I don’t get–

I don’t get furious.

No!

I get cool.

I get angry!

But not furious!

Yeah!

True.

‘Rappin’ ‘Bout My ‘Tude’ from Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld, compiled and edited by Hart Seely, taken from interviews and press conferences given by the former Secretary of Defense

This is Mars in Aquarius: cool. angry. furious. and perhaps in denial.

Mars moving through Aquarius is an energy we should be especially conscious of, for two reasons: first, with the force of the ego and ‘I am’ in the sign of Higher Knowledge, academic thought forms, and the intellectual approach, we may be prone to confuse our forward energies with our contemplative and reasoning ones, bringing our progress to a halt, Hamlet style, with endless mulling of the possibilities; and second, we may use our higher reasoning functions simply and directly to justify what we want for ourselves, no matter the implications. This latter possibility holds a number of pitfalls as Mars travels Aquarius and unites with other energies that will only reinforce Willfulness, dressing it up in any number of justifications and rationalizations. There’s always the chance that this transit manifests as ‘Me vs. the Group,’ but even in this form it still follows the frustrations and inclinations of Mars and what he meets along the way.

On the 16th Mars conjuncts both Jupiter and the North Node, suggesting a kind of fated exaggeration applied to whatever form we’ve given Mars through Aquarius. This is why we must define our attitude, why we must find a way for the action urge to embrace intellectual understanding even as we act–because we must avoid the trap of perceiving ourselves to have accomplished when all we’ve done is think about our situation, and this is especially tempting with the conjunction of the 16th, as we can easily apply big thought forms to our future, and feel like that’s enough to make things happen.

As in the verse above, Mars transiting the Water Bearer’s sign may confuse us: “I get cool. I get angry!” We may separate our energies in such a way that we think about being angry but muster no firepower–this can put us in a bad position, too cool in our assessment of things, and so unable to act in our own interests in a timely manner. On the 18th Mars meets Juno, and how much animus we can bring forward to empower ourselves becomes a vital question–we don’ t want that energy sitting to the side like Rodin’s ‘Thinker,’ immobile, stuck.

By the 28th-1st of March, Mercury catches up with Mars, and all this thinking may burst out, communicated more forcefully than we intend. It may feel like we can finally say what we mean–but speaking out likely doesn’t relieve the stress, as Mars chafes at sending all its force through the intellect. Mars finally catches up with Chiron March 4th-5th and we may be in a Self-designed stew, wanting more than ever to act (as Mars will, eventually, realize that all this thinking isn’t natural for it!) but now hampered by fear of hurt. Some, however, will rally the Martian Will and energy in service of healing, and here’s where we triumph; if you’ve used the early part of Mars’ travels in Aquarius to think deeply about how, where, and most importantly, why the ego wants what it wants–Aquarian intellect and understanding can be at the service of the ego in a tremendously productive way, discerning our wants and impulses with unusual clarity.

March 7th Mars hits Neptune and we want to have our ducks in a row before this occurs; if we do, we can use this combo to go after our ideals, and work toward our dreams. If not, we will lose the benefit of all that thinkin’ time that came before. Maybe it’s the difference between, as in the verse, fury, which is expressed blindly, and anger, which can be honed and aimed, laser-like, and used in service of our goals and dreams.