{"id":52601,"date":"2012-02-01T00:01:46","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T05:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=52601"},"modified":"2012-02-01T15:55:40","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T20:55:40","slug":"venus-opposite-mars-astrology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/astro-daily\/venus-opposite-mars-astrology\/","title":{"rendered":"Venus Opposite Mars: All Things are Not Equal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Eric Francis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it’s done and over, a man is just a man.<\/em>
\n— John Perry Barlow<\/p>\n

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012<\/strong><\/a>. Today Venus is opposite Mars. Or rather, Venus in Pisces is opposite retrograde Mars in Virgo. An opposition is an aspect that can represent a standoff or impasse. This is not always true; if you have oppositions in your chart, you may be familiar with the different ways they express themselves, until you get a handle on the energy and take control of the inner qualities represented by the aspect.<\/p>\n

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That’s another way of saying take ownership of both sides of the opposition rather than projecting one of the planets onto others and having it express itself as a standoff or power struggle. In male-female relations, that can be a challenge. <\/p>\n

It would be less of a challenge if, for example, every marketing department in the world were not working around the clock to exploit the differences between men and women; if there were not so much pressure on both sexes to have so many expectations on the other; if there were any tolerance at all of different approaches to relationship; and if women and men could have any vestige of their traditional roles without being made wrong and wanting it all, at the same time.<\/p>\n

Yes, if only. So in this environment, when we see an opposition between Venus and Mars, the first thing that comes to mind is that there’s some kind of antipathy in the air.<\/p>\n

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Yet if we consider the sky carefully, we get a message — and the message is that all things are not equal. We find Venus in direct motion, in a sign where she has strong dignity — Pisces. Venus in Pisces is a woman who is encouraged to be a woman, and is happy being so. <\/p>\n

We find Mars in Virgo — a planet and sign that are not so simpatico with one another; and Mars is retrograde. This is Mars compromised in his masculinity, in his power of assertion and basically reduced to an idea. Looked at another way, Mars is spending some time inside the feminine mind (represented by Virgo), compelled by circumstances to be reflective, to analyze carefully, to consider the psychology of the situation. <\/p>\n

We live in a time in history when men are routinely conditioned to be less like men, that is to say, more feminine, which would be okay except that they’re often expected to man up, on command. It is a strange double bind, and it’s not usually spoken of openly; it’s not politically correct to consider the situation and indeed the plight of men. Just like there is not White Awareness Month, there is no Mens’ Rights movement — why do men need any more rights than they already have?<\/p>\n

Yes, well, let’s not play that game. This particular setup, with the signs involved and the special condition of Mars retrograde, is a shout-out to men to figure out just what their situation is — whatever it might be. The message is to define yourself, as you want to define yourself. Stand apart and stand back if you have to — whatever it takes to be yourself, from the inside out.<\/p>\n

One other thing. For hetero men, there is always this idealized vision of Woman, the Impeccable. Despite how much of that is an image cultivated by 90 minutes’ preparation to be seen by the world, it’s a powerful archetype and the subject of plenty of projection. Real independence begins when that projection is called back and fully credited to one’s own vision or experience. That is to say, own your inner woman and then you’ll start to be on equal terms with all the other women around you.<\/p>\n

Additional coverage of Neptune in Aquarius is at the Reality Check<\/span><\/a><\/span> diary.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your<\/strong> personal Sun and rising signs? Eric Francis interprets the signs every week, every month and every year. Weekly and monthly horoscopes are in Planet Waves and Planet Waves Light<\/strong><\/a>. Annual readings are in a special edition called Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it’s done and over, a man is just a man. — John Perry Barlow Today is Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. Today Venus is opposite Mars. Or rather, Venus in Pisces is opposite retrograde Mars in Virgo. An opposition is an aspect that can represent a standoff or impasse. This is not always true; if … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1734],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52601"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}