The preparation for the nearly year-long basket of challenges is nearly over and the time has come for Mars to leave its early education in the space between the constellations. We can look at this early pattern of the Mars motion as the youthful period before going out into the real world where the true challenges lie in waiting to be discovered, overcome, integrated and met for the purpose of growth and evolution into what it’s to become.
At sunset, Mars, along with Jupiter are the most noticeable lights in the sky at this time. Mars, which was rivaling Jupiter in its luminosity back in May and June, is dimming more and more. It’s a steady decline in brightness as Earth pulls away from its close rendezvous with Mars. On May 22nd, Mars rose as the Sun set, beginning an entirely new (synodic) cycle. Mars, named for the Roman God of War, was looked at in a variety of ways by cultures throughout the world and the idea of assigning “war” to the planet came later in the Greco-Roman period. And it’s that “before” period, that contains Mars’ symbolic archetypal essence as the masculine principle.
With the recent rise of Venus in the evening sky, the planet Mars is “picking up speed” as it boomerangs’ back across the space between the constellations to the Scorpion before the first week of August expires. Mars is crossing over the same general space for a third time this year, having gone in “direct motion” back on June 29th. Mars and Venus are now in the sky at the same time for the first time since April, when they were seen in different parts of the sky in the early morning, just prior to sunrise. This time around, though, they will be visible at the same time through March of 2017.
On August 6th, Mars crosses back over the point it was at on May 22nd, the opposition with the Sun. This marks the boundary of the first phase of the Mars cycle and second phase. We can liken this next long phase of Mars as part of was is called the “Great Saga” in masculine-feminine lore. The Pawnee tribe of North America viewed Mars during this time as being given “hard tasks” or “many hard things” by the feminine (aka the planet Venus) to complete before meeting the feminine. This story very clearly resonates with what takes place in Phase 2 of the Mars synodic cycle where one a month in the evening sky Mars and the Moon are in conjunction between 9-11 times every cycle while coming in contact with Venus in the evening sky (at the ending stage of the “hard tasks”.
The first of these “hard tasks” takes place on August 11th at the beginning stages of forming a potent alignment of planets all visible in the early evening skies. But on August 11th, Mars, in Sagittarius, will be right in the mouth of the Scorpion, with Saturn nearby sitting above the star Antares (Heart of the Scorpion). From mythic and archetypal perspective, Mars will be having to face the depths and truth of its being on an instinctual level, while also knowing that this task will also be about confronting the limits of desire for meaning and purpose.
The Scorpion constellation has its roots as the guardian of the Golden Gate to the Center of our Milky Way Galaxy. There are several stories from ancient Mesopotamia and cultures nearby that associated the Scorpion as such but it later became something to slay in heroic deeds. Heroes became demigods and were worshipped for their ability to overcome incredible odds, especially in combat with another.
As a society and for some who are experiencing Mars-related cycles, we are entering into the unknown realm where we have an opportunity journey to our greater truths, but the journey must involve swallowing and digesting who we truly are. We are being asked to face ourselves in the mirror to see our souls and take responsibility for our authentic path and not what other’s want of us.
Later in August, Mars, Saturn and the star Antares will line up vertically in the southern sky for all to see while at the same time Venus, Jupiter and a very faint Mercury will appear closer to the western horizon making for about three weeks where all 5 visible planets will be fairly easy to spot. On September 2nd and 3rd, the planets will be joined by the thin crescent Moon as it makes its monthly pilgrimage around the zodiacal constellations, meeting all the planets. The Moon serves as a trigger for the planetary alignments and can enhance the astrological energetic “feel” of the night sky and how it resonates in our being.
Mars will be entering this second phase in this planetary “traffic congestion”, ready to meet the monthly tasks through the maze of stars and planets to join “his” feminine counterpart as the planet Venus. It is a very busy beginning for the red planet. For those of you in a Mars Return cycle or have some knowledge that you are in some kind of Mars cycle, August is going to be a highly busy, energetic, active and potentially intense month. Even if you are not, for those experiencing Jupiter or Saturn cycles it also can have similar qualities, though with different intents.
And for us as a collective, it’s important to check if our hats are still on our heads and to remember to breathe. It is a very rare alignment to have them all out there and joined by Antares so the potential exists for powerful creations to take place here in this terrestrial world or Earth plane. Most of us will only have the time to be reactive, but we do have an opportunity to choose more than that and to navigate using all of our senses and all of our gifts.
– Erik Roth
- For more information on the cosmology of the Pawnee tribe, please refer to the books “When the Stars Came Down to Earth” by Von del Chamberland and “Living the Sky” by Ray Williamson
- Shamanic Astrology originated from Daniel Giamario, author of “The Shamanic Astrology Handbook“
- Graphic created using astronomy software, Stellarium (stellarium.org) and modified with MS Power Point