Mars opposite Neptune

Astrological update for the week of August 30, 2021: Taking care of details in the midst of confusion

So many of you have asked for some kind of recording and let’s try it this week.  There is a recording of this update at the end of the post.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

This week we have a lack of the fire element in the planetary energies, and Mars, the fire planet, will oppose watery Neptune.  Fire signifies drive, purification, frustration, motivation – it’s active in nature and energizes the processing of our experiences.  Chiron is in Aries, but since Chiron represents the unhealed wound it activate our wounds in these areas rather than provide the fuel for actualization).  When there are no planetary bodies in fire, the force for change is missing – the air of thought and intellect is present (Libra, Gemini) along with Neptune in Pisces to inspire transcendence and the letting go of fixed ideas, but the motivation is lacking.

This will be especially true in the early part of the week when Mars opposes Neptune. The alignment culminates on Wednesday September 2nd, but its influence will be felt throughout the week.  Mars is in Virgo now, motivating us to examine and order the details of life, and the Neptune factor makes that more difficult.  Neptune is like the Sirens of Homeric myth, calling us with its magic song to leave the ordinary world behind and step into magic.  Beautiful and mystical, but not very practical and therefore antithetic to Virgo Mars this week.

I recommend that we all be very careful when making decisions under this influence.  Neptune casts a glamour that can make the unrealistic look very attractive, and with the Virgo New Moon approaching on September 6th, we will want to keep our Neptunian eyewear from blurring our […]

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By |2021-08-30T09:16:35-04:00August 30th, 2021|Planetary news this week|5 Comments

Mars turns direct, April 13-15 2012

mars direct 2012Note: Planets are said to be “retrograde” when they appear to move backwards from our perspective on Earth.  They are not actually moving backwards, or “the wrong way” as a friend of mine likes to say.  And there is nothing “wrong” about retrogrades – it’s a normal planetary cycle. Retrograde periods help us to reassess and revisit areas of life that require more attention before we can move on with our lives, but for this reason they can be somewhat frustrating and demand attention.

Although Mars didn’t actually turn retrograde until January, its motion began to slow down in December 2011 marking the actual beginning of the retrograde period.  From my observations and from a practical standpoint, retrogrades begin when the planetary movement slows down in anticipation of the retrograde turn, and end after the planet has turned direct and picks up steam again.

In my own world this has been a particularly problematic time, especially with both Mercury and Mars retrograde at the same time.  While Mercury retrograde periods are rather frequent — usually we have four three-week periods in a year — Mars retro periods only occur every couple of years.

Managing these retrograde periods is rather like riding on a boat in choppy waters.  If you allow your body to move with the waves you tend not to get seasick, but if you resist the movement of the water you can become very sick indeed.  And even the most experienced of sailors can experience motion sickness if the rough waters continue for too long a period of time, and this is what many of us have experienced.

The stationary period of the Mars cycle begins April 13th and Mars turns direct on April 15th around […]

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By |2021-07-30T07:18:40-04:00April 11th, 2012|Astrology, Planetary cycles|1 Comment

Neptune and Chiron turn direct, and other planetary news this week

Chiron and Neptune turn directNeptune and Chiron both change direction in a few days after traveling retrograde since earlier this year, which means their (apparent) motion has slowed to a virtual standstill as they prepare to move forward again.  These two have been tied together since early in 2009, and although the exact conjunction was complete in 2010, since then the two have been within three degrees of each other. When the Soul Healer (Chiron) and the Soul Teacher (Neptune) get together, you know there is some serious internal work to be done and we are likely to find that to be true over the next week or so when both planets change their apparent direction (planets don’t really move backwards, but because we observe the movement of the planets from earth they sometimes appear to change direction).

Over the next few days we have another smaller, but still important planetary cycle involving the opposition (180 degrees) of Mars to both Chiron and Neptune.  Mars represents our drive and our desires; it inspires and motivates us to achieve our wishes and dreams.  It’s the aggressive force, and when blocked it can turn angry and frustrated.  Mars is in Leo now where it particularly wants to have its own way and resists losing control, but over the next few days Mars will be opposed by Neptune.

Neptune is the transcendent urge – it inspires us to seek experiences that go beyond the boundaries of our day-to-day reality, and it tends to blur and soften the urges of Mars.  This can be confusing if we are determined to get our way, but if we use this time to seek the wisdom of the soul instead of the ego during this time […]

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By |2022-09-13T12:42:38-04:00November 6th, 2011|Planetary news this week|3 Comments