we are heading into some very deep territory during this potent mars retrograde. i have been meaning to write a mars retrograde blog but due to a busy work schedule and personal life it has not happened. but i think i was supposed to wait to write it until now as we are heading into THE most potent territory of mars’ journey into the underworld. it’s getting hot and heavy (and maybe not in such a good way) and having a map and/or some insight into what is incoming can be useful as we each navigate our personal and collective underworld terrain.
for some perspective- mars entered his front end shadow 2/17 and when he did that he was in exact sextile aspect to the north node and trine to the south node. the front end shadow relates to mars first pass over all the degrees of the zodiac he is going to go over a total of three times. this happened when mars was at 23’03 scorpio- the degree mars will station direct on 6/29. the aspect mars makes when he is heading into the front end shadow is telling- and with the nodal axis involved this journey is about resolving major karmic patterns and letting go of the past so we can evolve and grow.
mars moved into sagittarius on 3/5 and he stayed there until he stationed retrograde on 4/17 at 8’54 sadge. this was the exact same day that pluto stationed retrograde. pluto is seen as a Higher Octave of mars with mars being the lower will and pluto as the Higher Will. with both ‘wills’ stationing retrograde and heading into underworld territory on the exact same day this was harkening a very intense underworld ride where we are being asked to face our personal and collective shadows around power, control, will, drive, desire, sexuality, possessiveness, jealousy, dominance, violence and more. pluto is the Lord of the Underworld and he rules scorpio, but before he was discovered in the 20th century mars ruled scorpio. a good portion of the mars retrograde journey is actually in the sign of scorpio- so we have a triple whammy of energy going on here which is seeking to get us to dive deep and face our deepest darkest stuff. the thing is- if we don’t choose to dive then the Universe will drag us down there. spiritual bypassing won’t work right now- the only way out is through.
we just marked the midway point of the mars retrograde cycle on 5/22 when the sun opposed mars- right on the heels of the full moon conjunct retrograde mars that was really potent and intense. interestingly, yesterday (5/24) venus opposed mars retrograde and activated the full moon degree. so right now we are in BIG territory where looking at how we do relationship, looking at how we live our Truth and looking at how we allow others to live theirs (or how we don’t) is in focus. because the full moon and venus/mars opposition were both activating the sadge/gemini axis we have the lower mind and Higher Mind in the spotlight. the thoughts we think, the ways we communicate and the perceptions we live our life by are in line for an upgrade right now- but we have to be willing to question what we think we know, admit when we are wrong and be willing to grow and change in order to make the most of the astrology right now.
but the really big mars retrograde stuff starts on 5/27 when mars backtracks into scorpio. from 6/8-6/9 mercury will align with the Dark Goddess fixed star algol and they both will oppose retrograde mars at 25’50 scorpio. this is the same time that uranus aligns with eris- the Dark Goddess of discord, chaos and upheaval. on a psychological level this takes us all into VERY DEEP AND DARK UNDERWORLD TERRITORY. it takes us into the depths of our psyches and faces us with the shadows we have most wanted to run away from to avoid looking at or admitting we have them. communication can get intense with mercury involved, but if we use mercury’s energy to dive deep and investigate the Truth we could find some valuable gold hidden in the shadows.
from 6/12-6/18 mars will trigger the uranus/chiron semisextile- a long term transit that spans over 20 years and is bringing amazing awakening and healing energy if we choose to access and work with it consciously. mars trines chiron and quincunxes uranus- helping us to see what emotions we are stuck in as well as what we need to do to break free from them so that we stop unconsciously acting them out in our lives. and from 6/18-6/21 mars triggers uranus and eris- which brings shake up/wake up energy and can be brilliant for clearing out stuck crap inside of ourselves but it also requires that we face and move through our anger, rage, aggression in healthy ways (so not repressing but not reacting either).
from 6/24-6/26 jupiter aligns with the mean north node and pluto trines both of them- showing that MAJOR expansion, evolution, healing, mastery and up leveling of our physical and spiritual frequencies is possible right now. jupiter/north node in virgo bring rewards when we align with our integrity, personal responsibility, make the necessary self adjustments and commit to being of service. pluto in capricorn helps us to destroy old limiting structures, beliefs and attitudes- as well as literal things like institutions- that limit our capacity to evolve and grow.
and then on 6/29 mars stations direct! so from 5/27-6/29 we have retrograde mars in the depths and bowels of scorpio- facing us with all our shadow material that most of us prefer not to deal with or look at directly (if at all). the thing is when we don’t deal with it- it deals with us. if we cannot see it in ourselves then it comes into our life in the form of others who become the projections for our own shadow. the shadow of scorpio can be very intense- jealousy, possessiveness, obsession, anger, rage, misuse of sexuality and power, addiction, power/control dynamics, revenge and more. looking at our relationship to the dark side of the psyche is key during the coming month. looking at where we are afraid of the depths and shadows or alternatively where we are obsessed and overtaken by them is key. ultimately we are all seeking to come into right relationship with the shadow- so that means not suppressing it or spiritual by passing it and it also means not living in it completely and acting it out.
mars will stay in scorpio until 8/2 when he moves back into sagittarius again. he will come out of his back end shadow (where he goes over all the degrees for one last and final time) 8/21-22. and interestingly the first aspects he makes right after he comes out of his shadow are a conjunction to saturn on 8/24, a square to retrograde neptune on 8/25 and a square to the nodal axis on 8/29- triggering the saturn/neptune/nodal T square. major turning points can occur late august- but until then we are asked to dive deep within and see our own shadows and hidden parts of self that inhibit our ability to grow and evolve in life. it’s not pretty or fun territory but it can be deeply rewarding.
if you have not heard about the Dark Moon Medicine Teachings i co-facillitate with my sistar Holly you can find information on that here- https://www.divineharmony.org/dark-moon-medicine/
but in short this coming dark moon that commences on 6/1 will have a HUGE focus on mars- including astrology, mythology, shadow work exercises and a meditation/visualization with the God mars. if you want to participate be sure you are signed up no later than 5/31 as all participants have to be signed up by the end of the month if they want to partake of the teachings in the following month.
sending much Love as we all journey through our own shadows…
~divine harmony