Monthly Overview:
Since Mars first entered Gemini at the end of July 2007, an intensified developmental cycle has been underway, one that has been operating on dual levels. The current circumstantial reality is simply the stage upon which a major karmic play has been re-animated. This key cycle has positioned each and every one of us at a threshold of great significance, one that holds the profound potential of completely altering our contemporary life path and redirecting our soul’s next steps. Where we go from here depends on how readily we can accept and respond to the changing tides and how well we complete the task of laying the past to rest.
Take a moment to review and you will recognize a sequential developmental thread. As the Mars/Pluto cycle has advanced, several layers have been added, several plateaus have transpired. For many, the experience has led to a widening chasm between envisioning, expectations, and the unfolding of our actual realities.
As we arrive at the culmination point of this intensification cycle, our subjective vantage point is now both better informed and newly fueled. On the day of the New Moon, March 7, Mars and Pluto will engage in the final string of three opposition aspects. The first two of the three oppositions have untied their knots across the knowledge generating sign axis of Gemini/Sagittarius. This final opposition aspect occurs across the Cancer/Capricorn polarity. For some, the sense of being backed up against the wall can rock security foundations to their core. For those who are ready and willing to forge a new identity, the experience can be akin to watching fresh concrete set.
While complexities have multiplied, options have diminished, in some cases to very stark bottom lines. Even if you feel you have come to a standstill, know that you are poised to step into a new reality. An energy surge of great momentum builds now; Mars and Pluto are about to create a new life out of the ashes of dead and dying.
Pluto, the agent of transformation, correlates to the soul’s evolving needs and desires. The sign of Capricorn correlates to our inner judgments and status quos. Pluto advance through Capricorn (now through June and Nov 2008 through 2024) is about to do a serious reconstruction job on our inner and outer crystallized realities.
Mars represents the subjective will and the assertion principle, while the sign of Cancer correlates to self-image and ego attachments. The upcoming tour of Mars through Cancer (March 4 to May 9) heats up self-preservation needs, and as the upcoming Mars/Pluto cycle unfolds (particularly intensified in this first ten days of March) we can find ourselves engaged in a dynamic battle with our separateness consciousness. This is the part of our ego that clings to the old behaviour tapes and creates inner dividedness. Pluto’s turn to retrograde motion on Mar 2 adds even more intensification. We can find ourselves fueled or confronted by anger, or inspired by a bright new potential. Uranus in Pisces is conjunct the New Moon, which suggests that the moment is infused with brilliant potential; we are about to experience a dynamic collective unfolding as well as a personal one.
As we cross this next threshold, we will learn whether the safeguards and security measures we have put in place are effective, what it is that we truly have to build with or upon, and what will carry us forward and create sustenance over the long term.
ARIES (MARCH 20 – APRIL 19)
The Mars/Pluto opposition cycle is helping you to advance a new definition for your life, which includes primary restructuring in the areas of life that count the most, i.e. home, family, career, professional profile and social status. If you have been steadily working at it, Pluto in Capricorn is gearing up to bring you more professional recognition and honors. A significant contract appears to be on the horizon, one that could set you up quite handsomely for the long term. If you are just getting started, know that the clock is set on critical. Don’t waste time – use it wisely. Emotional boundaries and financial strongholds also need to be readdressed. Face reality and draw the lines where necessary. Re family, your authority can be greatly challenged, or your parental status can shift. Concerns for aging parents can also grow; make sure they feel your consistent support.
TAURUS (April 20 – May 20)
You are about to move out of a stalemate, stuck, or plateau position and it calls for a great leap of faith. The past is your springboard; the Mars/Pluto opposition offers a big opportunity to steer yourself onto a completely new track and to embark upon a completely new lifestyle. You can stick with the familiar, but it can’t stay the same, you’ll have to create a variation on the theme or it won’t carry you too far. You are about to see everything in a new light, and your world reflects this back to you too. Expand your professional repertoire or social network, branch out into a new market, step onto a new vocational or educational path, relocate for better prospects, or hop on a plane for an educational opportunity. For some, the second go ‘round can be the charm. The Mars/Pluto opposition can also advance a key relationship, perhaps with a sibling, a friend, a mentor, an agent, or an extended family member. For some, it can be time to talk of a new business or team up a travel adventure with a trusted friend or sibling.
GEMINI (May 20 – June 20)
Reaching a greater level of security, both emotionally and financially is your present challenge. There may also be trust, commitment, abandonment, or sexual issues to confront; the biological clock, lack of interest or desire, repressed memories, birth traumas, sexual politics, fears, indiscretions etc. Whatever the core compulsions are, it’s important to unlock what’s there; the issue(s) may have stifled, stunted, or even arrested your growth. Therapy or counseling (psychological or financial) can be immensely helpful. For those on a spiritual or metaphysical path, past life regression work, evolutionary astrology, and other such healing modalities can be extremely useful. The Mars/Pluto opposition can draw attention to gambling or other addictions, or bring the need for medical attention, even surgery. Unfinished soul contracts between trusted allies, lovers, or parent and child reach a key transition point now. For some, soul enmeshment can be a very difficult thing to surpass. For those irresistibly pulled into new relationships, a very strong sense of déjà vu and fated-ness can be felt. Uranus aligned with the Mar 7 New Moon in Pisces suggests the very great opportunity to shatter through to some old, perhaps even ancient memory pools, and to start on the road to the healing of deeply imbedded and “alive” traumas. This New Moon also suggests that world economic factors play a big part in your private life material wellbeing. It is not the time for financial risk, but it is a time to invest heavily for your long-range security.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
The past six months or so have seen you through an incubation or hatching period. You could have also been busy in research and observation mode, or perhaps you have felt that some of your more precious life goals have been on the backburner. You may have felt this time as lull period, or it may have provided the opportunity to do some private healing or soul searching. Mars in Cancer now begins you on a new two-year program of self-discovery and of re-discovery (of life’s grace and abundance.) You may feel the current transition cycle as your golden opportunity for a second chance or second shot re a cherished goal, or perhaps you have just been given a clean bill of health. Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn will find you throwing your weight around a little more out there in the relationship arena. You’ll want to be taken more seriously as a professional, an artist, an equal, a citizen, etc. If you exert yourself/thrust yourself forward with passion, they will sit up and take notice. The New Moon in Pisces could provide exceptional opportunity or a stroke of luck. Trust, dream, believe, create. Don’t play middle of the road – aspire higher!
LEO (JULY 22 – AUG 21)
Pluto in Sagittarius has graced one of the most gifted positions of your chart; hopefully you have felt this transit as abundance and opportunity. In some cases, being singled out by this planetary influence has meant a solitary journey too; it has been time for you to be your own best lover. Now that you have had ample time to develop a guiding philosophy and a more distinct sense of self and direction, Pluto’s journey through Capricorn is ready to set new anchors in place. It’s time to turn the conceptual into reality (or as they say, put your money where your mouth is.) Mars in Cancer will help you to ignite endless resourcefulness. If you have been blinded to the true reality, the current Mars/Pluto opposition can expose your soft underbelly, especially where health, work, productivity and material matters are concerned. Know that uncertainty or insecurity can be a positive catalyst too – it’s the breeding ground of genius. On another note, leave nothing to chance, and make sure to safeguard your health, your material assets and the people you love most.
VIRGO (Aug 22 – Sept 21)
Something very significant may have been crushed, crumbled, or broken down entirely while this key Mars/Pluto opposition has been underway. Through it all, you may have discovered just how human you really are, and how limited or finite your world has been. A severing of ties (with a family member or a professional situation), a transition, miscarriage, or an end of the road may have put you through a particularly difficult life chapter. Financial or career losses could have been quite devastating too. We face our challenges for a reason; know that you have chosen to “up the ante” on yourself. You have to cut these deep roots and or umbilical cords, with another perhaps, but more importantly with your inner self, to wash away that which has inhibited your true self autonomy. It’s all part of the strengthening program and ultimately will provide you with a more solid platform from which to build. You’ll look back in years to come and marvel at how well you triumphed over this key passage. (You can start wearing your hair long now, just like all the other mythic gods and goddesses!) This next stage of the Mars/Pluto opposition tests your creator abilities and your trust in your deserving. The New Moon in Pisces aligned with Uranus suggests you are the only who can set yourself free. Dream it and call it into being. You can be anybody you want to be, your potentials are only limited by your own desire. Have fun with the blank slate. Experiment, explore, socialize, soar.
LIBRA (Sept.23 – Oct.22)
It’s time to get ambitious. Pluto in Capricorn brings you to a time of ripened conditions. The key learning for you is to take on the responsibility of building your own internal security and success fortress, rather than to rely on the support or needs of others to provide the defining backdrop or prompt. No one should be riding you, no matter who they are. Mars in Cancer will compel you (or force you) to be more assertive and to establish better boundaries. Tolerance levels can be tested, by the time the Mars/Pluto cycle is done with you, you should have developed a new set of rules (get out of the grey zone; it’s time to don the black or white perspective.) Your marketability can go through a testing time too. You’ll be learning the ropes as you go along, but whether you recognize it or not, you have already gained substantial muscle through this last six-month practice period. For some, the current Mars/Pluto cycle can bring the time for a significant career plunge, perhaps from the corporate world to home based or an independent small business. For all, it’s a matter of planting yourself in a career that brings not only financial benefit, but that also pumps-up on emotional fulfillment. For some, parenting roles grow more consuming. You relationship experience could deliver a roll reversal or find the shoe on the other foot. Uranus and the New Moon in Pisces can make life easier, relieve you of pressure or worry or find you outgrowing a previously cherished dream that is no longer relevant. This New Moon can bring new work potentials, new understandings, healings, or healers, and help you to tap into resources and potentials you had not previously seen. On the other hand, the New Moon and the Mars/Pluto opposition could find you completely entrenched (or addicted.) If so, recognize that you need outside help and support, and don’t suffer silently, reach out for the help you need.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23 – Nov. 21)
This last Mars/Pluto opposition can take you out of a holding pattern. In fact, life could launch in a big way. Publishing projects, public appearances, legal dealings, teaching or coaching ambitions, educational undertakings and expanded marketing opportunities are about to move to the next step up. You could travel more; your products could reach a wider audience too. More encouragement and welcome from the world at large should be quite evident. Uranus and the New Moon on Mar 7 can take your creativity or potentials to new heights. You can be gifted with extraordinary success, both in professional activities and in affairs of the heart. An exceptional love can appear, whether it is a lover, a child or spiritual teacher. Express it to the max. Your work as an artist, designer, teacher, or visionary can bring you added fame; you are a translator for the collective voice. Your timely messages can speak for us all.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov.22 – Dec. 21)
The Mars Pluto opposition can now bring a complete turnabout in financial matters, joint ventures, shared resources, and intimate relationship needs. Your survival skills may have been put to a supreme test. The stage settings of the past six months are now fully in place; the conditions are ripe for re-juicing, and for seizing the fresh advantages now placed before you. The first ten days of the month bring a peak blossoming time for creative endeavors. It’s time to implement your newly devised strategies, and to get started on projects, ambitions or relationships that have sat in the pending files. With Uranus and the New Moon in Pisces, you could hear the voice of god-dess inside you, soothing you, energizing you, prompting you. Pluto in Capricorn will continue to prompt you to think of your long-term needs and help you to put more secure anchors in place. Whatever you relinquish, free up, or let go of now, will simply create a better atmosphere/more fresh air for the new growth.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19)
Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn is especially revolutionizing for your sign. Your physical appearance or physical surroundings may have already been dramatically transformed, or you are standing at the threshold now. Those born around Dec. 22 will feel the intensity of Mars/Pluto cycle more so than those born later in the sign. While you can find yourself poised at a new beginning or a culminating point of significance, you are really at the midpoint of a larger transition cycle. You have most likely been working out relationship needs, dependencies, and enmeshment issues for some time now. The Mars/Pluto opposition will illuminate more concrete evidence of your progress to date and of the work that still lies in front of you. Until you get to where you feel you want to be, you can still feel the polarization between what you need to from yourself and the need or expectations of others. Relationship conflicts serve to teach you how to become more present for yourself and to stop sacrificing so much for the sake of the balancing act or for the sake of peacekeeping. There’s an artful lesson in learning how to relinquish; do it gracefully, graciously and stay solidly on purpose.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18)
Pluto in Capricorn will loan you strength and added support from a background position. Along with Uranus in Pisces and the vibrant New Moon on Mar 7, the current transits can also energize undercurrents within your psyche or unleash previously hidden talents, resources, or latent potentials. You could feel the dynamic presence of spirit guiding you, or receive stronger support from healers, hidden allies, or even from welfare programs. It is a time when the strong hands of fate are actively at work, and you can feel it strongly. A deeper commitment or more regimentation toward meditation, yoga or spiritual practice can bring immense benefit and soothe a tired soul. Mars in Cancer puts the focus on your daily routines, your mundane work and your heath and wellness maintenance programs. The Mars/Pluto opposition can be just the ticket to help you to break a bad habit, or it may be the prompt that gets you going on a new job, a new attitude, or brings you a renewed dedication to a path of service. On a cautionary note, it’s important to know healthy parameters. You can be slowed down by health issues or by the need to take more time out to repair or console a tender heart. Ultimately, you are in an experimental reinvention cycle, one that finds you just at the brink of so much personal growth. When you feel overwhelmed, remember to take things one at a time, rather than to view it from the big picture perspective.
PISCES (Feb. 19 – March 20)
Uranus in Pisces aligned with the New Moon on Mar 7 can bring the exceptional into being. This statement is especially so for those born within a couple of day range of the New Moon. An amazing adventure is about to begin; surprises are in store. To a large extent, it could be a rollercoaster ride, but the Mars/Pluto opposition suggests a wonderful feeling of liberation accompanies the advantages and opportunities that are placed before you now. Your intuition serves you well, so listen up! Your creativity can be a wellspring; fertility is also greatly heightened. While experimentation is called for, be especially careful with financial speculation. The Mars/Pluto opposition could bring a complete reversal. Things that you bank on as secure, may not be, while the long shots can prove to be thoroughbred racehorses. It can be hard to tell which is which. Test the waters, but rely on the advent of time to be your guide. One thing is for sure and that is your need to set yourself free. Don’t take on anything that clips your wings.