Do I hear massive sighs of relief as stationary Mars prepares to turn it all around? The big event occurs at 9:08 AM PST at 00 Leo 17. Why was this Mars retro so hard on us? My guess is that, with the entire retro cycle contained in Leo, we were especially aware of the personal nature of the energy withheld, of the way it very much affected both our performance and the exercise of our Will, and how it seemed really, really tough to shine. This clues us in to what will change most radically with direction, with further, irrevocable modifications when Mars quincunxes Pluto, April 8th through 13th. Look for our energies to be freed up in a general way (barring personal assaults from the likes of Saturn and Pluto), and try not to take the rush of relief and renewed energy and enthusiasm for granted–as with all things, this too shall pass.

In fact, the day seems dominated by Mars as he soaks up all our frustrated ambitions and attentions and uses them to launch new efforts. Finally around 3 PM PST the Moon hits the midpoint of Neptune/ Chiron and Ceres, bringing us intuitive understanding of a power or authority-related situation that up ’til now has been unclear, hidden by deception, or just plain hurtful. This all occurs during the Void, which begins at 2 PM sharp PST as the Moon moves away from sextile to Uranus, so revelations, responses, and results all may be much different than we might anticipate.

The Moon enters Aquarius at 9:43 PM PST, and immediately opposes stationary direct Mars; we get an emotional reality check concerning the day’s ego and choice-related developments, but we don’t get a hint of the real consequences until the Moon trines Saturn about 1:30 AM PST on the 11th.

The picture above is ‘An Allegory of the Tudor Succession,’ attribution uncertain, c. 1572, public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Note that Mars stands to the far left, behind Mary I and her husband Phillip, suggesting their strong advocacy of war and violence, and in the right foreground we see Elizabeth I holding the hand of Peace, who treads delicately on a sword. Politics and Art meet and make a statement about which sister is the better ruler, and that’s not hard to guess, even if you know nothing about Tudor England. For more on the relationship between these two formidable queens, ‘Bloody Mary’ and ‘The Virgin Queen,’ see the Winter issue of ECLIPSE (not currently available)

Today’s Link: Here’s somone who’s really relieved Mars is turning around http://questionofmindfulness.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/happiness-is/#more-2179  and for forecasts and a wide variety of astrology resources, try http://karmictools.com/EnergyoftheMonth.html  And loved this on my girl Ceres-scroll down to March 5th http://cosmicguidelinesblog.blogspot.com/