by Robert Wilkinson
On October 3, 2019 Mars enters Libra. What does this mean for all of us?
It means that how we generally “attack the problems of life,” or how we “take the initiative” is now expressed through the balanced “compare and contrast” process of the sign of the just and equable judge, the idealistic Cardinal Air of Libra. The transit of Mars in Libra finishes the occupancy of that sign for the year, as Mercury, Venus, and the Sun will all be in Scorpio or Sagittarius by the time Mars leaves Libra and enters Scorpio on November 18-19.
Libra is where the detailed work done in Virgo is weighed against the ideal, and initiatives are recalibrated in light of what the “public not-self” requires. Mars is still at full speed, after its slowdown when it danced between late Capricorn and mid-Aquarius between April and October 2018 allowing us to undo, re-do, or re-plan our lives with an eye to leaving behind old projections. We navigated deep feeling waters and saw the need for closure in old parts of our lives during its time in Pisces in November and December 2018.
January and the first half of February 2019 Mars transited its home sign of fiery Aries, so we had more energy helping facilitate direct action. This led us to its transit of Taurus between mid-February and late March which stabilized our forward momentum and helped us enjoy simply doing what we had to do.
Mars in Libra also means that any planets or angles we have in Aries or Scorpio have moved out of an earthy expression into an airy expression. This also impacts the houses where we have these signs, and puts a huge focus of activity in the house where we have the first 10 degrees of Libra through October 19. From October 19 through November 3 puts the focus of activity in the house where we have the second 10 degrees of Libra, and on the last 10 degrees of Libra between November 3-19.
The Mars Challenge Since January 2019
When Mars was in Aries, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra, and fulfillment to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer.
While Mars was in Taurus, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Taurus, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aquarius. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Scorpio, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Leo.
While Mars was in Gemini, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Gemini, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Pisces. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Sagittarius, and fulfillment to those with Sun or Ascendant in Virgo.
While Mars was in Cancer, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra.
While Mars was in Leo, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Leo, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Taurus. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aquarius, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Scorpio.
While Mars was in Virgo, it brought new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Virgo, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Gemini. It put the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Pisces, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Sagittarius.
While Mars is in Libra, it will bring new beginnings to those with Sun or Ascendant in Libra, and new emergent developments to those with Sun or Ascendant in Cancer. It puts the focus on relationships to those with Sun or Ascendant in Aries, and fulfillment or public activity to those with Sun or Ascendant in Capricorn.
Obviously within these transit spans there are other “phase relationships” between transiting Mars and all the planets in our charts, but to go into all of them would make this article a book. For example, Mars makes aspects to your other planets which are different than aspects to your Sun and Ascendant. All aspects, waxing and waning, fall within “The Whole Cycle” of each planet to every other planets and our Ascendant. You can find out more about the Whole Cycle in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, where I explain the various phases in the planetary cycles in terms of the Whole Cycle for various generations.
Mars Links to the Past, Present, and Future
While Mars now initiates a new time of activity wherever we have Libra, it activates the information Mercury brought and Venus confirmed was of value when they transited Libra which is being illuminated or vitalized by the Sun in its transit of Libra. This will continue into the future, since the inner planets all are ahead of Mars in terms of signs. Mars activates what the other planets have set into play with their transits.
This begins a new cycle of expression related to the transfiguration we began to experience between November 2009 and April of 2010 which became a clear structure in our lives after late July 2010. That transfiguration led us to needed “repair work” or reconstructing some things in our lives between December 2010 and October 2012. All of these themes were expanded into something related to our greater life path between mid- September 2016 and early October 2017 when Jupiter was in Libra.
In September 2016 the Sun conjuncted Jupiter at 4 Libra, setting a 12 year themes related to that degree into action. Those larger Jupiter in Libra themes were renewed each year after that via the transits of the inner planets through Libra, with a new 2 year “pulse” set into motion during Mars’ next transit through Libra in October-November 2017. They are now about to be renewed again in a big way by the current Mars transit.
That means all the truths, potentials, opportunities, adventures, and visions of the future we opened to between September 2016 and October 2017 can now be acted upon in new ways, or ways that renew that pulse. It can also bring completion to those things set into motion during any of those previous periods.
Aspects in Play
We’re now going to experience a renewed Libra promise in the house(s) where we have that sign in our charts. Mars enters Libra and makes an immediate biquintile to Uranus, biseptile to Saturn, and tredecile to Pluto. It’s followed by Mars quintile Jupiter at the same time Mercury is novile Mars and Mars is triseptile Uranus and biseptile Pluto in the third week of October.
By the end of the month we see Mars square Saturn, Venus novile Mars, and Mars is quincunx Neptune. November begins with Venus semisquare Mars as Mars squares Pluto and triseptiles Neptune, and by mid-November Mars finally closes its sextile with Jupiter at the same time it makes a binovile with Saturn. When it’s at the very end of Libra, we see Venus septile Mars and Mars sesquisquare Neptune.
Remember all of Mars’ aspects to Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto are waning aspects. These all close the old Mars cycles relative to these spiritual planets, preparing us for the new beginnings when Mars conjuncts Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn in March 2020, priming the pump for the Grand Mutation of 2020 which launches a new 200 year era!
So at this time we have Saturnine forces of destiny set into motion by the biseptile to Saturn which will yield major changes in the middle of the month when Mars triggers the Grand Irrationality with Uranus and Pluto! Those most affected have planets or points near 19-23 Capricorn, 11-15 Pisces, 3-7 Taurus, 24-28 Gemini, 15-19 Leo, 7-11 Libra, and 28 Scorpio-2 Sagittarius. As the Moon will set the configuration into motion with its transits of Taurus and Gemini during that time, expect major events setting forces of destiny into motion for all of us in mid-October!
What Do Mars Oppositions Teach Us?
At this point in its cycle, Mars is done with being the nozzle of “focused activity” for all the other planetary energies which it was during the Spring. It made its oppositions from Gemini to Jupiter in early May, and from Cancer to Saturn and Pluto in June. The June oppositions had Mercury joining Mars in Cancer, giving us FOUR different ways to become more aware of how to transmute dysfunctional Mars energies into healthy Mars expressions.
We received Neptunian realizations when Mars opposed Neptune in September, and we’ll have the last major spiritual Mars test of the year when it opposes Uranus in November. Different Mars oppositions require different skills, since the “Tension of Opposites” between the planetary expressions in the signs they’re in entirely determines the spiritual tests to learn and demonstrate.
As I noted in Chapter 2 in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend,
Mars' duality is Grace/Sin. This is the aspect of consciousness that shows whether our responses are manifesting error or truth, maladjustment or beauty. By our Martian function we force things before their time or confront abrasive, aggressive, or hostile energies in ourselves and others, and thus we learn how to sever what must be severed, and further what must be furthered, quickly and directly. (As an aside, the original meaning of “sin” had nothing to do with moral failure. It was an archery term meaning “to miss the mark,” or not hitting the center of a target. I use it here in that sense.)
So from May through November 2019, we all are getting major tests in how we become skilled in expressing the realizations which surface at Mars oppositions. May and June gave realizations about Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto. September and November have given and will give us realizations about Neptune and Uranus. The September oppositions had strong stabilizing trines from Virgo to Capricorn, which should have helped us get organized and grounded in our self-expression.
Picking Up the Pace On the Way to The Grand Mutation of 2020!
Anyway, after last year’s Mars retrograde and its incredibly long 8 month stay in the span between late Sagittarius and late Aquarius, up to now in 2019 Mars has moved quickly through Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo, activating those sectors of our charts. Now that Mars is in Libra, it moves the emphasis away from Earth into Water, transforming practical grounded plans into dynamic ideals expressed in our interactions with others.
During this time of Mars in Libra, make sure to get a balanced view, but beware of too much information and “overweighting” things. While we need to examine many elements of a thing to come to a well-rounded approach, Libra tends to keep factoring in more and more information, sometimes paralyzing the need for direct action. Remember Mars rules Aries, and Libra is the sign opposite to Aries, placing Mars in its “exile.”
Find the right “rhythm of approach,” and take a myriad of small steps to reach your goal. Make your efforts elegant, gracious, reasonable, moderate, and as classy as you can. This is not the time for blunt force! You’ll achieve more through being reasonable than demanding, and diplomacy will be required as you strive to make progress despite the ten thousand things you’re taking into consideration.
The squares to Saturn and Pluto indicate the need to stop taking cues from outside and see how to act of our own initiative, moving toward what we care about and away from obsolete rules and duties we no longer need to carry. November will require forms of repair or reconstruction work, as well as a focus on personality integration techniques. Get a new inspiration, and the square to Pluto will generate dynamic activity, as well as opportunities for us to hit our “peak performance” which will mark the climax of our ambition in this chapter of life.
From here things culminate and begin to close the old cycles, preparing us for the triple conjunctions of January and the major new cycles to begin in March. Stay balanced as you move through the friction, see how you can easily embrace new initiatives which are not a drag on your line, and stay focused on what you care about and what you need to take care of. This begins a new chapter of dancing with others as we rock on down to the maximum compression of early 2020 leading us to the Grand Mutation in Aquarius.
If Mars in Virgo taught us “All play and no work make for an ungrounded life” then Mars in Libra will teach us “All work with no socializing makes for an unsustainable life.”
Copyright © 2019 Robert Wilkinson
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