Mars is making its way through the last degrees of Gemini, and will ingress Cancer on Saturday at 9:22 am EDT. This change of gender for the planet representing the male principle brings up questions about ‘maleness’. Gemini, like all air signs, may technically be classified as a masculine sign, but its ruler blurs the lines of gender identity just enough to make things interesting.
Mercury, ruler of Gemini, is said to be rather androgynous. And of course, Gemini is a sign marked by duality. That duality takes many forms, but can sometimes come through as some level of bisexuality (or having two distinct and contrasting sexual wavelengths/personas). Mars in this sign tends to be verbally agile, energetic and mechanically minded. But raise your hand if you look at Mars in Gemini and think, ‘Boy, that looks like some hot kink in the bedroom that could go both ways if it could just focus its energy’.
Which brings up a question: how static is the concept of maleness? Is it only ever that aspect of us that is driven, action-oriented, penetrating, dominating and assertive? Does ‘maleness’ give up something of itself when it allows a wider spectrum of desire or manifestation?
This weekend, Mars moves from an androgynous sign (in terms of its ruler) to possibly the most feminine sign of all: Cancer, which is ruled by the Moon and stands for emotions, nurturing and home. The Moon is even a symbol of women’s menses, which roughly follow the Moon’s cycles (albeit with great variation).
What happens when the planet of maleness enters the sign of ultimate femaleness? Traditional texts tend to emphasize Mars’ tendency to get overly emotional, and to have none of its typical outward ‘fight’, instead holding things in and ‘steaming’. But steam, when applied with focus, can be very powerful and propulsive.
What happens to ‘maleness’ when it gets dressed up in feminine form? This is not about cross-dressing; all women have an inner masculine and feminine, and so do all men. So if women do not completely lack drive, desire and the ability to assert action, why should Mars in Cancer? What happens to ‘maleness’ when it allows passivity, receptivity or a sensitivity to cycles? What is ‘maleness’, anyway?
With Mars entering a conjunction to Jupiter not long after its entrance to Cancer, we have a unique opportunity to watch for the ways the planet of expansion affects the planet of maleness in a feminine sign. It just may be an opportunity to step forth with true confidence and results in whatever matter you most care for.
I just came across a bit from Norse mythology that illustrates the strength of the vulnerable and soft: the only leash that ever could hold the Fenris Wolf came from the dwarves and was made from the footfalls of cats and the breath of fish. Thor tried to restrain the wolf with his version of strength and failed.
Cos being vulnerable and gentle is associated with being weak, when it’s quite the opposite. To quote the mystic and teacher Ruth White, on the heart chakra: “As the heart opens we reveal and declare ourselves to the world. We put ourselves ‘on line’. It is only when we are prepared to be vulnerable and tender in this way that we can give tenderness, true feeling and compassion to others”. (from Working with your chakras).
Thank you, dear! Do hope you’re getting your tooth sorted too. Love your comment. You know – was thinking about it and think that the greatest strength, in both men and women, is the courage to be vulnerable and gentle, in a world that sees aggression and productivity as the highest good.
Lizzy: tooth stuff, glad you got that taken care of.
Firehorse: I’m opposite. Biologically male, feeling a glittering spectrum of identities that don’t fit culture’s idea of maleness. Saturn in Cancer, Mars in Taurus, Moon in Gemini, Lilith conjunct Sun: would rather be an exile than a slave. I suspect a lot of folk think I’m gay since I appear as a beardy guy on a bike a lot of the time. Too soft to fit the male box, too strong to fit the female box, what is this thing? Binary codes again. Strong woman? Soft man? Without the ‘maybe’ these options are invisible.
Maleness: Hallucinations of the Empire builders and duellistic philosophers who can only see binary. Since their philosophy doesn’t contain a ‘maybe’ between the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ their world is always violent. It takes a lot of energy to maintain the dualistic notions in a world based on triads and circles. It takes a lot of energy to give life to lies. Allowing for the maybe you don’t have to react with duellistic scorn when a sentient being fails to fit the notions of the binary view. Maybe allows the binary to mimic the complexity of living systems. Yes/No leaves out a lot of human intelligence, sacrificed on the altar of the flatlanders.
I love it Amanda! Of course he can swim! That just means the warrior will have to take his heavy armor off. Is that what happens when Mars enters Cancer?
such great input, layers of meaning and questions from everyone! so glad this is resonating.
be — i love the idea of spectrum being a cycle, rather than being limited to polarity.
green-star — the character-spectrum also makes complete sense to me, and yes, it does sound like a lot of complexity to navigate. but i agree that limiting potential to one end or the other of a character’s spectrum is, well, limiting. 🙂
i, too, have mars in cancer (in my first house) where it seems to be in constant struggle with my saturn. but i have been getting to know it in layers: first understanding that it has a hand in my quick reactions of anger when i encounter physical pain (if the pain is caused accidentally by another, my emotional reaction often seems to indicate i take it personally, even though i know it was not intentional). i *think * i’m beginning to rein that in a little — or at least, i know to warn loved ones that i’m not mad at them, i’m mad at the pain.
later came my understanding of just why i *need* to be physically active regularly, and noticing that when i am not, or when my mars is taking certain transits, i get *very* fidgety and annoyed and distracted if i cant get up and run or do some deep stretching or *something* that pushes my body. i go back and forth between loving to push myself physically, and giving in to my taurus sun… which is happy enough just to relax and feel good sometimes. 🙂
in researching this post a little, it finally sunk in why i seem to get the most defensive, emotionally reactive and combative with those closest to me (my immediate family, especially my mother, as well as anyone i’m in a close partnership with). and since they are closest, they are the most likely to be able to push buttons (intentionally or not), or their words/actions feel close enough to throw me off balance (whether they intend to or not). the crab shell closes up, and i start snapping those claws…
but it has made sense for *ages* to me why few physical activities (except perhaps dance) bring me the utter joy and sense of being at home that swimming does. i can swim in a lake all afternoon.
divacarla — mars doesn’t need a boat. he just needs to remember how great it feels to push against the water with his limbs perfectly coordinated with his breath, slicing through the surface with power and grace. 😉 yup, mars can definitely swim. he just needs to remember how good it can feel, and how strong, compared to just splashing around…
When I was learning Astrology (for the first time this lifetime) I was introduced to the concept of seeing every “character” as having a spectrum of it’s own. Each sign, planet, asteroid, house, element, quality and even aspect has a spectrum of potential frequency which ranged from low-vibration to high. In the low-vibration end of the spectrum we find the characteristics which represent the coarsest aspects of that “character”. The spectrum then shows us the range of other qualities that the character might have available to it right up to the highest frequencies/vibrations. I found this method to be very helpful because it allowed for the range of expression that each character was rooted in in quantum terms, and it was my job as interpreter to figure out where on the spectrum a character was expressing. This left open the possibility that any part of the chart could evolve to the higher frequencies of its own spectrum. I’ve also noticed that higher frequency characters can help raise up lower frequency characters as the native grows and experiences life….and sadly, the opposite can also be true if different choices are made.
Seeing things in terms of spectra gives more range for interpretation and it complicates things immensely. Our innate desire to see the highest/best in people however can also be a detriment because for every spectrum of expression, it must be kept in mind that there also exists shadow material for that spectrum….sometimes equally broad and dark. I find that the rational mind alone is unable to track with such complexity of layering and that instinct/intuition must be used to give a more accurate picture of what is going on. This is why a good human Astrologer or Tarot reader is always better than even the best computer program because the human possesses intuition and can receive nudges from non-rational sources.
Elemental polarities such as “femaleness” or “maleness” have the largest spectra of expression and shadow material. Much of it is based on the times and cultures/societies we live in. What was considered a strong expression of maleness in 15th century England will not compare to present century America, for instance. Ideal Indonesian maleness is hardly even recognized as male by most western cultures it is so gentle and “soft”. Feudal Japan had its own spectrum of what it considered proper maleness… yet we in the West can barely appreciate the nuanced spectrum that culture expected from its highest expressions of male qualities.
In our modern, Western cultures we seem to slice those spectra up and compartmentalize even more. Thus, a working class male seems to have a different narrowed range of choices within which to express his maleness than say a liberal, left-leaning academic who also has a narrowed range of choices but different one. Yet both are expressing their maleness within their expected/socially-permitted spectrum. When an individual crosses those unwritten boundaries we take notice: a shy, working class young man who sings opera beautifully can suddenly become a super-star. A football player who devotes his time to charity work is more loved by the fans. The act of breaking the boundaries of stereotypes allows the native to break into a whole new spectrum of experience and expression and while it often is uncomfortable, and may not always succeed socially, it is something we humans seem to relish and treasure when it does work because we recognize the risk and courage it takes to step outside of the box, whatever it may be.
Thanks for the heads up once again:-)
Thanks for the interesting discussion and take on Mars in Cancer. I have a natal conjunction of Jupiter and Mars in late Cancer. I am biologically female but have a strong inner male that has been often “off-putting” and even scary to men, unless they are very confident in their own sexuality. Throughout my life many people have thought I was a lesbian, though I have experimented here and there and found that I really prefer men. I have had threesomes, but with multiple men. Yes, a fantasy that has actually manifested more than once, again, with men who are very secure in their own sexuality.
All of the trad astrological interpretations of Mars in Cancer are so denigrating about it being weak and in its detriment, like a castrated male. But being a woman I find my Mars more at home in my own body, although it has been something I have had to grow into, accept, and enjoy, apart from society’s expectations of what “a girl” should be. Just thought I would share.
Provocative inquiry you set up with this reading, Amanda. Provocative in the sense of raising questions, and inviting observation and an open mind. It would be interesting to revisit this in a month or so, to see what we learned, male and female, about how Mars showed up in Cancer. With lots of aspects coming right up, including conjunctions with two Liliths, there will opportunity to feel Mars, perhaps in contrast to the feminine energy, or changed by it. I am pretty focused on Lilith right now, as she is illuminated here in Cancer.
I just took a look at Lilith in the chart today. Mars and Jupiter are moving together in the “Lilith Corridor”, and Jupiter is conjunct BML. Whatever these guy gods get up to together, they will be contending with the Dark Feminine.
Mars is going to need a boat to get across Cancer. There are so many grand water trines activated I can’t even count them. I feel right at home.
I encourage you all to look at Lilith, and listen to the interview from Tuesday PW.fm if you haven’t. Lilith is demanding our attention right now. Mars and Jupiter are giving showing up with/for her.
“The word ‘moon’ in English and it cognate in other languages are rooted in the base ‘ME’ meaning measure (as in Greek METRON, and in the English METER and MEASURE), reminding us of the moon’s primitive service as the first universal measurer of time.” (from Daniel J. Boorstin’s book ‘The Discoverers’)
If Moon is “based in” measurement (as in MENSES) then perhaps there was a time when the word MEN described some measurement of a cycle, or maybe just one end of a spectrum whose other end was WOMEN. If so, then wouldn’t “maleness” do much the same? If this spectrum is a cycle then any “male” planet in a “female” sign would neutralize or ‘center’ the energy so as to harmonize the two extremes I would imagine.
In this particular instance, the masculine strength, aggression, assertion (Mars) would be combined with the masculine expansion, exploration, understanding (Jupiter) in a new cycle of its own, and this time within a base of feminine nurturing, protectiveness, feeling (Cancer). It seems to me that this would provide a point in the cycle to increase the blending (or neutralizing) of the two ends of the spectrum in the (seemingly) never-ending attempt to find balance. Put another way, move out of the polarization – the duality level of existence and into a higher level less extreme than the present one. Less primitive you might say.
be
Thank you Len! I’m truly delighted!
Smailing, sounds like you’re doing amazing work on yourself.
I love the film Taking Woodstock, by Ang Lee. Apart from being a wonderful story about that incredible event, it’s a beautiful portrait of a coming of age, of a boy’s reconciliation with his parents, through taking charge of his own life and understanding the immense hardships his (Jewish, as are mine) parents lived through and survived,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127896/
you are right, lizzy: we can find what we were missing in childhood – male/female strength and protection – in becoming adult, in feeling and expressing it ourselves, i find that a little scary too, because it feels strange, but i´m a lot more grateful anyway.
thanks to you amanda for pointing to a motive/concept/complex that was stirring me up for months now.
trans mars made a trine to trans nessus (r) just a few hours ago. the buck stops here.
Amanda: Bravo! Thank you.
Lizzy: Bravo! Thank you.
Your contributions today are gratefully received.
I love your questions about Mars and maleness, Amanda! Great stuff! It’s all about yiin and yang, about balance, isn’t it? These long scary months since losing a major job, showed me how tough I’ve become over the years and as the work is finally comng in again – that I’m able to take care of myself and survive (with fingers still crossed though!). In this I see my father’s amazing resilience and resourcefulness. Yesterday I had to face another big fear, I had to have a tooth cleaned out and recostructed, after days of pain and worry (thinking of you, dear wandering_yeti!). I did a kind of survey around friends, students, colleagues, to find a good dentist. I ‘completely’ trusted my instincts on this – and in fact found a brilliant dentist, who is also very cheap, and totally respected my financial situation – said he would only see me for this emergency, and work on the rest when possible for me. In this nurturing and taking care of myself I saw my mother. Instead of concentrating on the wounds and neuroses of a difficult childhood, I’m able to appreciate my parents’ incredible strength, resilience, and love, in spite of all the horrors they lived through as they grew up. As I finally ‘grow up’ and away from the needy child in me, I become fully able to take care of myself – which involves a good dose of both male and female energies, of ‘mothering’ and ‘fathering’ oneself and others.