by Robert Wilkinson
Mars is now direct in motion! It occupies 9 Gemini, 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 10+ 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! 9 Gemini 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 26 Scorpio on November 17/18, 2023.
So Mars is now direct at 9 Gemini. The Sabian Symbol for the 9th degree of Gemini is “A quiver filled with arrows.” According to Rudhyar’s notes from the Marc Jones class, this degree is one of "superiority and ease based upon training,” Sure marksmanship,” certain self-direction,” “preparedness,” and “invisible help in trouble.”
In The Astrological Mandala, he says the symbol of an arrow implies “the piercing of a target.” Since “the mind of man is essentially a trans-piercing power,” seeing “the object toward which it is aimed,” it implies we can penetrate any object we aim at, including our ego. He states this is a symbol of “Man, the Conqueror” seeking to conquer the outer nature, or instinctual drives and the limitations of ego. It is said to fall in the Span of Zeal, and the social-cultural level in the Scene of Discovery in the Act of Differentiation.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, states this degree is about “extreme alertness to the interests and needs of selfhood, and of high competency in pursuing any and all practical ends in view.” He says this is about our right to make demands on others, or “to bring to our service whatever helps us hold our place in the scheme of things.”
He further asserts that here we find the “fruits of the self-discipline and training” which equip us with skills we will continually use. He offers us the keyword of PREPARATION, and states when operating in a positive way, this degree is “unlimited personal capacity for rising to the issue of the moment on any level of experience.”
From this symbol it seems we are entering an 11 month period of learning about Mars through these themes. As Mars is how we “attack the problems of life,” it’s clear from this symbol that our training is showing us either a) we have prepared and can let our arrows loose, or b) it’s time to submit to preparations so we can do that. Many will discover they are “Zen archers this year.
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 Full Moon articles, there are a phenomenal number of different quality aspects in play right now, indicating efficiency, “reading the room accurately,” unique gifts and blessings helping us to organize whatever needs organizing, and several which indicate we’re collectively at another gigantic fork in the road of global destiny, and things may not make much sense right now. Still, 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 27 Virgo during this station, it takes us into a more precise refinement, where we will see which social and cultural values we wish to preserve. This is said to be a degree of “prestige of position” and “inward unobtrusive superiority,” with a subtext of bringing out “latent richness of natural resources” through being selective. As Mercury also rules Mars, this is Mars’ subtext as well. The trine to Pluto should help us get to the heart of any matter.
Mars will still be in its “shadow phase” of 9 through 26 Gemini until March 16, 2023. For everyone on Earth, during the coming weeks we’ll experience a third pass of Mars over this span of degrees in Gemini, offering us opportunities to act in some way appropriate to what we’ve learned and done since September.
We experienced the span during Mars’ first pass of this Gemini span between September 3 and October 30, when it went retrograde. It then retrograded back from 26 to 9 Gemini, where it now goes direct. It will make a third transit of this span from now to March 16, when it moves out of its shadow zone and moves toward its activating opposition from 1 Leo to Pluto at 1 Aquarius on May 20, where it also forms a T-squares with Jupiter at 1 Taurus! This will be tremendously energetic, and challenges our integration skills in huge ways.
Since late August, this transit has stimulated our Gemini 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 Gemini. 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 the coming March Equinox.
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 © 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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