Mars Re-Introduces Scorpio

8.16.12


As I write to you, Mars and Saturn are exactly conjunct at the 25th degree of Libra… an aspect that warns us to be very deliberate and diplomatic with our self-assertions.

Lest we either (1) sell out our true desires by being too inauthentically namby-pamby or nicey-nice or (2) overshoot our target with too aggressive or self-centered an attack strategy, we are liable to suffer potentially nasty fallout.

But by the time you read this, the Mars-Saturn conjunction will have already begun to subside, leaving us either (1) to take pride in our appropriately-controlled-and-responsible actions or (2) to confront the consequences of having gone too far or not far enough. Coming off this pivotal week (which also included Venus's t-square with Uranus and Pluto), we of course start looking to what's next.

Next week (on Thu Aug 23), Mars transitions out of Libra and into Scorpio, a big move that gives us a foreshadowing taste of things to come. As out-of-sorts as Mars is in Libra (where, in detriment, he struggles to settle on exactly what he truly seeks to acquire and how to go about it, due to perpetual consideration of alternatives), that's how happy-as-a-clam he is in Scorpio.

At home in one of his traditional ruling-signs, Mars in Scorpio has no qualms about going balls-out for what he wants. But unlike his other home-sign counterpart (the yang Mars in Aries), Mars in Scorpio doesn't necessarily advance with weapon in hand, flashing the proverbial cards with an obvious show of fierce might. Rather, he fights more shrewdly and subtly—though with just as impressive strength.

As I tell clients all the time, Scorpio is a sign who cannot help but elicit a reaction from others, whether it be total fascination with its smoldering intensity or sheer terror of its palpable power. This love-'em-or-hate-'em charge that Scorpios give off (whether they like it or not) comes from their innate psychological wisdom… a deep-water awareness of an individual's underlying motivations (often an even keener understanding than said individual may have of him-/herself) which allows them to engage on a level far more emotionally meaty and unadorned than many others. Some are irresistibly compelled by such Scorpionic engagement; others are put off, intimidated or fearful.

As a Mars-ruled sign, Scorpio uses this human-nature awareness as a means for actively satisfying its desires, which has earned it a not-entirely-undeserved reputation for being manipulative. Basically, Scorpios know exactly what red-hot-button to push in someone, in order to make them 'light up' with a response that'll push the interpersonal dynamic toward the Scorpio's desired aims. (This is said to be its 'stinger', right?) If this is done secretively or without fair concern for that other someone's well-being, the Scorpio's actions qualify as manipulative.

But if, instead, such button-pushing is carried out forthrightly, with full disclosure and with all parties' ultimate best-interests at heart, the same behavior can prove to be quite a passion-stirrer or healing-catharsis-generator. At its highest, Scorpio energy helps us recover parts of ourselves that we have disowned or shamed into submission, so we may integrate them into our conscious being and operate with greater insight, no longer letting our shadow-selves act out in ways that threaten to sabotage our most competent self-possession.

Mars entering Scorpio, then, is, to a significant degree, like the gloves coming off as far as whatever urges or ambitions we've been pussyfooting around about dealing with—instead of plainly and pointedly pursuing—over these past many months. Let's face it, a lengthy Mars-retrograde (plus pre- and post- shadows) followed by a Mars-in-detriment hasn't exactly favored direct self-assertion since 2012 began. But now, with the passionate psycho-emotional gusto of Scorpio situating Mars in his happy-place, we may be better ready to thrust our wills toward the victory-flag than we have been in a long while.

Mars in fixed-sign Scorpio is stubbornly determined and persevering, unphased by those uncomfortable moments of encountering others' hesitations or at-odds purposes, unwilling to bow down just because a standoff becomes really difficult. In any 'kill or be killed' context where survival is at stake, you want Mars in Scorpio on your side… and you sure as hell don't want him as an enemy.

These six weeks ahead (Mars remains in Scorpio through Oct 6) are ideal for making that decisive grab we've been merely half-assed about up until now… for throwing ourselves passionately into projects or programs that desperately need a new or renewed push in order to progress… for consciously going deeper with relationships or other commitments we've been skirting along the surfaces of… and for bravely meeting that critical 'point of no return', which closes the loopholes and definitively stands us in one court or the other.

It's also a period in which there's added emotional substance behind our actions (especially with Venus in Cancer, too, until Sep 6), such that how we feel about a certain matter will help us resolve any ambiguities or ambivalences hanging over from the preceding Gemini/Libra influence. Naturally, beware of either (1) slyly strong-arming others into acquiescence with tactics like setting traps, laying on guilt-trips, or snidely judging while feigning innocence, or (2) falling prey to others' doing such to you. (Review earlier paragraph re: manipulativeness.)

Perhaps most notable about this trip of Mars through Scorpio, however, is that it sets the stage for Saturn's follow-the-leader arrival into this same sign on Oct 5… arguably a much more significant sign-change, seeing as he's been situated in Libra since late-2009. Obviously, when this event gets closer, I will write about it in much more detail. Suffice it to say for now, Saturn entering Scorpio will potently alter the overall vibe—and likely in a fashion that intensifies the revolutionary unsettledness wrought by the Uranus-Pluto square.

My reasoning? (Warning: These details get pretty astro-jargon-specific.)

Saturn is in its exaltation in Libra, a sign that honorably emphasizes its cool, considered, diplomatic qualities. When we examine this massive zeitgeist-framing square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn by dispositorship (an astrological description of how one planet 'reports' to another, based on how the latter rules the sign in which the former is positioned), we see we've should be grateful that Pluto-in-Capricorn's been disposited by this justice-minded Saturn in Libra (ruler of Capricorn), which is subsequently disposited by Venus (ruler of Libra). All the while, Uranus in Aries is disposited by Mars (ruler of Aries). In other words, the influence of Venus helps calm Pluto's potential nastiness, leaving him to react more even-headed to Uranus's Mars-influenced shit-stirrings.

Once Saturn moves into Scorpio in early October, however, (1) it will no longer benefit from 'exalted' status and (2) it will swap in Mars as its new dispositor (traditional ruler of Scorpio). Therefore, the behaviors of both Uranus and Pluto will be strongly dependent upon Mars—who, as a malefic, is known more for strife and discord. If, alternatively, one followed the modern rulerships (which assigns Pluto as Scorpio's ruler), Saturn and Pluto will be in mutual reception, a synergistic interdependence that would bring out the more severe qualities of both planets. Either way you slice it, Saturn's arrival into Scorpio appears to 'take the gloves off' an already-pretty-major clash between heavyweights Uranus and Pluto.

These six weeks of Mars in Scorpio, as a result, can be thought of as something like an introduction to the upcoming 2½ years of Saturn in Scorpio: getting us accustomed to an uptick in intensity, daring us to double down, to put our money where our mouths have been, and essentially forcing us to drop any insincere routines we've kept up to shield our deeper desires. Not for the faint-of-heart, to be sure, but incredibly powerfully supportive of these non-optional transformations the Uranus-Pluto era seems to demand.