Mega Mars-in-Virgo Marathon

11.7.11


Mars enters Virgo on Thursday (Nov 10), to bring a pragmatic grounding influence to our physical energies, inviting us to proceed with more rational consciousness in each action we take.

But what's most noteworthy about this, I should mention, is the fact that Mars will remain in Virgo until July of next year… for an extra-long eight-month visit that'll take us through the first half of '12 with the mark of Virgo fastidiousness.

Considering Mars usually moves through a sign in about a month-and-a-half, this lengthy trip through Virgo is pretty big astrological news. The extended duration of this transit is a side-effect of Mars's upcoming retrograde (Jan 23 through Apr 13 2012), an apparent slowdown and reversal-in-direction that results in pinning him to one sector of the zodiac for this remarkable span of time. The entire phenomenon occurs wholly within Virgo… a signal from the skies that we're due for a protracted period of cleanup and reorganization, calling for as much methodical, analytic attention as we can muster. For those who were hoping for breakneck slapdash advances to the next major checkpoint—well, let's just say the slower, more painstaking rhythms with which developments will be proceeding could feel frustratingly restraining.

While in Virgo, Mars doesn't like to rush its procedures, but instead fusses and tinkers with the minutest details until the product is 'just so'… and, if its demanding standards are not quite attained, will think nothing of scrapping the version that fell short and starting over from scratch. Mars in Virgo wants to do it right, no matter the laborious diligence required. He'll collect the data and crunch the numbers first, to be as well-informed and logically-minded as he can; no reason to jump in too hastily, only to mess something up and waste energy going back to fix it. He strives for a purity in process: sleek, efficient, with machinelike precision. A job well done is its own best reward.

With this influence over our efforts for many months ahead, then, we're being given a unique chance to thoroughly sort through all that we seek to accomplish… to sensibly assess which items ought to be addressed first, if maybe a particular sequence will bring greater order to the madness… to engineer a distinct action-plan by which to meticulously execute the forward motion… and to, little by little, attack one piece of the puzzle at a time, with shrewd dexterous handling, never skipping too far ahead, for the most intentional outcome possible.

This Mars-in-Virgo effect provides us the logistical wherewithal needed to tackle big goals or complicated projects, helping us to chop them into more manageably-sized tasks. Sometimes, when the benchmarks seem too high or the distances too great, we'd do ourselves a favor to quit obsessing on the big picture—and totally focus our vision on whichever small piece of it we're dealing with at that moment. Immersion in each step ensures it'll get done; compulsively conducting comprehensive overviews, on the other hand, can paralyze us with constant reminders of how much is still left to do. Mars in Virgo, in this capacity, is a fantastic habit-establisher, inspiring us to dutifully repeat certain behaviors until a pattern has been set. Just as the twelve-step self-help model spells out, transformational life-changes are only attainable through 'one day at a time' practice.

We can't ignore, of course, the matter of Mars's 2½-month retrograde as a key feature of his Virgo transit. It would be foolish not to reflect on the likelihood that, regardless of how we set out to use Mars-in-Virgo's earthy pragmatism over the next couple months, reality will probably not play it out that way, as we'll understand by the middle of '12. Though we lack the capacity to foresee exactly which plans we may have to reconsider or attack from a different angle, we can count on having to majorly divert some of our energies to items not currently on our radar. Elusive phenomenon that it is, I find Mars retrograde to be something of an astrological wild-card: a general flip-switching, current-reversing imprint on where and how our physical attentions and assertions are being directed, which rarely plays out as we imagine no matter how much advance thought we give it. In Virgo, we know he'll probably deliver details that need fixing a second or third time, practical business to unexpectedly contend with, and/or methods to rework. Whether revisions are called for or our focus is simply pulled elsewhere, any single step may prove to take much longer than we'd anticipated.

Folks with strong placements in the earth-signs—Virgo of course, along with Taurus and Capricorn—are apt to benefit most from these many months of Mars in Virgo, a lasting emphasis on their naturally earthy manner-of-being. During this period, Mars will twice move into a grand earth trine with Jupiter in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn… a configuration of three planets that forms an equilateral triangle, creating a positive synergistic flow between their energies. The first of these grand trines takes effect right as Mars moves into Virgo later this week, and lasts roughly through the closing few days of the month. The second occurs within a much tighter orb (meaning all three bodies come into exact trines at almost exactly the same time) during the middle of March, in the midst of Mars's retrograde.

The trine between Jupiter and Pluto (which I previously wrote about in this article) expands the passion and intensity with which we seek to secure our most beneficial position in any context. Jupiter and Pluto are a power-provoking pair, stirring us to grab for whatever will satisfy our hungers, even if we must flex some muscle to emerge triumphant. Throwing Mars-in-Virgo into the mix only adds more level-headed assertiveness to this powerful punch, for a truly mighty impact that can really help us manifest things, in the tangible forms afforded by this strong earth-sign signature.

Those already in power also have this advantage at their disposal, to use modest consolidating power-moves to reinforce their dominance. If you're looking to turn the tables in a confrontation with such an entity, your best offense would be a step-by-step, fact-based deconstruction of their case, coupled with a willingness to propose alternative sets of rules that make rational sense. Careless, undisciplined brute-force is no match for analytic rigor in winning this chess game.

All I've just described regarding Mars in Virgo, in case it wasn't obvious, paints a very different picture from the dominant Uranus-square-Pluto vibe… a revolutionary surge that grows stronger each day we get closer to its first exact peak in June 2012, broadening its impact with every rebellious 'Occupation'. Though Mars in Virgo seeks to win its battles through reasonable, measured engagement with the 'Powers that Be' (in trine to Pluto), Uranus (who squares) has little patience for such essentially conservative methods. The friction between these two prevailing astro-influences will be felt by anyone caught between (1) gradually working from within an established framework, for incremental well-engineered progress, and (2) knocking the whole damn thing over, in liberating release. The worst of such tensions are likely to be experienced by those with prominent Gemini and Sagittarius, two signs squared by Mars in Virgo (and not known for their patience)… or by fiery Aries types, with Uranian mischievousness currently coursing through them in electrifying amounts.