Mars stopped being retrograde and went direct June 26 and what a ride of violence we have had! It seem as if every day some new despicable act of horror is unleashed, not only with our own USA type of human rage-Minnesota,Texas, Louisiana (and marches in all large cities) but internationally, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey.

Part of all this can be attributed to Mars, for as it goes direct, it now moves into approaching conjunction (granted down the road in August 23) with Saturn. (wide orb of 14 degrees) This, I feel, will be a very trigger time, as Mars conjunct Saturn will be in a 1 degree square with Neptune. This will be the last hurrah, if you will, of this what has proven to be a killer square. The good news is that after the end of September this square will be out of orb.

Yet what an energy surge this square has produced–Neptune representing idealism, spiritualism, darkness deceitful behavior, mass psychology compassionate, yet also heartless in zeal religious fervor. Take this complex planet and put it in direct square with Saturn and its need to try to seek persistence and strength in judgment. Saturn wants to get things done, to measure the productivity of action and the seriousness of doing measurable gains. (Like do a bombing, start a coup). Incredibly there was a bombing of the second most sacred site in the Sunni world, Medina. This shows how deep the religious strife is.

The “Black Lives Matter” group continues to bring attention to the indiscriminate shooting of black men by the police. The killing of 9 police in less than a week puts a whole new light on a subject so dire that the President has made TV appearances trying to get everyone back on the Love you Neighbor teachings of spiritual leaders.. The national attention on this schism is deepened b y the greatest circus one can imagine in the political area.

Usually I have some supposed insight to all this, but I have none at this writing except to continue in your meditations and do as much good as you can in your daily life. I don’t see this chaos blowing over immediately. The tension is too great for everything to calm down without more time to let is going to play out, to be played out. Unfortunately it will take perhaps Jupiter’s ingress to Libra. The election is another point of tension. So take care and love your neighbors and family and friends and cut back on the TV time with chaos again pops up.

Mars goes direct June 23, 2016. We can all breath a sigh of relief as this generator of energy finally stops its retrograde motion and goes direct. Everything should start to get more “back to normal” whatever that means. A trivial example is that my yoga class will seem to have its flow less of a chore and more into a celebration. I have some hope that as Mars stations (stops retrograde and does not move–stations on one degree before going direct) now and the energy has an effect of burning a hole in that degree and the energy of Mars has a big push everywhere. I think this is why there is so much road rage right now. The media is tireless in saying that we are in the middle of the worst road rage epidemic. Pictures of road rage are on the news in greater and more frequent numbers. Chicago gangs have set a record for the most death in one month, etc.

All this is in the sign of Scorpio, so Mars is going direct in the domain of Pluto the great god of rage, transformation, blowing the hell out of the moment and with Mars the god of war, fight or flight, these two are a savage combination during this stationing period. Those who have the degree of 23 Scorpio should pay special attention

THE RARE PLACEMENT OF THE FULL AND NEW MOON (FULL ON 20TH JUNE NEW ON THE FOURTH OF JULY:

Yes, the Full moon is on the solstice and the New on Independence Day” This happens rarely ninety years. Hopefully this means that we are seeing a final rise of the energy that is driving the power of discord and pointing to a new and better road ahead. This may seem like an unusual opinion considering the deep division that has gripped our USA during this election cycle.It is historical in terms of the primary campaign.

Let us hope that this new moon will have a positive effect and not be marshaling in a new level of discord. In any events the signs in the heavens would give even the wisest ancient astrologer to advise the king to tread carefully as in this coming Mars direct there could be dark clouds on the horizon if the world is to evolve to a better place.

April 17 to June 29 Mars will be retrograde, which is a difficult time due to the change in the alignments of the Earth and Mars.

Mars is the planet of physical and psychological energy. It is strong,pioneering energy that makes for so much of our experience to initiate and begin to release the biological and mental powers of our body and personality. It is most commonly revered to as the “fight of flight” mechanism that is the deepest biological and psychological instincts we have. This instinct is, briefly, that response in determining whether we respond to a situation where we see ourselves as stronger than an other. In this situation and our response is to attack and defeat this “other.” If we perceive the “other” as stronger that we are and our response is the flee, to get out of the situation by retreat and running away. In it simplest expression – it is that consideration in a confrontation should we dig in for a battle we think we can win, or get way and avoid the situation.

Mars retrograde slows down and weakens this energy that intensifies and makes us act on the full potential of our physical and psychological nature. Our passions and life force is not as strong as we are use to. Worries seem larger and harder to contemplate and conceptualize. Some cases certain perspectives may even cause a type of depression. An astrologer’s phone starts to ring more as clients as well as people from this web site call up to ask what the hell is going on?

The first step in coping is to relax and realize that your are in a retrograde of Mars – the bio/psycho-energy field of the planet. With this perspective one can begin to make sense of why things see so emotionally difficult. Problem solving abilities seem slower, sluggish. We don’t feel our usual pep.

Romantic and sexual sensitivity may seem less exciting, less buoyant. There is a moodiness.

In my experience this is seen more often in the last couple of weeks of the retrograde.

To compare this to sailing, it is as if there is a great lull in the wind and everything slows down and even comes to rest at this time. But know that this is just a phase of the weather and soon the wind will return and your journey will find its normal pace.

It is a good time to review where we place our energy, as there will be a focus on the priorities of how we go about living our life, work, and relationships. Things that seem to be more draining may need to be cut off and this is a clear time to note that you either don’t need to spend your time with these individuals or in certain projects and adjust yourself and directions accordingly.

Nodes and Change

The North Node/South Node opposition is leaving Libra and entering Virgo. The nodes, don’t forget, move “retrograde” to the planets, due to the precession of the Equinox because of the slight wobble of the earth on its axis. The nodes are called Rahu (north) and Ketu (south) from Indian myths about the world’s creation. Lord Vishnu was distributing “amitra” giving it to the gods (Devas) to give them immortality. As fate would have it, a serpent-like dragon slipped in and drank some amitra as well. Lord Vishnu quickly chopped it in two, but now being immortal, both haves lived on – the North Node being the head, the South Node being the tail. Twice a year the nodes devour the sun in a solar eclipse, thus avenging their being cut in twain. The reason is that the nodes are where the orbit of the moon crosses the orbit of the sun – when the new moon is in 10 degrees of the conjunction it is an eclipse. Twice a year.

Western astrology looks at the natal nodes as the North Node being the goals or direction one should aspire to and the South Node as something to consider habits and other actions that need to be thought through very carefully.

There is an interesting concept in reincarnation theory that the North Node is the direction your fate brings as a destiny clue, while the South Node is considered past life situations that need more mental “digesting” and transformational work. The easy way to remember it is that the head of the dragon (North Node) is a head and mouth – thinking and seeking new experiences. The end of the dragon is the intestine and anus, thus symbolizing the need to digest and work through these past life karma points.

The adventure in having the shift of the nodes from Libra/Aries (cardinal cross with Jupiter and Uranus) to the Virgo/Pisces, which, for me is the introduction of more analysis and vision into a world sorely in need of some of this. The solar eclipses will be on that axis will inject this energy into the earths magnetic field. Hopefully it will give the mundane world some flexibility and mutable moves towards a world of positive change.

People should check their charts to see if one of the nodes makes hard aspects to natal planets. Use a 3-degree orb in this. One can expect to feel the energy of these aspects in some way giving guidance as to what to look for in the future and things that you need to let go of. Conjunctions are the strongest aspect in terms of a definite effect. If it is a conjunction of the North Node, look for new messages to come, if it is the South Node it means time to reflect on issues that keep coming up. The planet involved and the sign and house will help in divining the meaning of the transit.