Tom JacobsIn January I hosted a free conference call (download the 77-minute MP3 here) that included a discussion of Mars’s retrograde in Virgo along the theme of “Rethinking Responsibility.” Now Mars is direct again and in trine to Pluto in Capricorn, shaking up how and why we want and do.
Mars is the planet of beginning things and reflects what we are passionate about. It has been seeming to move backward in the sign of detail-oriented work, dotting “I”s and crossing “T”s, taking responsibility, and making things better. All efforts to begin new projects or flow and run with the spirit of instinctive inspiration since January have been colored by the need to make sure that what is focused on and begun is useful. Mars energy does not think and deliberate and yet it has been traveling in the sign of meticulous analysis and attention to detail, a sign that requires that we do a great deal of planning before spending time doing things. If it’s not done right, Virgo advises, it’s not worth wasting the time.
Virgo is also a sign through which we seek to develop humility but if we refuse while living in Virgo times to do so we can find ourselves in situations and relationships that cause us to feel humiliated. Such a vast gap exists between the two, and our experience of Virgo can in part rest upon our openness to choose humility. It means to choose to sublimate some ego drives in the service of something or someone, which Mars on its own is not always entirely sure how to do.
We have over the last few months had the opportunity to see that our normal inspirations and motivations might not be as useful as we’d end up liking them to be. Marsy stuff that has not panned out during this retrograde period should be seen through the lens of Virgoan practicality and usefulness: if it has not flown, it’s better if it hasn’t. This is good because we need to be made aware periodically of the behind-the-scenes goings on of our desire natures and action functions, two aspects of Mars energy, and we cannot always see that if we feel free to do whatever our little (Marsy) hearts desire.
And now Pluto is retrograde for its annual 5-month course-correction opportunity. Click here to read the article I recently posted on this happening and Pluto’s first square to Uranus in Aries in June of this year. Then click here to read about and sign up for the teleclass on 4/22 to make the material real for you by using your chart as an example.
That these two are in trine when stationing in different directions stirs a dialogue between what we think we want (Mars) and what we truly want and deeply need (Pluto). Mars also represents what you are conscious of what you would if your survival were threatened while Pluto is what you are not conscious of. Therefore Mars contains our defensive strategies while Pluto carries our survival instinct. There is a difference in intensity between the two though they are kind of in the same ballpark when it comes to how we interact in situations and relationships with the two.
Each is in an Earth sign, asking us to be practical. Virgo is about checking details and facts while Capricorn is about slowing down to make sure what’s done is useful in the long term. And so desires and the passions that feed you have been in need of observation and review from two angles: Mars retro in Virgo has asked you to check your unchecked desires at the door and Pluto now retro in Capricorn asks you to feel and sense deeply into reality of the structures in your life and what you are doing to empower yourself to get done what is most important and necessary for you to experience.
We look at trines as supportive. I like to think that they are at least on some level speaking the same language. Mars in its slowness (re the station direct the other day and its current slow rate of motion) prevents fires from being lit. Pluto in its slowness (re the station retrograde and beginning of apparently backward motion) prevents outer behaviors and strategies of conscious minds that are not truly relevant and needed from being seeded or maintained. Mars wants us to do while Pluto wants us to be real.
Because these are in Earth signs and relate to passions that arise in our physical bodies, check in with yours. The body is always talking to you but if you are like most people your openness to hearing it varies over time. These two stations and the passing dialogue in Earth signs created as a result can give you more insight into how your life experience is being played out in your body.
Look at any normal/regular actions you have felt you cannot perform or initiate lately. See that as Mars in Virgo trying to get you to evaluate the usefulness of them. Then look at if you have felt disempowered as a result of not being or feeling able to do them. Take that to be Pluto asking you to become aware of how your normal routines and reactions to things in fact can (sometimes or perhaps often) disempower you in ways that you have not yet seen clearly.
How do you respond to the need to develop healthy boundaries in relationship (i.e., the need stand up for yourself in general)? How do you respond to argumentativeness or aggression directed at you? What about to the need your body has to exercise or express its natural physical drives, including sexuality? What does your body ask you to do first thing in the morning versus what you actually do first thing in the morning?
Perhaps something in there regarding your normal/regular relationship with your body has been up for review in the form of you feeling the need to stop doing something old or start doing something new (or, of course, both). Mars and Pluto could be said to be conspiring to nudge you to see this by seeming to insert some blocks, detours, or diversions into how you instinctively respond to inner and outer Martian stimulation in your life. Because of the order of events – that in the same week Mars went direct and Pluto went retro – let all of this lead to conscious awareness of how your routines might leave you feeling less than strong, confident, robust, and feeling good about yourself. Take the cues to take more responsibility for a volitional/intentional and useful expression of Mars (as it’s now direct in Virgo) so that you can empower yourself to come into better and more relevant models and habits of self-care for the long-term (Pluto in Capricorn).
Join me for the 4/22 teleclass to make the Pluto retro and its first square to Uranus in Aries relevant to you.
Peace,
Tom Jacobs
Tom Jacobs is an Evolutionary Astrologer, Medium, and Channel helping you understand and do what your soul came here to do and give you insights into healing and making it happen. Nine books and two original natal reports are available through tdjacobs.com. Join Tom 4/22 for a teleclass on Pluto’s 2012 retrograde and how it will affect you and a 5/6 grounding and clearing/healing call with Ascended Master Djehuty.