Mars and Havoc on Romance?

 

April 28, 2006

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/apr28.html

 

Dear Eric

 

I'm writing to ask a question, which is how does the topic of the genders fearing one another relate to the astrology we are experiencing right now? Are the movements of Mars and Psyche causing widespread romantic catastrophe? What is going on?

 

Cheers and Best Wishes

(your correspondent wishes to remain anonymous)

 

 

Dear Anonymous Correspondent:

 

This is, of course, all strictly a matter of opinion, but I'll give you a few. First of all, spring is most definitely in the air, up here in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

Though the Sun is in Taurus, Aries has been the dominant energy for some weeks, and something called the Aries Point is still being aspected by Mars in Cancer. Mercury has made a conjunction to the lunar nodes, and Mars has squared them -- and these push the issue of personal evolution. We are still under the influences of an Aries total solar eclipse. Venus is heading into this sign fairly soon.

 

In a word: individuation. The energy pushing us to be who we are has been torrential. And this is one of the paradoxes of relationships in our current world: how can we possibly put so much emphasis on being a self-aware individual and still relate to another?

 

The answer is we need to relate to an individual as another individual -- and this is easier said than done. Relationships as we are conditioned to have them involve surrendering vast inner territory to the common space of the relationship. Most people, having never claimed that space for themselves, don't exactly miss it, but when they suddenly wake up to needing their inner resources, needing to claim some territory, needing to access their self-awareness for themselves, that can be disruptive to relationships that have depended on that inner space.

 

You could make a similar metaphor about identity. Often people find their identity through a relationship, or come to experience themselves as the 'self' who is in the relationship. When a new experience of personhood comes to the surface; when we feel compelled to change, grow and become who we really are, that can create instability.

 

Psyche, which you mention, has recently made an opposition to the Galactic Core. I will leave you with one last metaphor, spiritual rather than humanistic. What if a lot of people in relationships begin to respond to a calling to their true purpose, both in the context of their personal relationships and in the larger lives they are leading?

 

There are three possibilities. One, both partners in the relationship start to vibrate with the information or calling that's coming through, and share the experience. The second is that they live with a lot of tension. The third is that they grow apart, gradually losing awareness of one another's realities.

 

You could say this emphasizes the issue of purpose. We live in a time that extols the value of relationship for its own sake, as if it were its own purpose. And often that works fine. But at other times, other purposes, necessities and callings emerge. People respond to influences that cause them to rethink the purpose of their lives differently. And then the purpose of relationships basically has to change, because they are so integral to life.

 

That's my theory, anyway.