Let's continue our look ahead at 2023 through the lens of Mars.
Mars has been in Gemini since August 2022. Usually spending about 8 weeks in a sign, due to his retrograde in 2022, he ends up spending 8 months here.
Finally on March 25, 2023, Mars leaves Gemini for Cancer.
This will be a tricky time, because we will have alot going on!
Not only is Mars changing signs in March after 8 months, we also have Saturn, after 2.5 years, leaving Aquarius for Pisces AND Pluto, after about 15 years, leaving Capricorn for Aquarius. Saturn's change will have a big impact becase he has been strong in Capricorn and Aquarius for the last 5 years and this substantially changes when he swims into watery/boundary-less Pisces. Worst bet with this - dad's asleep, passed out drunk on the dining room table, paranoid, lost in lalaland. Saturn is considered an old malefic and any weakness can be dangerous. So, yes, there's that. Best best with this - spiritual warrior, dad becomes more compassionate, connecting, forgiving, rules/limits loosen up. And the reverse of this as Saturn impacts Pisces, rules/limits/seriousness applied to escapist things like drugs, fantasy, etc, as well as Piscean things like pharmaceuticals and the companies that make them, spirituality, new-age-group-think, art, music. Likely we will see all sides of Saturn in Pisces over the next couple years. The good news for now with Saturn in Pisces, is, he is answering to a strong Neptune in Pisces.
Note - Saturn and Neptune won't actually meet until 2026 when they are both in Aries ... if we think Mars is important this year, wait until 2026!! Please let's heal the wounded masculine in all of us!!
Also Saturn's ongoing square to Uranus - the old vs new/battle for the Age of Aquarius - ends when Saturn gets into Pisces. Pluto, will only dip his toe into Aquarius until June, then moves back into Capricorn, only to return to Aquarius in December 2023 for a 20 year stay. This "dip of his toe" thing from March-June is not to be taken likely, is going to have major ramifications, because, well .. this is Pluto.
But, we are still talking about Mars ....
Before Mars gets into Cancer, he is going to square Neptune in Pisces - this will be in THE MIDDLE OF MARCH when the Sun and Mercury are BOTH making an exact conjunction to Neptune, so Mercury and the Sun will be squaring Mars AND at the same time, Venus, in Aries (so answering to Mars) will exactly square Pluto. Something VERY important will be going on collectively. This is happening with Pluto at 29 degrees Cappy where he hasn't been since the days of the Revolutionary War and he is going to pass over this degree two more times before the end of the year. Pluto really doesn't want to leave Capricorn! That Venus/Pluto square is their last square with Venus ruling the North Node and Pluto the South - something could be happening that is scaring the hell out of us in order for the Capricorn-y power structures to maintain control, which sounds like a mad-hatter 'conspiracy theory', but is probably part of the revolutionary process it would be hard to skip (it's what we do with these feelings that matter and we'll talk about this in the Pluto 2023 post). Much will be coming to light, but it will be hard to know what is REAL. Jupiter will be conjunct Chiron (both answering to Mars!) - BIG pain/vulnerability, also big opportunities for healing masculine wounds which will be hard to miss. And Saturn, will be in Pisces by now, so answering to Neptune. We will talk about that next week in the Saturn 2023 post.
Personally, those with planets/points in the later degrees of the water and cardinal signs will be most impacted. This is about a week before Mars finally leaves Gemini. We get this square to Neptune to dissolve the Gemini stuff that can't come with us into Cancer. Those decisions/choices we made that aren't working, etc.
This square is a repeating aspect.We had the first square - confusion, deflation, exhaustion, scattered focus - on October 12, 2022. This aspect repeated on November 19, 2023 with Mars retrograde, so that was when we needed to be re-fining, re-imagining, etc, whatever we had going on. Maybe we were looking at what wasn't working/didn't work the first time, so we could make another decision/choice. Now, on March 14, 2023 we get our third crack at this. This aspect could see us getting sick/tired/burned out, taking a break, spacing out, chasing ghosts. OR taking inspired action, having the courage to let go, giving up the ghost, pushing ourselves to create fits the bill, too. If you had something dissolving or exhausting or even were being extremely creative or spiritual back in the middle of October, you might see something similar going on here, but you are now older/wiser/third time lucky with the square this time.
Then Mars moves into Cancer toward the end of March. Mars (action, initiative, anger, passion) is not quite so comfortable in Lunar-ruled Cancer, answering to the moody/changeable Moon, where he is considered in his fall.
This is because Mars can't be all Martian - fired up and passionate and out in the world testing his courage, running onto the battlefield thinking only of himself and how good it will feel to swing that sword - when he has these pesky emotional Cancerian things to contend with. Things like feelings (it's harder to take the instinctive action he
needs to take when he has to feel his way through what he is doing
instead of just doing it). And home and family and security
(harder to be putting himself first when he has a family depending on
him and harder for the Mars warrior to fight most effectively when he needs to stay alive to
come home at the end of the day). This stuff can make Mars like a pot of hot water ready to boil over at
any minute. Like the too-young father who wants to be out bar-hopping
with his buds - he is trapped.
Collectively we will be more security and safety conscious. Our actions are more likely to be based on our emotions. We could be more focused on home and family, real estate, a renovation project, a home or family business. We could be taking action to be more protective of whatever we have going on within these themes. Individually, our natal Cancer houses will experience more initiative, action, passion and anger. Where is Cancer in your natal chart? Wherever it is, Mars is not the usual way we deal with the things ruled by this house (unless of course, you have Mars there natally). Mars will be in Cancer until he enters Leo on May 20th.
Mars hasn't been in a fire sign for about a year, so mostly his move into fiery Leo in the third week of May will be good news for our energy levels/ability for us to take action, have courage, garner attention and appreciation.
The fly in the ointment here (and there is always a fly) Mars move into Leo puts him right in an exact opposition with Pluto at 0 degrees Aquarius. Mars in Leo has not opposed Pluto in Aquarius since the late 1700's, so this is brand new territory! Adding to the story, Jupiter will be at 0 degrees Taurus making this a fixed T-Square! We've already said March is gnarly INTERESTING, have I said May is gnarly INTERESTING, too? We'll just say spring is INTERESTING. Mars opposed Pluto speaks of power struggles and powerful culminations. This is Leo/Aquarius, so the king vs the people. Our space on the center stage/head of the table vs our seat in the audience/need to cede the stage to other people. Jupiter, in Taurus here, will be squaring the whole thing pulling in whatever is happening with our resources, money, values. People with planets/points nearest to 0 degrees of the fixed signs will be feeling this mash up the strongest. A few days later (May 26th), Mars will be squaring the Nodes of Fate - we are facing a 'skipped step'/facing a fork in the road. This will be with our back against the wall. The North Node is still in Taurus here, so we are back to - what is the most simple, stable, nourishing path forward? What supports our values? What makes the most sense/cents?
By the third week of June, Mars at 19 degrees Leo now, will trine (brakes off) Chiron. Mercury will be sextiling Mars and Chiron, so we have a real opportunity for words/actions to be HEALING here. A few days later Mars squares Uranus - can you believe Uranus has made it to 21 degrees Taurus by the end of June?! since he has been sitting near the middle of the fixed signs for what seems like forever - this is a SUDDEN BREAK, BREAK-UP, BREAKDOWN, BREAKTHROUGH, BREAK FOR FREEDOM, sudden change/disruption brought on by a need for attention/need for appreciation/need to be loved. Mercury is squaring Neptune and inconjunct Pluto here, so words will MATTER. We don't want to be careless with our language/too impulsive with our actions now if we don't want to blow something up. Care should be taken to avoid accidents - these are the days near June 25th.
By July 10th, Mars has caught up with sister Pallas and they enter 'let's clean up this mess' Virgo together. They move right into a smooth trine with the North Node at the very end of Taurus (the nodes are always retrograde, so the beginning is the end). Something is falling into place, moving us forward, leaning us into a more stable/simple future. Take practical, organized, helpful action. By July 20th, Mars is opposing Saturn in Pisces. Reality checks. So, for the first three weeks of July, we are building toward this opposition with Saturn/authority/limits. We will cover this in the Saturn post - then the final post will pull everything together/make it easier to refer back. By August 1st, Mars is in a smooth trine to Jupiter in Taurus. Something new is GROWING, this is also the day Mercury faces her/his own opposition to Saturn. So this growth is likely to come through news/information/conversations that GROW US UP. By the middle of August, Mars is trining Uranus - our practical, organized, humble, useful actions are lining us up with change/the future. The next week, so now we are approaching the end of August, Mars in Virgo will be opposing Neptune and trining Pluto (who is back in Capricorn by now), so our empowerment comes through truth/responsibility and Neptune - in the best case scenario here - dissolves the stick from Mars in Virgo's you-know-where and our POSSIBILITIES EXPAND. Worst case, Neptune tricks Mars into some scheme/delusion/self-sabotage.
On August 27th, Mars moves into Libra - this is a few hours before Uranus stations retrograde. So, as Mars enters Libra, starts answering to Venus, some CHANGE IS POSTPONED. Mars will be making some adjustments while in Libra, but his major aspects will be an opposition to Chiron, during the third week of the month and a big square to Pluto on October 8th. This will start building at the beginning of October and will be something like a surge of ambition/power that pushes us to do something or maybe the more negative angle of this would be something like we are manipulating a relationship or being manipulated. Either way there are power struggles in the beginning of October and we will want to keep things above board.
By the middle of October, Mars will enter Scorpio trining Saturn, his ancient rulership, so he is strong here, this is just a day after Pluto (Scorpio's modern ruler) stations direct. This is also just a couple days before our first Eclipse in Libra, so this will be another important time of the year. October is going to be important - alot will be going on. Venus, ruler of the Eclipse, will be opposing Saturn, alot going on. By the end of October, Mercury will meet up with Mars in Scorpio and they will both oppose Jupiter in Taurus. At the same time Venus will be trining Uranus and we will be having a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Taurus. The end of October is BIG. By the middle of November Mars will be opposing Uranus for some more fireworks, breakthroughs, break-downs, break-ups. Financial shake-ups. Then Mars will trine Neptune - something falls into place and meets the Sun starting a new Mars/Sun storyline - a light on our actions, the truth, what has been buried.
On November 24th, Mars will enter Sagittarius. Our actions are more optimistic, expansive, BIGGER. he will make a healing trine to Chiron mid-month, inconjunct Uranus at the Winter Solstice - a rock and a hard place between this optimism/bigger-is-better and our finances, resources, change. Finally on Christmas day, Mars will trine the North Node in Aries - our best, most active, new, self-affirming way forward, Venus will trine Neptune (is there a more beautiful aspect for Christmas - I don't think so!), the Sun will be in a opportunistic sextile with Saturn. Between Christmas and New Year, Mercury will meet up with Mars and compare notes. Mars finally aspect in 2023, on December 28th, will be that exhausting (maybe pushed to take inspired action) square to Neptune - the three-peating aspect we started 2023 with. This time conjunct the Galactic Center.
In fact, Mars in Sag at the end of December will be nearly opposite where we was when we started the year. I would expect many of us will be doing things very differently or doing very different things at the end of 2023 when compared to the beginning!
So, we close out part II having learned in part I that Mercury will be retrograde in Earth signs exclusively this year, so we know this is a year for practical revisions, fixing what's broken, being more useful and helpful. And we know from part II, Mars (as us) will be re-doing Gemini until spring, then involved in March's BIG changes - this means the collective changes (Saturn into Pisces, Pluto into Aquarius) are brought into our personal lives and LIVING ROOMS.
Something to keep in mind here is Mars journey isn't just about Mars now.
We have Chiron in Aries answering to Mars. We have Jupiter in Aries - until May 16th - answering to Mars. We have the South Node - until July 17th - and then the North Node, after that date, because the North Node will move into Aries - all answering to Mars. Not to mention planets in Aries in the spring and Scorpio in the fall. Mars always matters, but in 2023 Mars (and this includes Mars-y things like young men, action, war, passion, initiative) is REALLY GOING TO MATTER.
Heads up Aries and Scorpios!
Back with Venus, where to save time so we can get to what is happening with Saturn and Pluto (as us) in March, before we actually get to March - we will focus on her retrograde in Leo.
xo all
For now, keep in mind, Mars is still in Gemini, re-walking old degrees - so we are making the changes/decisions/having the conversations, etc, moving forward with the things (Gemini is never just one thing, so keep that in mind, too, all our eggs in one basket is not such a good idea), his retrograde period opened our eyes to NEEDING.
Please excuse any typos, will proofread and edit tonight ;)
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