Reflections from the Heart of the Mars Retrograde Oppositions Impacting us all through January, February, and March 2008

by Robert Wilkinson

While composing a comment in another stream, I starting listing the ways I've seen this Mars retrograde period operate, and the ongoing oppositions yield their own insights. Today I'll share a few.

From what I've seen, heard, and directly experienced, it's definitely been a time of going deeper into self, and finding feelings and needs buried deep. Repressed feelings are coming up, requiring reversals of old ways of acting or reacting. Impulsiveness has been ineffective and/or made things worse.

Other themes seem to be no momentum, like being "frozen in place." Everything seems to take a lot more time and effort than usual, there are weird passive and active aggressive energies in the air, car crashes and near misses, with people or circumstances not as they seem. These are all exaggerated by multiple oppositional energies where we cannot move forward and cannot go backward, making for feelings that at times are overwhelming.

Remember too that Mars has been in opposition to many planets including Jupiter conjunct Pluto at the Galactic Center illuminated by the Sun and Mercury conjuncting these in the Grand Irrationality. Any time you blend the mind, Light, and the expansive principle powering up Pluto and Galactic energies, we will experience feeling like a pinball.

This Sun opposition Mars is leading us all to feel ways of expressing ourselves differently than we have before. The degree axis challenges us all to get a larger picture through getting a higher broader perspective on things, and to elevate our perspective across time.

To top off these complex interactions, we also just had the Full Moon conjunct Mars which impacts our next two weeks in big ways. This promises a roller coaster ride with unique and productive possibilities if we learn how to navigate the oppositional tensions. We'll be dealing with direct and indirect effects of these multiple oppositions through early March due to Mars opposing Pluto, so regard this as a good practicum.

Understand how to manage the tension of opposites, and it will open doors to greater Spiritual evolution. Don't judge what feels bad from a narrow perspective - simply understand, use your emotional intelligence in different ways, and come to see how wrong use of force creates needless damage.

Antidote it all with Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, and Self-Discipline. This is a time of quick, practical maturing, with untold possibilities available in fairly short time.

More Mars RX articles:

Mars Retrograde in Cancer in December 2007 Helping Us Get Clear About What We Do and Do Not Need

Letting Go, Life Changes, and Crabby People During Mars Retrograde in Cancer

Astrology Stress Zones Predictions for December 2007 Pt. 2 - How Mars Affects each sign

Astrology Stress Zones Predictions for December 2007 Pt. 1 - Mars in Cancer Retrograde Going Very Slow with lots of Oppositions

And last but not least, the following article was the 7th in the original series in November explaining Mars RX that pulled together the other six all in one place, so enjoy!

An Overview of Mars Retrograde in Cancer in November-December 2007

Hopefully all 12 of these articles, along with yesterday's and the one on the Solstice, can serve you in navigating these very extreme times, and you can find a measure of security and nurture in what they offer. Merry Christmas, Namaskarams, and Mahalo!

© Copyright 2007 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Ondrea]

Merry Christmas from the east coast, Rob! :-)

[Robert]

Hi Ondrea - And a very Merry to you and your loved ones as well! I hope this Christmas has brought you much to appreciate and increased your love.

[robyn]

merry holidays...

i'm a cancer... how do i get out of these oppositions alive.. i'm trying to keep my head up... july 12, 1977

i think i've been trying to see the light all year.. alas.. i keep moving forward and the things i found stability in... keep.. well.. crashing.

"Antidote it all with Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, and Self-Discipline. This is a time of quick, practical maturing, with untold possibilities available in fairly short time."

until next time, i'll be hanging in there.

[The Good Sourceress]

Blessed be this world tonight
And all who wander in it
Ponder not what mote or might
You've got to be in it to win it

Crash and burn or sail and soar
Let not the fates beat down your door
Tis but a dream till night be past
Dawn breaks, break free, spirits one at last

Aingel Blessings to all on Earth and Peace Across this Universe
- The Good Sourceress

PS To Robert in NM - special stardust upon your home and loved ones for all that you do

[Robert]

Hi robyn - Well, keep checking in, keep an altruistic intention, and keep shedding skins (or dropping old shells as prelude to larger ones!);-) Some crashes are inevitable, some the result of others not paying attention. At least we're alive and able to enjoy good food and good company. Things will turn around quickly now that the main oppositions are done and Mars has begun to speed up.

Hi Good Sourceress - To paraphrase a legend of Hollyweird, "The biggest part of success is just showing up..." You've offered great verse. I'll accept the stardust, both memories and dreams of things to come. There are times when magic's afoot, and I suspect the months to come will ground it in forms perfect for each according to their wont. Blessings be to all of us in the new year already dawning.

[Robyn]

thank you robert.

i will keep my head up.

[Dirk]

Hi Robert,

Just thought I'd draw a chart for coming new year. Strange thing: Ascendant for the west of the Netherlands: 30 degrees Virgo. The East sits comfortably in Libra. With the Virgo ascendant, the Mars-Pluto opposition sits exactly on the MC-IC axis, with Saturn in 12. Not the cheeriest of aspects.

For years people have been talking about a possible flooding of our (partly below sea-level) country. When that happens, the western half of the Netherlands would disappear in the sea. Right along the line of the Ascendant-change from Virgo to Libra. Coincidence?

Do you have any experience with these kind of charts and if so what do you make of it?

Best regards,

Dirk

[Ian]

hey robert

I just read that an asteroid, the size of a 15-megaton nuclear bomb, may hit mars the Day it goes stationary direct! there is a 1 in 75 chance it will make impact.

amazing!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/12/21/mars.asteroid.ap/index.html

[Robert]

Hi Dirk - 30 degrees Virgo is about escaping from "a narrow destiny." That means it will be impacted by the previous eclipses, and yes, late Mutable is in conflict with Mars and Pluto for a while. While I don't think Netherlands will have to face being underwater in 2008, we will have to figure out how to mitigate rising waters in all the low lying areas of our Earth over the next decades.

Hi Ian - I read about it. If there is a collision, it could precipitate (or at least symbolize) something we need to pay attention to. Sometimes things that get stirred up in one place show as an unexpected effect in other places. We're truly "livin' on a thin line..."

[Alison]

Hi Robert,
You're site is amazingly detailed and so interesting!
I am an astrologer but am having trouble dealing with a major life change and I think the recent Mercury/Mars retrograde periods are significant. I've lived with my partner for 8 1/2 years. He started to withdraw from me in late May/early June. He is a Leo, 21 August and was having Saturn conjunct his Sun, Saturn square Moon and square Venus. By the lunar eclipse 28 August, he said he was unhappy and on the solar eclipse 11 September, he moved out to consider our future. He came back a week later and seemed ok until mid October when he withdrew again during the Mercury retrograde. He ended our relationship suddenly on 2 November and moved out 2 weeks later in mid November. We were talking until just before Christmas, but he refuses any reconciliation. He now doesnt want contact for a week. He says he cant explain but its the right thing for him as although he loves me, hes not in love with me anymore. His Dad died 2 1/2 years ago in late July. He also said I slightly held the balance of power for the first 6 years (but that had switched around in the last 2 1/2) and hes lost sight of what he was chasing. I am a Pisces with the sun at 18 degrees and I was hit by the eclipses in late August and September. The next lunar eclipse in February hits our conjunction of his Sun and my Moon at 28 degrees Leo.

You mention in your articles that what was first thought of around early June and again in September is trying to be put in place during the Mars retrograde, but wont be finalised until March 2008. With the eclipses in February and then Mars fully moving forward by March 2008, do you think that this will herald the end of our connection once and for all? Or should I hope that the situation could come up for review then? Thanks so much for any advice, I find it hard to look at my own chart!
Alison

[Robert]

Hi Alison - Those transits on your partner's chart would certainly indicate that he's changing what he likes and who he wants to dance with. Things and relationships do end in our lives, and it's entirely possible that his father's death precipitated deep soul searching with this the result, for good or ill. As for the end of your connection, that's up to him. One of the hardest lessons I ever learned is that it truly takes two to make a relationship. Keep reviewing whatever you need to. A sign of a mature relationship is that we may or may not "be in love" with our partner at any given moment, but we always love them, with the romance waxing and waning over the years, but never dying out entirely. If it does "die," it's a clear sign of a need for counseling, since the will to romance is hardwired in us all. Our desires can change, but we can always be enticed by the romance of life's possibilities. Maybe he needs to see you with new eyes and stop framing things in terms of "balance of power."

[Alison]

Thanks Robert, for your words of encouragement.
I agree with you that a mature approach would be to recognise that romantic love goes through stages and ride the waves (spoken like a Piscean!). I think its the commitment that has died in him though. He has Uranus directly conjunct his IC too right now (my Sun is in his 4th house) plus I have Uranus near my Sun! I guess Uranus transits can really blow things apart and speed up events. He also has Pluto trining his Moon! I feel our relationship didnt stand a chance under the force of all these transits and it has been quite scary to see this play out with such horrible inevitability. I printed off the charts for this September 3 years ago and was a bit worried we may split up, although there was no sign of any unhappiness until this June. It has been incredible, but awful to see the astrology unfold like this. How do you cope with that as an astrologer? Thanks again.

[Robert]

Hi Alison - Yes, Uranus works as our urge to freedom, to revolutionize our life and affairs so we can remember that we are Eternals freely associating with all kinds of actions, feelings, thoughts, and beings in a Cosmic dance or "lela," a grand play of the Eternal constantly shapeshifting before our 5 senses and our minds. Uranus on the Sun can make your Light/Life a truly unique expression of your Eternal Nature, where you find the genius and special qualities of your Illumination.

At my age (;-)) I've found a mature approach is the only sane way to be in relationship, since I certainly had many immature approaches when younger! Puer Eternis is a powerful state that most men need to consciously master and grow beyond, despite its archetypal significance for us all, thanks to Sanat Kumara, the "young One everlasting."

If a commitment has died, then so has the magnetic force that brought one to that commitment. Once magnetism is exhausted, then we must repotentialize that magnetism in other attractions (and commitments.) That's why I maintain we can never "go back" but always move forward into more appropriate states of awareness and magnetic positioning as we become more conscious. Besides, we should never feel so trapped by that which is not working that we forget all that COULD be working (and playing) if we turned our view to higher, better things more in line with our Dharma. Though endings are often difficult and sad, the fact in our impermanent reality is that all forms pass away, and either we find new forms or we find new forms. Again, welcome to life, consciousness, evolution as the one-way streets they are.

It's not so much that relationships cannot endure difficult transits as much as difficult transits test the resolve of individuals to examine their commitments to see if they are living their truth or merely going through the motions of maintaining prior inertias. As a pro at this craft for going on 40 years, I've seen difficult things coming for self and others, but always remember that we do have "free will" to respond constructively or destructively. Some inevitabilities are built into karma and some are built into Dharma, but much of human interaction is entirely influenced by our choices.

I tend not to plant discouraging seeds into the minds of my clients, since my job is to show them options around how to navigate the inevitabilities and choices so that their self awareness and free will may work to their ultimate evolution and bring forth their Higher Self. Though I may see endings of life, relationships, and other challenging transition times, my job is to offer ways to navigate those times, not make pronouncements about whether they are "good" or "bad," which are usually in the eye of the beholder. Of course then there are the "Sacred Wounds" which we all suffer at least once in our lives which help us grow into our Divine Self while crucifying our ego. Some of what I've mentioned here will probably be incorporated into a post at some point in the future, since what you're going through is a very common issue for us humans. Aum and blessings, and may you find peace and happiness as you navigate these waters.

[Robert]

Hi Seward - I depublished your "comment" since you left links to commercial sites having nothing to do with this thread.

[cwjkl]

Hi, you have a nice site. Really good job! Respect :)