Mars Busts A Move

By Len Wallick

It’s Monday and there’s a lot going on. Over the weekend Jupiter made its way into Aries. At the time it was  conjoined with the Moon. That’s right, they crossed the Aries point within minutes of each other. Hopefully this time corresponded with some emotional relief and a refreshed sense of possibility for you. Tomorrow the big conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus will be exacted but for all intents and purposes, we are in the midst of it right now.

Today has a significant sign transit of its own and it fits in with the rest — the first full day of Mars into Virgo. Take a minute and let that one sink in. With Chiron in Pisces for the first time in over four decades, Uranus is in Aries for the first time in over 75 years and with Jupiter yet. Add Pluto in Capricorn along with Neptune revisiting its discovery and Saturn soon coming home to Libra and it’s pretty easy to forget that Mars has been in Leo, the sign ruled by the Sun, since October 16, 2009.

Think about that. Over the last eight months Mars has become Leo. Leo has become Mars. Now it’s over, for a couple of years at least. This is not a trial transit. No toe in the water like Chiron, Uranus and Jupiter — each due to retrograde back a sign later this year before making a long term commitment. No sirree, Mars in Leo is kaput. It’s a whole new day.

It might do well to start off by taking a basic look at the signs involved in this Mars transit. Each sign is associated with one of the four classical elements of western alchemy. Either earth, air, fire or water. Because there are twelve signs, elements divide them into four groups of three. Separated by 120 degrees, signs of the same element form the aspect called a trine. Leo’s element is fire.

Fire, as experienced here on earth is a form of oxidation. That is to say that oxygen combines with something else which can broadly be described as fuel. There are two fundamental results. First there is a release of energy that existed in the chemical bonds that held the molecules and atoms of the fuel together. This energy is, at the very least in the form of heat and often visible light as well.

The second consequence of combustion is a change of form. The oxygen forms a chemical bond with part of the fuel to become something else, leaving the rest behind transmuted in form and function.

In astrology, the fire signs are associated with physical energy, assertive enthusiasm and aggressive courage. Fire is forthright zeal and not subtle. Following the doctrine of signatures (looks like a duck, walks like a duck, etc.), the red planet is a good match for the spirit of the warrior that characterizes a fire sign.

In addition to the elements, each sign is associated with a quality. Either cardinal, fixed or mutable. The Sun, when ingressing into the first degree of a cardinal sign, corresponds to a change of seasons. Fixed signs follow cardinal signs. Mutable signs follow fixed signs and precede the next cardinal. The qualities divide the zodiac into three groups of four. Like qualities are separated by ninety degrees, the aspect known as a square.

Leo is a fixed sign. Fixed signs, as implied by their name, are associated with crystallizing and stabilizing the pattern of a new season. Persistence, stamina and determination are also associated with fixed sign quality. Mars, being associated more with conquest and transmutation than consolidation, is not as comfortable with the fixed quality of Leo as it is with the fire element.

Thus, Mars in Leo found more sympathy and greater expression with the element than the quality. It was a period to become aware of our passions and desires. It was a time to experience our physical and energetic being with gusto. It was an opportunity to get things out of our system every which way we could so as to focus and think more clearly.

Hence Mars into Virgo, a mutable earth sign, ruled by Mercury. Say earth sign and you imply the state of being grounded. The exchange, evaluation and enjoyment of material things are at the core of an earth sign’s identity. This is an element that combines a sensual nature with a practical approach. Say mutable and you imply adaptable. Rather than stubbornly holding ground like their fixed counterparts, a mutable sign prioritizes solution and preparation for change.

Pulling it all together, lets put today’s Mars transit to Virgo in context. Shifting from a sign ruled by the Sun to one ruled by Mercury re-directs but does not dissipate the intense energy of Mars. From expression to intellect, from physical to mental, from a broad perception to a narrow focus. Temper this with an earthy practicality and you add precision. Blend in a mutable predilection for a shift of perspective and you harness invention. Precede it with the Moon-Jupiter conjunction on the Aries Point and you usher in with optimism. Follow it with the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction and you add a huge surge of energy. The type of energy that can forge a breakthrough and overcome what seemed to be insurmountable. Something we could use a little more of around here.

And let’s not forget, Virgo’s opposing sign is Pisces. In the first degree of Pisces is the inconvenient benefic, Chiron. Mars moving into Virgo means an opposition with Chiron. That opposition will exact tomorrow, on the same day as the extraordinary conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus.

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