WE ARE NOW UP TO MARS RETROGRADE, the last major astrological event of 2022 and the great warmup to the Pluto in Aquarius era that begins March 23, 2023. Retrogrades — particularly of inner planets — represent review phases. This one lasts between Oct. 30, 2022 and Jan. 12, 2023. I first covered Mars retrograde in an article from July called Rumors.
Retrogrades of distant, slow-moving planets, in my view, represent layered processes of moving forward in an incremental way, so that the work of the transit does not have to be done all at once. They often work in entirely different ways from inner-planet retrogrades. But all retrogrades point inward, and point to the past. They describe what has been suppressed.
Mars is retrograde second-least of all the planets, about 9.4% of the time. Venus is retrograde least of all, about 7.2% of the time, due to its proximity to Earth. For contrast, Mercury is retrograde about 19% of the time, and Pluto is retrograde about 44% of the time. (You can find the sources for this data not on the internet but in an essential go-to book for all serious students of astrology, the late, great Neil F. Michelsen’s Tables of Planetary Phenomena.)
Every single day, we are confronted with unbelievable developments about which we can do very little. This has a paralyzing effect, and leads people to turn their anger and resentment on themselves, which they experience mostly as guilt.
Mars Issues
Of all the planets, my assessment after decades of practicing astrology is that humans have issues with Mars. We are trained — all of us — to be aggressive, competitive and selfish, and to celebrate those things as holy virtues. This may happen at home; it may happen through cultural conditioning. There is plenty of “screw the other guy before he screws you” included in what we consider the usual way of the world.
Then there is anger. My old friend Debbe on Vashon Island used to say that everyone needs anger management. Our whole society stews in rage, and this is often baited, provoked, capitalized on and used against people. Every single day, we are confronted with unbelievable developments about which we can do very little. This has a paralyzing effect, and leads people to turn their anger and resentment on themselves, which they experience mostly as guilt.
Many huff rage like shoe polish out of a paper bag. We have come to think it’s normal that people will tailgate at 80 mph, or fly past you on the right without even signaling. Driving is a terrible place to blow off steam and yet that is where a lot of it tends to happen.
Without Mars, of course, nothing would happen. It represents initiative and desire. We all need that. I know many people who could use a good bit more than they seem capable of.
Plenty to be Angry About
We have a lot to be angry about. That is a fact. The world is in outrageous condition right now, consumed in an inferno of corruption. It’s equally enraging how many people look the other way, or spit on those who express their sincere concerns.
I am not sure which is worse. We bitch about the corruption at the top, and overlook the corrupt conduct on the human-to-human level, where people have every incentive to treat one another with respect, but often do not.
Without Mars, of course, nothing would happen. It represents initiative and desire. We all need that. I know many people who could use a good bit more than they seem capable of. Yet some use Mars like the rock bands of old used to record albums or conduct whole tours driven by cocaine.
Plenty of what you see in the world was driven by cocaine, and plenty is driven by a toxic expression of Mars. I would consider both what Chinese medicine calls “false fire.”
We learn by repetition. This, any music student knows. You do things for the first time five times, and then maybe you get the notes in the right order.
A Review Phase
Students of A Course in Miracles are familiar with the “review phases” of the work. After the first 50 workbook lessons, there is a three-week recap. After each 20 or so lessons going forward, there is a 10-day review. About a third of the workbook takes place during a review. They are reassuring, and a good example of how to gain understanding and experience.
We learn by repetition. This, any music student knows. You do things for the first time five times, and then maybe you get the notes in the right order.
While Mars retrograde only covers about 17 degrees of the zodiac, it’s a rare opportunity that comes every two years to slow down the forward thrust, cool off the engines, and reflect. There are good reasons not to do so — among them various shades of regret.
The incentive here is to mend fences with anyone you may have needlessly provoked, rejected or offended the past few years. We need atonement as a society, and many of us have conducted ourselves in ways that defy any definition of respect.
The Human Sign Gemini
It happens that Mars will be retrograde in the first of the human signs Gemini, and one whose experience is central to human affairs: commerce, communication, getting along with our neighbors, and state of mind generally.
Gemini is one of the few signs of an animal-based divination system that shows people. And when humans first appear, they show up in a pair. So Gemini is about siblings, neighbors, neighborhood merchants, housemates, and partners of all kinds.
The incentive here is to mend fences with anyone you may have needlessly provoked, rejected or offended the past few years. We need atonement as a society, and many of us have conducted ourselves in ways that defy any definition of respect.
It is also fair to open up space to express resentment and disappointment with those who have wronged us, seeking some reconciliation.
Nobody eating a steak wants to think about a slaughterhouse or cattle car. So in a sense, denial is a necessary survival tool. But eventually it becomes a way to shut out all of reality.
The Neptune Challenge
The distinction of this Mars retrograde — unlike any recent one — is that it takes place in a square to Neptune. I covered this in the recent article Dream is Destiny, also presented on Planet Waves as Is There Life on Neptune.
And I covered this recently in an article called The Fog You Cannot See. Readers please take note of my determination to make typically invisible Neptune matters into something we can understand and consider. For those who want a cohesive overview of Neptune in Pisces, please check this article from February 2020.
The challenge here is overcoming denial and self-deception. I am aware that these things serve as a system that protects the psyche from overwhelm. Nobody eating a steak wants to think about a slaughterhouse or cattle car. So in a sense, denial is a necessary survival tool. But eventually it becomes a way to shut out all of reality.
Pretty much everyone has figured out that it’s easier to make a smashing success by lying and deception than it is by having integrity. We could do with a lot less of believing the ends justify the means. Thankfully there are enough successful people who refuse to live this way who help provide for the needs of others who cannot play the game.
Fritz and Laura Perls, early pioneers of Gestalt Therapy, taught that guilt is resentment turned against itself. This starts when we are very young — earlier than we have words to describe our feelings.
The Resentment Issue
Finally, there is the dual issue of resentment and guilt. The retrograde of Mars has a “turned on itself,” which reminds me of some ideas I learned researching guilt. What is this troubling emotion that seems to serve no creative purpose? I don’t mean sincere remorse; I mean a guilty conscience.
Fritz and Laura Perls, early pioneers of Gestalt Therapy, taught that guilt is resentment turned against itself. This starts when we are very young — earlier than we have words to describe our feelings.
Generally speaking, children, being the powerful yet powerless little critters they are, take upon themselves the notion of “fault and blame.” They cannot imagine adults (who are personifications of the gods and goddesses) making an error. If they do, it’s still the “fault” of the child. “If only I would’ve done this or that, daddy wouldn’t hit me.” “If I was more quiet, mommy wouldn’t drink.” And so on.
Since they are at “fault,” they are “guilty,” and since they cannot rage against the adults very successfully or have a real impact on the direction of events, they turn the resentment at being pruned, modified, corrected, disciplined, strongly directed, or dictated to, back at themselves. That is guilt.
I suggest we devote this Mars retrograde to a healing process. Note how few people talk about healing. Public and private discussions are almost always about power, rights, resources, and supposed fairness.
Untangling the Web
It’s fair to say that our lives, so often filled with the idea that we cannot influence the direction of events (or even assert ourselves, as Mars would call on us to do), can built up considerable frustration.
We are often caught in the web of control, of bosses, of taxes, of children, and our sexual relationships, are often holographic copies of these original crushing relationships with parents and teachers and others who “lead” children.
Yet as adults, the programming, the patterns, are contained within us. They are internalized, and then show up as behaviors that we model for others.
Check it out: do we have especially creative jobs? Dare we say what we feel, go where we want, be who we are, or have sex with who we desire? Or are we pruned, modified, dictated to, and denied out of existence by our own self-control? And then the natural response is to feel guilty for even wanting some freedom, and then resenting those conditions as a result.
I suggest we devote this Mars retrograde to a healing process. Note how few people talk about healing. Public and private discussions are almost always about power, rights, resources, and supposed fairness. We need a discussion of healing and people devoted to helping make it happen.
The planets are here to teach and serve us. The whole project of astrology, properly understood, is about healing that originates on the level of ideas and moves into the emotional and physical realms. Astrology is also here to tell us what learning is suitable for specific times and places. We now know something about its specific messages this time around, at least as I observe them to be speaking to us.
Mars retrograde needs a job. This is the one that I propose.
Faithfully,
