Up for Grabs with Mars conjunct Uranus

4.25.07


Okay, check out how Mars typically works…

Mars spies the red flag hanging from a tree branch. Snagging the red flag from its nest with his own grubby paws is Mars's prime objective. He approaches the flag… moves in for the kill… snatches it, fast and forcefully… then runs back home, flag in hand, dodging roadblocks on his path. Mission accomplished. End of story.

But that's a generic script, lacking the particularities that'd give it nuanced substance. And when we face a major Mars event—like the approaching conjunction to Uranus, exact on Sat Apr 28—we need a more detailed account, to prepare us to play by the prevailing rules.

To start with, Mars's current transit through Pisces already muddles the simplicity inherent to our 'see flag/grab flag/get flag' formula. Mars in Pisces, for instance, might not even see the flag clearly. 'Is that the red one? Or is it this one over here? And how high are those tree branches, anyhow? I'm not quite sure if this is what I should be doing, but, gosh, the landscape here is gorgeous…'

Mars in Pisces, alas, is easily confused in his quest to meet goals and satisfy desires. A goal is an ever-moving target, conditional upon a hundred constantly changing circumstances that must be continually 'felt out' in assessing the field of potential motion. The desires, too… shifting endlessly, based on who's in the near vicinity, what they want, how they're feeling, and whatever other mood variables are most pronounced at the given moment.

We could praise this Piscean embodiment of Mars, for, after all, he is so perpetually responsive to minor shifts in the psychic climate—more responsive, perhaps, than even he's consciously aware of—that his physical methods of asserting his wants are always fluctuating.

But what about the damned red flag?

As such, Mars in Pisces may advance toward the flag, and then retreat, multiple times from different angles. He might entertain one tactic for securing the flag, and then, midway through the attempt, abandon it altogether and try something different. Or he could find himself detoured by the scenery, a flag of an entirely other color, or his own daydreams… knowing he must claim the red flag at some point (but maybe not right now), and thus setting an intention to return to the flag-claiming mission later on.

Mars is going off emotional instinct here—which either reflects a 'higher' universal logic not fully intelligible to our mortal minds or a wholly consuming subjectivity of mood that ultimately hinders his ability to meet his own needs. Is the Mars-in-Pisces approach deeply wise, content in its faithfulness that the right things will happen at the right times if we merely stay 'in the flow'? Or is it deeply foolish, sabotaging our immediate self-satisfaction for lofty spiritual ideals that amount to little more than wishful fantasizing? Yes, and yes… and who knows? That's the Piscean catch.

Now, when we include a conjunction to Uranus, Mars's behavior turns increasingly erratic. This, of course, is the very purpose of Uranus—to defy expectation, to shock the system, to bust the deadlock and get something wildly contrary into motion, no matter the side-effects.

Without a doubt, the Mars-Uranus combination is the most excitable, unpredictable and abruptly chaos-inducing of all the planetary pairings. That said, we can absolutely forget about guessing how in the hell Mars and Uranus, working together as one undifferentiated unit, might go about procuring the flag.

'Get the fuck out of our way!' they scream, as they drive a speeding bulldozer right toward the tree's trunk. 'We're getting that flag—if we have to take the whole damn tree with us!' (A rather disruptive approach indeed… especially if there are environmental protectionists nearby.)

Or we might've been waist-deep into 'proper negotiations' over who the flag's 'rightful owner' is, when one party quickly departs from the conference table… dashes right over to the disputed prize, yanks it down, and hops a charter flight to Bora Bora. Flag and flag-thief: gone for good.

Perhaps nobody knew we wanted that flag until we suddenly got up off our ass and went for it. We just couldn't hold it in any longer, I suppose. Maybe we didn't even know ourselves that we wanted it… simply woke up that morning, felt the impromptu 'flag urge' building in our muscles and bones, and just grabbed it, no warning signs or explanatory clauses. And we certainly can't be sure what we're going to actually do with the flag, now that we have it—only that we had to have it, for reasons not exactly clear or rational. At least we got our circulation going.

Of course, disorderly transits like a Mars-Uranus conjunction don't only affect us—they affect everyone else around us, too. So while we may personally restrain ourselves from too-berserk behavior, we're still likely to be subjected to others' unruly style. The so-called 'inanimate objects' themselves might even appear to cave to the astro-influences. (See also: last week's computer crash.) Is it possible the red flag spontaneously bursts into flames… or sneakily removes itself from the tree, to hide out in a secret bunker at an undisclosed location? Now you see it; now you don't.

Bottom line: Be careful over the next few days, looking out for the impetuous impulses of other people coming at you like stray bullets from drive-by shootings… and let's not forget to mention your own potentially reckless lane-changes, about-faces and dam-breaks.