but now we have to sit for a bit to figure out the next step.   Authority figures can be negative Nancy.  We may feel a thumb on us.   It might be wise to retreat on some matters not out of failure but more to reassess.   Fishermen fish when the season is on and when the season is off they work on their nets.   If we hit any walls with this aspect, let’s go fix our nets.  

Also, we will be hitting these aspects again: 

Sep 9         Mars stations retrograde 28 Aries 09

Sep 29       Mars square Saturn

0ct 9          Mars square Pluto

Oct 18       Mars square Jupiter

Nov 13      Mars stations direct 15 Aries 14

Dec 23       Mars square Pluto

Jan 2         Mars exits shadow 

Jan 6         Mars enters Taurus 

Take note of your energy around these dates.  On the mundane level Mars will be activating a lot of stuff and manifesting many events in the news.    Sorting through what it all means to us personally will depend on how it hits our chart and other natal planets.   Some people will feel a call to action on some level that maybe they had not felt in previous years.   Whether it is personal or mundane, Mars is a catalyst for the next six months.   God speed.