by Erik M Roth

The current astrological pattern can provided powerful opportunities for humanity to blow open what once was and co-create in reality a civilization that is truly resonate with living sustainably on Earth.  The crisis of 2020 is not just a one-year event but has been a multi-year build-up to a collision of consciousness and action that has been in crisis the whole time.  It’s just that now the crisis can’t be avoided.

2020 is entering into “part 2” of its expression as the planet Mars entered into the sign of Aries on June 27^th, but will really kick into high gear in August when Mars moves into aspects with Eris, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn. The dwarf planet Eris has been in the sign of Aries since 1922 and will continue through 2048.  Saturn and Jupiter remain in the sign of Capricorn until mid-December and Pluto stays in Capricorn until 2024.

Earlier in July, Mars went into conjunction with astronomical body, called a Centaur and named Chiron (July 14^th), spending about a 2-week period in and around Chiron.  Chiron had entered the sign of Aries in 2018, a full 100 years (or 2 complete orbits of Chiron around the Sun, meaning the last time Chiron entered the sign of Aries was in 1968 and the beginning the height of the Vietnam War) after the end of World War 1 and the beginning of the Spanish Flu pandemic.  This Mars-Chiron conjunction is part of the expression of Aries at this time and is certainly mixed in with the relationship between Mars, Aries and the planets in the sign of Capricorn.

Aries, on the zodiacal circle, sits at a 90-degree aspect to the sign of Capricorn.  The planet Mars in shamanic astrology, now in Aries, symbolizes the masculine principle in all of us.  About every two years, Earth “catches up” with Mars in its orbit, brightening the view of the red planet from Earth.  Because of that relationship, Mars and Earth spend some time “near” each other, helping us to see Mars in a certain part of the sky and sign for a prolonged period of time.

What does the 90-degree aspect look like in the sky?  It is easy to see when we see a first-quarter or last-quarter Moon.  The Moon is 90 degrees from the Sun, either waxing or waning at least once per month.  For Mars over the late summer and fall (in the Northern Hemisphere), it will be singularly very bright most of the night.  When Mars is near the halfway mark between the east and west the visible planets Saturn and Jupiter will be low on the western horizon.  That is a square.

 

This square will also involve Pluto (only visible with telescopes), which has been hanging out with Saturn and Jupiter most of 2020.  The archetypal relationship of Aries and Capricorn is being activated very strongly in the second half of 2020.  In previous writings and videos, I have discussed in-depth the meanings of Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto, Mars and Capricorn.   While it won’t hurt to review these, I will be placing focus upon the sign of Aries in this article. 

Here are 3 videos to watch in reference to the current astrological climate of the current time:

The Capricorn Stellium

Mars in Aries

No Easy Way Through

The sign of Aries has been in the limelight in astrological circles and certainly something I think on frequently in my work and personal life.  Aries is an archetype and typically seen as the “first sign of the zodiac” by many astrologers.  It is the sign that represents spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.  However, the qualities of this sign relate to a fiery spearhead of ambition toward resolution through its primal instincts.  Aries is oriented toward fulfilling its mission and purpose decisively.

Aries has been seen as the warrior archetype in psychology and in astrology.  This archetype is not only about being a soldier or warrior, though.  From a shamanic astrology perspective, Aries is about those qualities I mentioned above.  For at least three millennia, we have seen a standard expression of civilization in year-round, professional soldiers defending, conquering and saving lives.  We’ve also seen the warrior show up anywhere there is competition, especially in athletics, sales, religious missions and organizations like Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, Mercy Corps and the Peace Corps, among many others where there is a sense of instinctual challenge, adventure and powerful sense of believing in something powerful to accomplish. 

In this age (and over the last 4,000 years) where the sign of Aries is celebrated for its heroism and warrior characteristics, we can see the traumas that have taken its toll on various cultures, nations and other communities from this belief in the power of the warrior-hero archetype.  Prior to 4,000 years ago, there were no year-round standing armies.  It was the Roman Empire that set the initial standard for professional armies and that has been the case in one-way or another in various forms since then.  Most of the West has continued to subscribe to this belief.

This is not to say that having a national defense/military is necessarily an unhealthy thing.  It is the way the military (or simply violence) has been used as more of a primary way of resolving problems.  This includes rogue states or fundamentalists groups like the Islamic State and other groups that use violence as their main way of trying to establish a particular result.  Aries doesn’t automatically equal warfare, in fact, it could be said that Aries can be a powerful deterrent against violence and war.   But it’s that the Aries archetypal energy is harnessed by those in charge to accomplish the most challenging/difficult problems in the world, sometimes through peaceful means and others times not.  For more on that, I recommend reading James Hillman’s A Terrible Love of War.

In looking at history and Aries, we can see the more clearly in how it applies to what is going on today.  

In 1918, when WW1 was winding down and the Spanish Flu was winding up, the Centaur planetary body called Chiron ingressed into (moved into) the sign of Aries.  This is the same sign that Chiron is in today.  In 1918, Chiron spent only seven months in Aries before retrograding back into the sign of Pisces temporarily until late January of 1919 when the third wave of the Spanish Flu took hold.

The actual origins of the Spanish Flu are not specifically known by researchers and historians, but it was generally first noticed in Europe in 1918 as well as the United States in the State of Kansas.  It was called the Spanish Flu because Spain didn’t censor the media reports as a neutral country in WW1, whereas Britain, France and Germany did censor due to the war.  It was reported there that a flu was spreading in Spain and causing many to die (much later, it was revealed that thousands of soldiers on the frontlines had come down with it and created a dearth in the number of soldiers that nations could put into the field).  For a general look at the Spanish Flu, check out the entry in Wikipedia here.

 

The Spanish Flu ended up killing more people than WW1, according to some researchers.  Chiron in shamanic astrology is about facing our wounds, our fractures on a soul level.  When Chiron was in Aries beginning in both 1918 and 1968, war and disease were large features in the world.  In 1968, there was a flu strain named the “Hong Kong” flu and was reported to have a death toll of at least one million.  Full information about these flu pandemics can be found in this 2011 World Health Assembly report.  This report was cited in Wikipedia page about the Spanish Flu.  Pandemics are a natural part for all life on Earth but wars don’t have to be a given.  It’s all in how we perceive and react to war and viruses and its causes.  Chiron in Aries is helping us become aware that Aries needs to heal from all the wars.  The essence of Aries is as a defender of our civilizations.  This current time is for deeply profound introspection in what we are doing to perpetuate the wounds and illnesses all over and take action around the value of life, all life.

Capricorn-Aries

The upcoming multi-layered planetary aspects are activations into a deeper layer of what is being experienced and the seeds that have already been planted.  The overall structure and systems of civilization, especially those associated with Western Culture, are the beginning stage of an overhaul.  What we experienced in 2019 as a “normal” is not what our future is about and more and more of us are seeing that.  We are also seeing a need for a new operating manual to created and especially critical to living in greater harmony with Earth, thereby allowing a re-invigoration of co-creation on the planet.

Capricorn is the manager, the director and elder grandmother with the wisdom of countless generations while Aries is a tangible task, rugged individualist and defender of the Earth realm.  Both Capricorn and Aries do desire to of service and Capricorn’s case, the long-term is of great interest.  Aries and Capricorn can carry out the tasks and planning that need to be done in order for a new operating manual to be co-created.

The relationship between Aries and Capricorn can go both ways in that Aries can be found in leading a project or organization to accomplish a common goal with Capricorn stepping in to assist in handling where resources and personnel could best serve.  A situation like that may also find Aries not just leading in order to fulfill the mission or purpose but also to do the work necessary and at times pushing themselves to “lead by example” through action rather than words.

In the dynamic of Capricorn and Aries in 2020, we would need to include the planets involved of Mars, Saturn, Eris, Chron, Pluto and Jupiter.  This group that is really honing in on the aspects of conjunctions and squares, the amount of intensity and fireworks that can result from this is very high.  However, the intention of all of this is strongly motivate societies to face what we’ve buried under the carpet for decades and centuries in Western Culture, in particular.  It is about coming to terms and committing to a multi-faceted operating manual for all structures and systems we all rely upon.

It is also taking action toward facing that which is hidden within each of us and in our collective communities.  Preparing for what is to come is best served by being our authentic selves, knowing we have free will to choose the kind of future we most desire.  However, it is also a time where having fixed, walled-off, unyielding ideologies and expectations is not truly going to return benefits and that it is a time to open our hearts and minds.  Compassion and love is urgently needed (for ourselves and others) but so is standing up for what one believes in without unyielding stubbornness.  This is an opportunity to face and not ignore our collective critical reality.

Our ego is under great pressure as our consciousness evolves.  I do believe that the collective ego is going through a death-rebirth cycle due to the Pluto-Saturn-Jupiter alignment and each of us are responding in our own ways.  Some are more greatly challenged than others.  But I am understanding a little more in that one of the intentions here is to show us all that we are one people.  We are all vulnerable and sensitive to great changes, reacting in various manners to those changes.  But it is natural to resist change as a people.  But if we can perceive this as forging a flexible mold for what we can create (as a global community) in the coming years, it can be an inspiration.

More and more of us are realizing we can’t go back to 2019.  But we can face the present and strongly keep future generations in mind as the chaos of today is a brew for Creation itself to manifest potently. 

Mercury and Venus

As I near the end of this article, I would like to bring in the fleet-footed Mercury and its transit through the sign of Cancer from May 28^th through August 4^th.  Mercury represents the emerging mind, perceptions, thinking and communications.  Cancer is all about the ways of the heart in family, home and community.  This includes providing a safe space for loved ones.  But As we begin to reach the ending of this transit and into the sign of Leo, there is a transition from (and building upon) from only giving through the heart to radiating self-love while we learn to love ourselves.

 

The radiating of love can a form of generous leadership, creative will and dreaming in what we want to manifest.  It is an intuitive process that we can access to make manifest what we want in a healthy manner.  Mercury is in the sign of Leo from August 4^th until the 19^th when the quicksilver planet enters into the sacred rhythm of the sign of Virgo.

On August 7^th, Venus enters the sign of Cancer (after 4 months in Gemini).  This can help us with the intensity of our state of affairs with a deep note of invitation of the compassion, heartfelt caring and security of the Earth Mother and a voice through the heart of being one tribe.  It is Gaia that greatly needs our help, which in turn only helps humanity.  In the re-calibration of our systems and structures within the cauldron of co-creation, we could all get behind Gaia’s embrace and a renewed dedication to de-toxifying the planet and ourselves.   

Aries and our Future

The sign of Aries, along with Capricorn, are showing up to remind us of what their essence is and what we can do to help heal over these next several years at the Turning of the Ages.  Questions to ask ourselves or inquires to make is where and what can Aries subscribe to as a mission and purpose without waging war or violence?  How can we invite the essence of Capricorn, the Circle of Grandmothers to help us with create a non-static blueprint for our structures and systems? 

Both Aries and Capricorn need each other and in order to truly assist in living in harmony with Earth and co-creating the future, all twelve signs (in their infinite variations) will need to take part in that process.  Aries is seen as the warrior by most, but its roots go back to the essence of both the masculine and feminine (and all that is between and beyond) of helping through action to plant the seeds of the future and through action to overcome obstacles.  The willful and youthful fiery energy of Aries has typically started the circle of the zodiac, so perhaps it can show up to help us get through the crisis with a realization that it can’t do it alone?  The sign of Libra, opposite Aries on the great wheel, knows this and maybe in this evolution of Aries we all can be of help here.  But we do have to show up.