So Where Are We Now?
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It is so difficult to write these days as there seems to be so much to write about and so little time to put thoughts into words. I started a blog a week ago but it is irrelevant today. However, I read a piece in New York Times that revealed a perfect solution for the anxiety and fear as we watch with fear and trepidation the dance the planet Mars is making through the end of the year.
The title of the piece “Bravely Choosing to Be Vulnerable” written by Siraad Dirshe appeared in the Sunday Styles Section August 16th. In it, the author explains when the word “vulnerable” came into mainstream conversations; it was through the research, including a 2010 TED Talk by Brene’ Brown, a U of Houston research professor and author of “Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead”. Brown’s research focused on compiling hundreds of interviews with individuals who felt a strong sense of belonging to a greater community. She concluded that all those interviewees had one thing in common: they all had made a choice to be vulnerable.
Dirshe’s article goes on to ask the question exactly what does being “vulnerable” mean? She answers by citing Rachael Elizabeth Cargle, a public academic, writer and lecturer who says that being “vulnerable” in practice means allowing others to see what you are ashamed of. There can be many tragic situations, especially these days, that are reasons for feeling vulnerable, including being homeless, being unable to pay rent, the loss of a loved one, or a job, financial insecurity or experiencing unrequited love, or feeling lost or afraid, or feeling the general sense of loss of whatever we used to have and no longer do, including in our environment. Most of these experiences illicit shame. It is this shame and not being able to speak about it that prevents our becoming vulnerable. Although these admissions can be quite terrifying, Cargle writes “it can greatly benefit us to let down walls that can often be exhausting to maintain.”
The first word in the title in the NYT article “Bravely” caught my attention. Bravely relates to Mars. When you are inherently brave you have a strong Mars in your natal chart. Mars entered the sign Aries where it is brave, forceful, and headstrong June 29th and will not leave Aries until January 7th. Usually spending 6 weeks in a sign, this year it is spending 6 months!
Although Mars regularly does this apparent loop every 2 years, the retrograde has not occurred in Aries since July 1988- January 1989. If you have a memory of that time, you will see similarities between then and the next 4 months. I keep a journal and I burned my foot on the coals of a forgotten beach fire that August and was laid up in bed with my foot in ice water.
Mars burns and incites and ignites. Placed in the sign Aries, which is a fire sign, this tendency of Mars will double down. Mars in Aries can also indicate accidents because we have been moving too fast without clear direction. Acting rashly can have negative consequences. That is why the next 4 months with Mars turning retrograde is so important. Using this time to slow down and turn inwards and choosing to bravely become vulnerable is a perfect way forward.
For those of us who like history, the Summer/Fall1988 brought forest fires, where 750,000 acres in Yellowstone burned, a severe drought across the MIdwest with death producing heat waves, riots in Tompkins Square Park when police were enforcing a curfew, a major earthquake across the Nepal/India border, two big oil rig explosions in the North Sea, a major cyclone in Bangladesh, Hurricane Gilbert, the second most intense tropical cyclone in history, Pan Am flight 103 and a major railroad accident in Paris. The Presidential election was between Dukakis and Father H.W.Bush. Dukakis was ahead when the Bush campaign created his famous Willie Horton ad focusing the voters on the fear of black violence.
The time before 1988, when Mars was retrograde in the sign Aries was 1973. The Watergate Scandal was unfolding in August 1973 with Mars in Aries before turning retrograde mid-September. The break-in had occurred June 1972. Forty-eight government officials, including members of the Committee to Re-elect President Nixon were eventually convicted of wrongdoing in the attempt to obtain inside information by burglarizing the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate building.
By July 1973 it was revealed that Nixon had tapes of his meetings in the Oval Office. When Nixon was finally forced to release the tapes, there were gaps in the conversation. The tapes had been edited. October 1973 saw VP Agnew resign over a matter unrelated to the Watergate scandal.
November 17th 1973 when Mars was retrograde in the same area it will be for us in September this year, Nixon made his famous statement "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got." On August 9th 1974 Nixon resigned.
I guess the lesson here is be careful of what you say or what actions you take during a Mars retrograde period in Aries. It might just come back to bite you. Remember it is not what you say that counts in astrology but WHEN you say it….
So what is the solution? Do not make Nixon’s mistake but rather turn inward and bravely choose to be vulnerable. Admit to what you are ashamed of, get it out of your system. Tell someone you love them, share your feelings. Mars rules actions, when it spends that much time going back and forth in one area of the zodiac, actions taken in the outside world will get you exactly nowhere fast. Plans will be re-worked or redrawn or withdrawn. Better to understand this upcoming 6 weeks period (Sept 9th -Nov 14th is the actual time of the retrograde ) and what it wants of us before we begin. Use it wisely by turning inward; use it to free yourself from the shame and blame that are carryovers from the past, by choosing to bravely become vulnerable.
