Between now and June 7^th, the planet Mars will continue to diminish in brightness and then become invisible to the naked eye, at which time Mars, which symbolizes the masculine principle in Shamanic Astrology, surrenders to the underworld.  Why is red planet surrendering?  What does this mean from an astrological and spiritual perspective?

I was inspired by my occasional fill-in appearance at the Shamanic Astrology Mystery School’s monthly membership teaching call (back on April 24^th).  Toward the end of the hour plus long discussion with Daniel Giamario, the subject of where Mars will be at the end of May and into June came up.  Against the backdrop of stars in the Bull Constellation, Mars will move by the stars of Pleiades and Aldebaran (eye of the bull).  On May 26^th, Mars will pass between the “horns of the Bull”, including the star Alnath (which doubles as part of the Auriga Constellation).  This passage of Mars can be seen with the naked eye at this time, though the stars may not be bright enough to see that close to sunset.

Mars lines up between the horns, in the sign of Gemini, then begins to move beyond them, further losing its visibility from our planet.  In a sense, Mars has surrendered to the light of the Sun and the darkness beyond our eyes.  Thousands of years ago, the ancients saw this as a planet moving into the underworld and with Great Mystery.  This surrender includes those great horns of the Bull, as if the masculine itself was being pierced or sacrificing some part of itself to be with the underworld and the Great Mystery.

A question might arise as to why I’m interpreting it as such? I would like to co-credit Daniel on this one for helping me gain even more clarity as to the boundary between the monthly Mars-Moon conjunctions in the evening sky (which we call labors / challenges of the Mars cycle) and the red planet’s vanishing point behind the Sun.  Mars is in Gemini for all of May while also in the Bull Constellation.  Gemini is a free-electron, flying in the magic of imagination, connection, unlimited creative expression and antithesis to the machinations of structure and control.

This last Mars-Moon conjunction in the evening sky also takes place very close to the Galactic Extreme (or Edge), marked for the Summer Solstice (in the northern hemisphere).  It is zero degrees Cancer, bound by constellations of the horns of the Bull, the outstretched arm of Orion the Hunter and the feet of the Twins.

Part of our tuning into the night sky is perceiving it the way the ancients may have seen it in a mythological and cosmological context in combination with modern understanding in the ago in which we live.  By stretching ourselves out in that way, we can gain invaluable insight in the journey of Mars across the night sky (and other celestial objects as well).

For more details about the Full Mars Synodic Cycle and Mars Return Cycle, click here

In some Native American tribes in the Plains of North America, there is a ceremony called the Sun Dance.  This ceremony was centered around a few men who conduct personal sacrifice by dancing around a pole for several days while also fasting and (in some cases) having their chest pierced by two rawhide thongs.  The Sun Dance is a time of great importance to some tribes in the Plains, which takes many months or up to a year of planning.  The community or tribe offers prayers and energy for the dancers and a successful ceremony.

I find it highly intriguing that there is a celestial form of this dance, symbolically, in the night sky, in certain and regular Mars synodic cycles.  Astronomically, this specific Mars cycle pattern (with the horns of the bull) happened 15, 32 and 47 years ago, corresponding to Mars returning to the same area of the sky (and sign) near the date in the prior cycle.  This can be seen in anything with an original or seed date, such as that for us human beings when we have Mars Returns at 15, 32, and 47 years of age.

The next two Mars-Moon Conjunctions takes place on April 27/28 and May 26^th

So the last time Mars was in the constellation of the Bull during the months of April and May just before going into the Underworld was in the years 1970, 1985 and 2002.  Those are only the most recent years.  The planet, of course, has a much longer visible pattern well before the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  But in looking at this, we can visibly, energetically and spiritually tune into the planetary movement of Mars crossing by the horns of the bull, surrendering itself in its final preparation before entering the underworld for over 3 months.

Whether or not, one finds themselves in a personal Mars cycle or something that happens with regularity like a Mars Return Cycle, we are all part of this collective initiation of the masculine.

This surrendering of the red planet in a constellation (the Bull or Cow) that has its roots mythologically during the time when it was the constellation that represented spring equinox in the northern hemisphere between 4000-6000 years ago, a time when many bovine deities rose and other symbols of the cow or bull were prominent.  It was also a time before professional armies were common and was also the beginning of the end of an age of matriarchal and matrilineal cultures.  With that said, this Martian sacrifice of itself is a gift to the collective that in order to truly experience growth, surrender must go forward.  And that growth includes an immersion into the feminine, both within ourselves and outside ourselves in others, including our relationship with Mother Earth and the Cosmos.

After the Age of the Bull (4000-6000 years ago) ended, many new stories and myths arose of champions rising (male warriors and gods) where the bull or cow is killed or otherwise sacrificed in the name of a new age (the Ram / Sheep), a decidedly patriarchal one.  Knowing the history and context, this symbolic surrendering of the red planet or in other words, surrendering of the masculine to the underworld, is an important message or transmission to our current age.

Mithras Sacrificing Bull – from Wikipedia

From the viewpoint of Shamanic Astrology and my own understanding, we are in a time where the hold of the patriarchy and patrilineal cultures has run its course.  We are in a time of the feminine, gender and sexual orientation are able to have a voice and effect change on a civilization that resisted and feared anything that hinted at feminine power, thereby denying a major part of our own humanity.  Mars represents a key to our evolving masculine and how we can change through the powerful message in the sky for all to witness.

We no longer have limits as to how we can express ourselves and we also can enter into an infinite number of roles in society in this Great Unknown future.  This is not the death of the masculine, but simply a way to begin to purge or detox the unhealthy aspects of our perception or our identity of the masculine now.  We are free to go out of bounds (with Mars in Gemini) to dance our way into creating a new masculine that isn’t limited by constricted definitions of gender, orientation, spiritual or cultural roles defined by how we did it in last few centuries.  Prometheus and Saturn are breaking free from those constraints, so to speak.

At the end of May and beginning of June, Mars will be near and pass through the “silver gate”, which is the area, mythologically-speaking, is where souls come in to incarnate on Earth.  Astrologically and astronomically, it is called the solstice point or zero degrees Cancer (Summer in the North and Winter in the south).  It is place to open to fullness and warmth of the Universe.

While there is a Trump in power, I view that as one of the last attempts of the patriarchal forces to reassert control, but in a more wild and unpredictable way.  We are being given an opportunity to see the truth of how far we have come as a collective society and family by placing the spotlight on the shadow of ourselves.  We can now take action to utilize our ideas and our soul’s calling to affect healthy change.  But doing that does require sacrifice of the old so the new will have room to grow.

Just as the feminine is undergoing a powerful evolution and finding a voice and new roles in the world, the masculine is undergoing an equally powerful involution, reaching deeper and deeper into itself to transform.

The most potent and longer-lasting transformations occur in the underworld, where the rich, black soils of primal energy exist and it is in this place the masculine is surrendering to, knowing a rebirth comes after a symbolic death.  Many cultures had and have ceremonies for doing just that.  It is time, perhaps, to look at those ceremonies with fresh eyes and recognize what we can gain by creating new ones in our lives, both personal and collectively.  It is only when we surrender that we can transform.

– Erik Roth, Shamanic Astrologer