09 December 2007
Retrograde Mars...
[Draft]
The planet Mars will be in retrograde until the end of January. A retrograde motion is when a planet, relative to our vantage point here on Earth, appears to be moving backwards through the heavens. This, of course, is an illusion - planets always move forwards in their orbits. You can count on a retrograde Mars roughly once every 2 1/2 years. At best, retrograde Mars signals a period of reflection and self-betterment. At its worst, it becomes period of sloth and shiftlessness.
Mars went retrograde on November 15th, the day that I left the States for France. I have a habit of doing that. Taking off during major celestial events like eclipses, though I don't plan for it to happen that way. In fact, the dates that I board any plane are pretty arbitrary, usually dependent on ticket prices.
Even if you aren't a disciple of astrology, you may have heard that a retrograde Mercury causes mishaps and miscommunications. Mobile phones go missing. Printers break when you need to deliver important documents. Things of that nature. A Mars retrograde is different. For one, it happens less often. However, it does signal a another sort of reversal.
Mars is the planet that rules our drives. Simply put, the placement of Mars in a person's horoscope tells you how they go about getting their way. Mars in Libra, for example, is given more to diplomacy than an emotional Mars in Cancer. They may both get their way in a given situation, but they will have drastically different approaches.
A Mars placement is, perhaps, the reason that when we look back on their younger selves, we might witness growth, but seldom change. Experiences may have made them more capable of dealing with a situation, but the first impulse will always resemble the first impulse, no matter how sublimated it becomes.
So, a Mars in retrograde means that we become more introspective and reflective. Not all at once, not all in the same way, for a variety of reasons that a reader will likely either already know, or find tedious. Self-reflection can be a great thing, but often a retrograde Mars will send us delving deeper into ourselves and into our pasts than we feel comfortable. Old childhood trauma, bad relationships - any scar - seems to flare up too often in our memories. It frustrates us and we cannot seem to put it aside, affecting our focus.
On the whole, very little seems to get done during a Mars retrograde. In fact, the very opposite might be true. We may just find ourselves overcompensating and piling work on top of work, just to remain ahead of ourselves. Still, we do keep chugging quite along on our orbit, but it isn't until we are readjusted that we see how far we've come.
So, tonight, I raise a glass of Scots to Mars and hope for days of greater direction and productivity.
The planet Mars will be in retrograde until the end of January. A retrograde motion is when a planet, relative to our vantage point here on Earth, appears to be moving backwards through the heavens. This, of course, is an illusion - planets always move forwards in their orbits. You can count on a retrograde Mars roughly once every 2 1/2 years. At best, retrograde Mars signals a period of reflection and self-betterment. At its worst, it becomes period of sloth and shiftlessness.
Mars went retrograde on November 15th, the day that I left the States for France. I have a habit of doing that. Taking off during major celestial events like eclipses, though I don't plan for it to happen that way. In fact, the dates that I board any plane are pretty arbitrary, usually dependent on ticket prices.
Even if you aren't a disciple of astrology, you may have heard that a retrograde Mercury causes mishaps and miscommunications. Mobile phones go missing. Printers break when you need to deliver important documents. Things of that nature. A Mars retrograde is different. For one, it happens less often. However, it does signal a another sort of reversal.
Mars is the planet that rules our drives. Simply put, the placement of Mars in a person's horoscope tells you how they go about getting their way. Mars in Libra, for example, is given more to diplomacy than an emotional Mars in Cancer. They may both get their way in a given situation, but they will have drastically different approaches.
A Mars placement is, perhaps, the reason that when we look back on their younger selves, we might witness growth, but seldom change. Experiences may have made them more capable of dealing with a situation, but the first impulse will always resemble the first impulse, no matter how sublimated it becomes.
So, a Mars in retrograde means that we become more introspective and reflective. Not all at once, not all in the same way, for a variety of reasons that a reader will likely either already know, or find tedious. Self-reflection can be a great thing, but often a retrograde Mars will send us delving deeper into ourselves and into our pasts than we feel comfortable. Old childhood trauma, bad relationships - any scar - seems to flare up too often in our memories. It frustrates us and we cannot seem to put it aside, affecting our focus.
On the whole, very little seems to get done during a Mars retrograde. In fact, the very opposite might be true. We may just find ourselves overcompensating and piling work on top of work, just to remain ahead of ourselves. Still, we do keep chugging quite along on our orbit, but it isn't until we are readjusted that we see how far we've come.
So, tonight, I raise a glass of Scots to Mars and hope for days of greater direction and productivity.
|