{"id":55666,"date":"2012-04-09T00:01:32","date_gmt":"2012-04-09T04:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=55666"},"modified":"2012-04-09T16:29:01","modified_gmt":"2012-04-09T20:29:01","slug":"mars-direct-sun-conjunct-eris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/astro-daily\/mars-direct-sun-conjunct-eris\/","title":{"rendered":"Mars stations direct; Sun conjunct Eris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mars stations direct later this week, after spending about 11 weeks retrograde in Virgo. It’s slowing to a station opposite Neptune and Chiron in early Pisces. This is a week to take one step at a time; one day at a time.<\/p>\n

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Selected points when Mars stations direct, Friday April 13. Mars is the red circle with an arrow in Virgo, opposite Neptune (blue trident) and Chiron (orange key) in Pisces. That is one aspect structure. It is one of two shown that involve Mars this week, since the Sun-Vesta-Eris configuration is in Aries -- ruled by Mars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mars retrograde messes with motivation, and in Virgo, there is a self-criticism issue. This has not been an easy phase for many people.<\/p>\n

Oppositions and squares to Neptune can be exhausting, and Mars changing directions can try the patience of a saint. This is why it’s important not to push, even if you feel like you haven’t got nearly enough done in the past few weeks (as Mercury ended its retrograde). You may feel like you have to make some urgent decisions — however, there’s a strong chance they can wait, at least through the weekend. One thing that tends to happen when a planet stations direct is that information comes out<\/em>. If you act with incomplete or incorrect information, you can create complications.<\/p>\n

Decisions that are rushed or made prematurely will likely have to be made again. Plans put into action too soon — you’ll know because you might feel a certain kind of resistance, that’s telling you to pause — can have a disruptive effect. That’s why it really makes sense to work with these planetary stations; they have a strong element of ‘go with the flow’ — and at least we have some idea of when the tide is turning.<\/p>\n

Mars retrograde has served as a review, and as an opportunity for some deep investigation and processing in some area of your life, most likely connected with work, your health or your tendency to do too much for others (or too much in general).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As we enter these last few days of Mars retrograde, think back through the last two and half months (or even all the way back to November, when Mars first entered Virgo) to note the specific topics, themes and situations that are involved.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some of what we advised in the Jan. 20 installment<\/a> of the Daily Astrology (also here<\/a>), three days before Mars stationed retrograde:<\/p>\n

Mr. Cock and Balls treading backwards through the sign of the Virgin sounds like she becomes a woman in the process. Retrogrades are often recovery missions, about claiming lost energy, forgotten personal assets, and aspects of ourselves that threatened others when we were little. … I suggest being mindful of the pattern establishment quality of retrogrades. The last time anything like this happened was in early 1965, when the script was cast for the thing called The Sixties that ensued.<\/p>\n

In personal psychological astrology, this phase is a systems check for all of the high-intensity astrology that arrives in the late spring. For some, Mars retrograde in Virgo represents a calling to impeccability. For others, it\u2019s a deep self-inquiry. For still others, it\u2019s about healing desire and unhooking the many hangups that make it so difficult to express desire without guilt.<\/p>\n

You may feel a palpable calling to improve your life, your health and your wellbeing during the next few months — and it\u2019s essential that you proceed with any such quest gently. Warm up before you stretch, and remember, it\u2019s not how far you go or how good you look, it\u2019s how consciously you lean into the tension. This goes for body or mind. Virgo is given to spells of harsh self-criticism without the help of Mars, or Mars retrograde. Given this it will be helpful to think of your feelings in terms of pleasure-guilt dynamics, and to consider any approach-avoid tendencies that you have in this light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dig through your journal or calendar if the last three months have been a blur, and look for things that ring a bell. Judging by the recurring themes in the reader comments on this blog, it sounds like many readers have been on just such a journey. If you have not, or you\u2019re not quite sure, or you tend not to comment here, we\u2019d love to hear from you about your experience of Mars retrograde.<\/p>\n

Before Mars stations, the Sun makes a conjunction to two planets in Aries. Mars is still connected to Aries even when it’s in another sign, so the Sun’s aspects are connected to Mars changing directions. The Sun will be conjunct Vesta in Aries and then Eris, Mars\u2019 mythological sister. This can stir the pot on your sense of not quite being sure of who you are or what you want. It’s good to raise that issue from time to time, so that you can ask again a different way.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Venus, the archetypal feminine counterpart to masculine Mars, enters its own echo (or shadow) phase on April 12 as it prepares for a retrograde in Gemini. Friday\u2019s Daily Astrology referred to this as \u201cthe 2012 retrograde relay\u201d<\/a> without realizing just how precise the passing of the baton between Mars and Venus really is.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be developing these themes throughout the week, but for now here are a few things to begin thinking about. Given that we originally called out the theme of deep \u201csoul-recovery\u201d associated with Mars retrograde, it\u2019s especially apropos that Mars is stationing opposite Neptune (within one degree) and Chiron in Pisces — two distinctly spiritual influences. This further emphasizes just how deep Mars has been taking us, and that we now have the opportunity to bring what we\u2019ve discovered in those watery depths forward with us into a more tangible reality. What good are spiritual ‘lessons’ if we don’t apply them?<\/p>\n

Chiron is a reminder to use our new awareness for healing, not self-reproach. It’s been a long 11 weeks that Mars has been retrograde, so you may want to check your journals or email inbox to see where you were at in November when this process started to warm up.<\/p>\n

In the midst of your personal soul-recovery review, keep the Sun-Vesta-Eris configuration in Aries in mind. On one level, this is a continuation of the idea that Vesta is holding space for our inner conflicts, fragmentation and secrets as the Sun offers their expression. On another level, this is emblematic of all the \u2018women\u2019s issues\u2019 in the news lately. Anyone care to guess what this week\u2019s version will be in the news?<\/p>\n

Perhaps even more telling, will anyone care? That these conjunctions occur with the ruler of Aries changing direction in such a long, deep process indicates these secrets and splits we\u2019re holding space for are very much part of what Mars has been looking to help us heal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mars stations direct later this week, after spending about 11 weeks retrograde in Virgo. It’s slowing to a station opposite Neptune and Chiron in early Pisces. This is a week to take one step at a time; one day at a time. Mars retrograde messes with motivation, and in Virgo, there is a self-criticism issue. … 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\/55666"}],"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=55666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}