Full Steam Ahead with Mars, Saturn, & the Moon

This evening at 7:38 PM Eastern, Mars stops in the sky at 23 degrees Scorpio. After stationing, he pivots and begins to move forward again, retreading the same patch of sky that he’s traveled since he entered his retrograde shadow in February. Everything changes. Projects that stalled ten weeks back (in mid-April, when went retrograde) are starting to regain their momentum. The God of Action *wants* to launch you into your brand new life.

The new life will not begin officially till August 24th, when Mars and Saturn join up and ignite one another in Sadge – but there’s plenty of work to be done between now and then. What unfinished business or unprocessed trauma have you become conscious of since February . . . when retrograde Mars started kicking up the muck in the Scorpio swamp of the subconscious?

Whatever it is, *this* is your Big Chance to address it! Get your mind right, especially around any lingering Saturnian issues. It’s time to make peace with your Saturn. That will make it oh-so-much easier for him to help you out, when you call on him to finish building your dream-house this fall.

Many of us are highly ambivalent about Saturn. Among astrologers, he is traditionally considered a malefic planet, a bringer of bad fortune. In reality, of course, he is neither “good” nor “bad.” Just like all the others – even Jupiter and Venus! – he has higher and lower, healthier and unhealthier forms of expression open to him. Saturn represents our life work, our purpose, our standing in the world, the structures that contain and embrace us, and perhaps most importantly, our karma.

And as humans endowed with free will, we all get to choose what to DO with the energies of our natal chart. And each of us is born with a Saturn. “Do your Saturn!” is one of my favorite maxims (and something I often have to say to myself).  It means, be alert and responsible. Follow through. Take care. Take care of yourself and – to the extent that you can – of the people around you.

As Carl Jung wrote: “When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate.” Mars and Saturn right now are helping you make the inner situation conscious, so that you don’t HAVE to experience it as fate.

In the words of Susan Jeffers: “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”  A keyword for Saturn is fear. Pushing us to grow, he often politely requests (or not-so-politely demands) us to do things that just plain scare us silly. He shows us our self-imposed limits, and tests to find out whether or not we are ready to transcend them.

During this retrograde journey, Mars in the psychologically-astute sign of Scorpio has been dropping hints for us: trying to show us WHY we are afraid of the things we are afraid of. Not only the original *story* behind the wound, but its *purpose* – how it helped turn you into the wonderful creature you are. Did you have a hard childhood? If so, what gifts did that give you? Compassion, independence, the need to fight for justice, an extra dose of gratitude for what you have now? Wherever there is life, there is always a bright side.

And the sign of Sagittarius is all about looking the bright side. Saturn is currently dancing through Sadge – he’s been there continuously since last September, as well as for brief periods earlier in 2015.  Now, he is just waiting for Mars to catch up. And Mars, after today, starts racing to meet him.

You have eight weeks to finish up unfinished business around your fear. Once that’s resolved, Mars and Saturn begin a whole new adventure together, helping you manifest your vision in the world.

These retrograde cycles remind me of the three wishes in a fairy tale. We had our first wish in February, March, and the first half of April, when Mars entered into this particular patch of sky . . . then, the second wish between April 17th and now, as he re-covered the territory retrograde. Tonight, the third wish begins. It’s time for us to bring it all home.

One, two, three.

Ready! Steady! Go!