Pushing buttons and forging a path can be two sides of the same coin when it comes to Mars influence in the chart, but, positive and negatives aside, the red planet has his foot on the accelerator right now and is asking us to step up a gear on many fronts in the world as we speak. As a warrior archetype the challenge with Mars is invariably to bring the raw power of action into service. Harmonious aspects aid and abet this process and there is a plethora of these forming around Mars progress within the tropical chart at this time – infact it was at the new Moon on the 13th, just as Mars conjunct the Galactic Center, that the positive energy of the warrior began to connect with other planets on the galactic/stellar side of the Earth’s orbit, stimulating the collective archetypes of Neptune, Uranus, Chiron and Saturn within the matrix. The sextile aspects predominate and have given an edge to the bigger issues working themselves out in this world, bringing the immanence of  their numinous power up from the unsconscious and asking us to realise the warriors role, the emphasis now coming very much into one of service. We can feel the energy rising in amongst the events now underway all around us.

Mars is nothing if not eventfull and ‘Events’ with a capital E are where this archetypal influence is becoming most tangible within this lunation – these events are so multifarious and pre-eminantly collective at this stage that it is a challenge to identify where our individual place within them all is, but, they do impinge upon the lives of each and every one of us, which is perhaps central to Mars message at this time. Mars can also be the awakener. However, when Mars conjuncts Pluto on the full Moon/lunar eclipse, we will be able to gain a much deeper sense of purpose and insight into the unified drive that is now at work in the world. Before then, it serves us well to recap what Mars is bringing out through this process of change just now.

Sextiling first with Neptune, you may have noticed especially powerful dreams emerging recently, the influx of an undercurrent of pro-active energy at work as a quality present within everyday life, agendas being pushed, issues gathering the feeling of a growing need to be addressed. In sextile with Saturn the discipline and strategy necessary for putting this need into action is highlighted – we know that recklessness will not bring us resolution and a deeper appreciation of the dynamics between the passionate drive for justice and the necessity of holding form in the midst of action are key, as every warrior knows. Being prepared for any eventuality is a challenge that is fast becoming a reality, as reflected in the square to Uranus, but, the trust in our ability to weather the storm and take the knocks comes with Mars sextile to Chiron. This sextile also begins to clarify the nature of the sacrifices we must make if the changes that we want to see in the world are going to become a reality. The sacred warrior archetype is rising, but, if this defines anything it defines the form, rather than the theme that is now emerging. This too is stimulated in the coming days to become a matter of power management as Mars comes to conjunction with Pluto.

The Pluto conjunction is exact at full Moon, a lunar eclipse of some significance for the coming months, and, where the solar eclipse of the 13th opened the field to the emergence of unconscious dynamics that are shaping our reality from deep within, the lunar eclipse will help us to personalise and embody these dynamics with awareness and meaning. This will need looking at carefully, especially if you have planets at 7 to 9 degrees of Sagittarius or Gemini in your chart…..but, Pluto is also working a midpoint to those aspects already mentioned, so, with Mars joining Pluto in early Capricorn, we can expect the energy to rise in any area of our lives where power struggles and the transformation of agressive energy to higher causes are at work, so look also to the cardinal signs for indications of direct action that we can individually manifest in a positive way now. The  truism that ‘everything is connected’ transcends its philosophical significance and becomes a very tangible reality now. The Sacred Warrior is here the representative of this reality in action.

Pluto orchestrates the alchemical process of change at the root of all worldy power in our times, and Mars turns up the heat on this process – with the mutual reception between Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn, Mars arrival and collaboration with Pluto brings out the importance timing within this firing process. Saturn aids us in regulating the fire…..a matter of increasing pressure while intensely focusing the energy, the pro-active pushes we make through this time will bear fruit when Mars sextiles the Moon’s nodes at solstice…..

…..there is little that is not touched by this process in our world; if astrology can make a difference here it is to stimulate a sense of purpose and meaning amidst an otherwise chaotic and seemingly unco-ordinated process of change and transformation, and who would deny that we are in the midst of such a process. It is a struggle that is being fought on many fronts, but, there is a powerful underlying sense of direction that can also be felt within this.

In symbolic terms the Pluto Mars conjunction is the very image of the Great Mother flexing her muscles – we may not be familiar with Pluto in this role, but, this fact itself is so deeply symptomatic of the process that is now underway. Millenia of suppression and dishonouring of the creative power of the feminine is seeking release and Mars role is to actualise the process and martial the sacred warrior archetype into service to see it through. Big themes, but, themes that touch every aspect of living as we strive to birth a world that is in balance, in which we are in balance. Within this role there is deep appreciation for the immensity of the power that the Great Mother manifests through the living Earth and, with Mars sextiling Venus immediately after full Moon, the possibility of realising the truth of Her love within our own hearts raises the passion of our journey to new and inspiring heights…..