posted November 17, 2007 11:22 AM
"MARS BACKWARDS --BEGINNING 76 DAY PERIOD FOR WARRIOR PLANET
On Thursday November 15 at 3:24 a.m. EST Mars stationed or "came to a stop" at 12 degrees 27 minutes Cancer. This marks the beginning of a 76-day stretch during which the Warrior Planet will procede to march in reverse until it goes station/direct on January 30, 2008 at 24 degrees 5 minutes Gemini. This period of time during which Mars will be charted as moving in reverse through the zodiac is known as going “retrograde” and represents a phenomenon that periodically affects all of the planets with the exception of the Sun and the Moon. Before I go into interpreting what this Mars retrograde period may mean, I would first like to take a moment to briefly explain what the retrograde phenomenon is all about.
The first thing that needs to be made clear is that no planet ever really goes backwards in the heavens. It is only because the Earth moves so much faster that the other planets seem to be going backwards as the Earth passes them by. A similar phenomenon occurs when an express train passes a local and the slower train appears to be receding from the point of view of the faster train. Keeping this in mind, the retrograde effect is therefore an optical illusion, yet even optical illusions incorporate the laws of physics so that we will experience something regarding the phenomenon in question. Astrology has chosen to deal with this situation by charting the movement of a retrograde planet in the opposite direction from which it is usually plotted. This is why during this retrograde period Mars will seemingly regress 18 degrees so that it re-enters the sign of Gemini, which it originally exited back on September 28th.
There is a wide difference of opinion between Astrologers regarding how the retrograde phenomenon should be interpreted. I don’t think there is necessarily a consistent formula for understanding a retrograde period other than to assume the energy of the planet in question will be more erratic than usual and hence far less predictable than it might ordinarily be. For instance, during a Mars retrograde it would probably not be a good idea to instigate a conflict, but on the other hand it might be a very good time to draw upon any past allegiances or resources that have proven reliable in previous confrontations.
What follows is a brief analysis of how various points in the Zodiac might be influenced by this current Mars retrograde.
This recent Mars station will most directly affect anyone having natal planets in the vicinity of 12 degrees in any of the following signs.
If you have any natal planets at 12 degrees Cancer they will literally have Mars standing still on them, which will mean a great influx of energy, however, because Mars is stationary this energy will not have anywhere to go just yet so watch out for irritability or depression.
Planets in Aries or Libra will be squared, possibly resulting in either less energy or additional stress and frustration if desires are being thwarted in any way.
Mars will oppose planets in Capricorn near the 12 degree mark so that any sense of inner frustration might be mirrored through an outer phenomenon, meaning that if you are harboring any negativity you could become the object of some form of aggression.
Any planets in either Sagittarius or Aquarius will be inconjuncted (this aspect needs to be exact) meaning that there could be great inconsistency or the unexpected should be expected regarding any efforts toward manifestation.
The good news is that any planets near the 12 degree mark in either Scorpio or Pisces will be in trine to the Mars station, meaning that energy from the past or efforts at review will help toward future advancement when the retrograde period is finished.
Planets in either Virgo or Taurus will be in sextile to the Mars station and the effect should be similar to the trine except that instead of flowing smoothly or being driven by intuition the situation may instead be influenced by more direct practical concerns.
Of course what I have offered here are only some general guidelines. For a more complete understanding of how the movements of Mars over the next 2 and a half months will affect you either consult your local Astrologer or perhaps use this retrograde period to begin an investigation of Astrology on your own.
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A relevant post from Astrotabletalk, 5 October '07 mentions the Mars-Pluto opposition of September (at Autumn Equinox) and points out that the apparent retrograde features Mars opposite Pluto again early in the new year and again 7 March '08. The third opposition of Mars and Pluto comes along about six weeks after Pluto's ingress of Capricorn in the Tropical Zodiac. The third of these three Mars-Pluto oppositions occurs in the symbolically very significant first degree of Cancer and Capricorn, respectively.
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[Astrotabletalk on Mars and Pluto:] they are associated amongst other things with war and violence, so we should expect to see some sort of process going on around war between September and March. With the opposition, you’d expect to see more of it. But interestingly, there has recently been a marked fall in the levels of violence in Iraq. And the Iraq War has Sun at 29 Pisces (20 March 2003, 5.33, Baghdad), so it is strongly affected by this Mars-Pluto opposition.
What can this mean? Politically/militarily the ‘surge’ is one cause, and I don’t know what other factors might be involved. But astrologically, it suggests to me the possibility of Pluto acting as a restraining or deepening factor on Mars.
http://astrotabletalk.blogspot.com/2007/10/reflections-on-mars-pluto.html
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This sort of surprising and perplexing eventuality was anticipated a year ago. I posted a very lengthy thread exploring and developing the idea that Earth Humanity has been undergoing a "Mars Healing".
The last post (19 December '07) forecasts: "War scenarios already 'in play' are not likely to subside, and may intensify (by all indications, not explosively), and much less familiar expressions of Mars are also to be anticipated... emerging on a much larger scale..."
The outer wheel below shows Mars at apparent standstill, resuming prograde motion half past midnight 31 January 2008 in Tel Aviv. Note that Mars in the outer wheel is in the same degree as Uranus in the inner wheel. Post 97015 (link above) points out, "Mars-Uranus is the classic indicator of explosive conflict" and asks: Is that an outdated concept?
If it's an outmoded idea that Mars-Uranus portends conflict, we might witness some surprising and perplexing ME developments in the first weeks of 2008, Israel at the fulcrum.
The time of 4:37pm used for Israel's birth chart comes from Astrodatabank: http://www.astrodatabank.com/NM/IsraelState.htm
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I didn't write that. It's a repost and I don't know who to credit. I would post the chart but it's too difficult on this site.
Lindaland
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posted November 17, 2007 11:22 AM
posted November 18, 2007 03:11 AM
