The emphasis on boundaries, truth telling and assertiveness continues this week, as retrograde Mars in Libra opposes the Sun in Aries (exact 5:03 pm EDT Tuesday). If you’ve often noticed a general reluctance to have an honest statement of opinions — whether in certain personal relationships or in society at large — the beginning of the week will likely bring the nature of confrontation and direct engagement into clearer focus.
In astrology the Sun represents our so-called ego-consciousness, which is basically our awareness of self.
Mars is the planet of volition and desire; it’s the energy in astrology that gives us an internally based, self-directed push forward (as opposed to feeling as though something is acting upon you from the outside).
In the signs Aries and Libra, we get an encounter between a very strong need to be independent and an equally strong investment in a relationship (or even the concept of ‘relationship’).
Oppositional tension often manifests as feeling like you’re pulled between two opposite desires or values. Planets in opposition also tend to express themselves in our interactions with other people, rather than simply being felt internally.
Are you in a situation where what ‘the relationship’ asks for does not match up with the direction toward which you feel individually drawn? Notice when you’re not being real and then experiment with being real. It will take some courage, but that is different from perfect confidence.
You don’t have to know that things will be ‘easy’; you only need to feel sincerely that you’re being honest with yourself. Once you establish that, you offer that honesty to the person you’re relating to. What transpires next might bring you into contact with discomfort or the type of emotions many people work hard to avoid. But at least you’ll know that what you’re dealing with is real; that is where confidence follows from: knowing that you’re standing on solid ground, in integrity.