September 2 2020
Just when we thought things couldn’t be crazier….we get Mars retrograde and Saturn-Pluto redux this month!
Oh yes, September is a fun one, the kind of month that I have been nervous to write about. How can a girl possibly make sense of these dynamics?!
So, first, Mars.
Mars turns retrograde on September 9th – and stays that way til November 15th, for god’s sake. (Yes, that means it will be retrograde for the US election…) This is a long transit that only occurs every 2 years or so, and therefore we are really not used to it. Mars has a large sphere of action – the primary one being action itself: movement forward, the will, plans, goals, work, and yes, there can be some aggressiveness thrown in. Mars is the planet that rules Aries, and it happens to be in Aries right now, and will spend its retrograde period in Aries. Mars in Aries really embodies all that Mars is about –fiery impulsive action, leadership, decisiveness, inspiration, directness, forthrightness.
When Mars is retrograde, all that direct forward action gets a bit wonky, goes sideways. Things that were moving full steam ahead take a detour or stop entirely. Energy gets pulled away from externals and towards our internal state, draining right out of what we were focused on. The key with Mars retrograde is to absolutely go with the flow of it, with where the energy is, as opposed to where it isn’t. No forcing things! As with any retrograde personal planet, self- reflection is required.
With Mars retrograde in Aries, the reflection will be about the ethics of self-aggrandizement and the meaning of leadership, the obligation of the self to be in relationship to the collective.
Mars retrograde can also surface struggles that have been brewing under the surface. Mid way through Mars’ retrograde cycle (mid-October) – when the Sun opposes Mars retrograde — there can be a feeling of frustration, of I can’t take this anymore, I can’t bear the injustice. The sense of being “in reaction to” people and to external forces for the first half of Mars retrograde shifts to more strategic action on the part of conscious people. For those ruled by impulse and chaos – that would be Donald Trump—the pull of chaos grows stronger and creates more turmoil. Sigh.
At this point in the cycle—and I will have more to say about this in my October column—there can be a deep challenge to the status quo.
Mars retrograde can bring surprises, shocks, upsets. This particular stretch of Mars retrograde is complicated by its triggering angles to the major planets retrograding in Capricorn right now: Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto. Oy veh. Mars spends the last half of September squaring Saturn and this aspect continues into October.
We are also getting the last taste of Saturn and Pluto being 3 degrees away from each other during September and October – so everyone’s sense of impending apocalypse is very heightened right now.
But Mars retrograde in a 90 degree to angle to Saturn for 3 weeks? I saw that coming and assumed it was another series of intense quarantines. Given who has guns in this country and the increasing threat from armed white supremacist militias, it could be a rough few weeks of violence and repression. I also think that Mars retrograde can be highly creative and open some new possibilities …and we never know what can happen. (Who would have thought professional ball players would strike and demand arenas be used for voting?)
So expect the unexpected!
Here are my projections – or fantasies – about what Mars retrograde could mean for our nation that is already in turmoil.
Mars retrograde Fantasy #1—the military has to escort Trump out of office.
Mars retrograde Fantasy #2: Trump gets too tired of his job because Mars retrograde is wreaking havoc in his chart, and he gives it up.
Mars retrograde Fantasy #3: Massive strikes occur in the US for housing, income, food, racial justice. Teacher strikes, sports strikes, general strikes.
Mars retrograde Necessity #4: We all drop everything and do get out the vote.
By the time of my October column Mars retrograde’s impact will be a bit clearer than it is now. And then there is November. You don’t need an astrologer to know the US elections will be a mess. Mercury will be turning from retrograde to direct on Election Day. The last time Mercury and Mars were retrograde on Election Day was the year 2000—recounts, hanging chads, and the Supreme Court decided the election.
This year we will be in the streets!!
I am heartened by the fact that Mars retrograde does rip through Trump’s chart like a velociraptor, while its transit through Biden’s is more consonant with Mars’ action in the US’s chart. The US — with its July 4th Cancer birthday– wants a Good Dad – in that Cancerian kinda way. And Kamala Harris gets the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of November/December moving right across her Libra Sun. I think that’s a good sign…. Just sayin.
