by Robert Wilkinson
Mars is now direct in motion! It occupies 16 Aries, a platform for everything Mars springs forth to achieve for many months to come. So what does this mean, and how can we use it wisely?
After 8+ weeks of extreme slow-mo, where much got put on hold, got diverted while other things were taken care of, or went into reverse while other things caught up, Mars begins to speed up very quickly. Things will develop VERY rapidly from this point on, so get ready to rock and roll! 16 Aries is now the platform from which Mars launches into its next long wave phase, moving from here toward its next conjunction with the Sun at 16 Libra on October 7/8, 2021.
So Mars is now direct at 16 Aries. The Sabian Symbol for the 16th degree of Aries is “Brownies dancing in the setting sun.” In the original Jones class notes from The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this is a degree of the “relationship between conscious and unconscious sides of life,” and “invisible assistance often entailing obligation to outer forces.”
In the Astrological Mandala, he goes on to say that this degree of "attunement to the potency of invisible forces of nature,” where “in the light of personal fulfillment….(we) may be able to establish a life-giving contact with natural forces” which constitute a part of the larger life of the biosphere, or Gaia. He offers that these nature spirits are part of the one life of the planet, and are “nonindividualized and unfree energies” within the planet as an organism that act as a “guiding and balancing-harmonizing factor” similar to a human endocrine system.
He goes on to say “when this Sabian Symbol reaches into the consciousness of (those who seek) meaning, it should be seen as an invitation to open (our minds) to the possibility of approaching life in a holistic and nonrational, intuitive manner…. It implies a call to repotentialization.” He states this degree falls in the Span of Examination, Act of Differentiation, Scene of Potency on the Actional level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the essentially friendly relationships which exist between man as a persona and the totally impersonal forces of nature,” where the “cosmic integrity demands a continual reversion to pure source in the case of each segment of reality, and the universal activity provides a continual sorting and sifting of all things into convenience and order. He continues that “the dance of life” is “an unending rehearsal and exhibition of every special capacity of selfhood.”
He offers us the keyword INVIGORATION. He goes on to say that when operating positively, the degree is “simple good fortune together with unlimited opportunity as the direct fruitage of effort.”
From this symbol it seems we are entering an 11 month period of learning about Mars through these themes. Open to seeing things with fresh eyes and a willingness to embrace a new potential and the “friendliness” of life that allows us to contact the source. We should be invigorated by our communion with nature and those “energy distributing forces” that allow us to “rehearse and exhibit” our special capacities.
As Mars begins to speed up, you can expect more energy in the coming weeks, as well as a sense that the momentum is picking up, moving substantially faster than it has the past 11 weeks. Much we've been waiting for will now develop more rapidly than it has so far this year.
For some, a real sense of new energy as things begin to move forward. As I noted in the recent New Moon article, there are a phenomenal number of different quality aspects in play right now, indicating productivity and a rebalancing or recalibrating of many areas of life which were a source of conflict in July, August, September, and October. We’re collectively at a gigantic fork in the road of global destiny, and things may not make much sense right now, but our decisions and actions are very important since the future is on the move! Whatever has been stalled or delayed up to now will begin to show up, rather dramatically.
As the Moon is at 5 Scorpio during this station, it takes us deeper into the Mystery of life, death, and regeneration, within the context of a sense of the vast timeline of evolution related to how long it takes for features of Nature to change. With Mars in its home sign and the ruler of the Moon, it shows a long wave focus on us learning a more individually evolved connection with Nature, as well as the energy distributing forces connected to the biosphere. It will help us feel the “stable elements in life,” offering us “strong confidence born of fundamental perception.” Just don’t go where you don’t need to go, especially during the coming transits in Aquarius which square the 4-10 Scorpio/Taurus axis.
Mars will still be in its “shadow phase” of 16 through 29 Aries until January 4, 2021. For everyone on Earth, during the coming weeks we’ll experience a third pass of Mars over this second half of Aries span of degrees, offering us opportunities to act in some way appropriate to what we’ve learned and done since July.
We experienced the span during Mars’ first pass of this Aries span between July 24 and September 9, when it went retrograde. It then retrograded back from 29 Aries to 16 Aries, where it just went direct. It will make a third transit of this span from now to January 4, when it moves out of its shadow zone and activates the massive conflicts indicated by the numerous squares between Aquarius and Taurus which will dominate 2021 and 2022.
Since July, this transit has stimulated our Aries sector in pretty radical ways, reworking our life affairs and forms of planetary self-expression. We now stand ready to express those affairs and expressions in more perfect forms, having been educated in some way connected to Mars in Aries. In some way we’re all more direct than we used to be!
So from here we go on! Be focused, clear, and willing to allow whatever inspires you to transform your everyday life. Enjoy the accelerating process, and much that was promised earlier this year, will leap forward dramatically between now and January.
This is when we move forward with confidence, knowing we can achieve what we’ve prepared for. Just get ready to embrace new connections with the natural world, refocusing your potency and potential in personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal ways. This is the time to move forward with confidence, knowing the pace will pick up fairly quickly in coming weeks.
Be mindful as you do whatever you have to do in your own unique way while you “break on through to the other side.” Think in the future, since the future is NOW!
Copyright © 2020 Robert Wilkinson
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