Thus does a period of stultified, frustrated action, begun October 30, when Mars turned to go retrograde, come to a close. Ignition takes root; action is called for, and revs up. For nearly two years, Mars will be moving through one sign after another, from where it stands presently, at 8° Gemini, to traversse the entire zodiac — Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and more, — through Cancer again, starting Leo again, until it finally stops, turns Rx, at 6° Leo, on December 6, 2024.

Welcome to a non-stop, energized world. Welcome to your own energy, newly rekindling. Welcome to a tumultuous time on planet Earth when combative energies compete, conflict, clash. The sign Mars occupies will modify its action in that sign’s characteristic manner. Right now, for example, and until late March, when Mars moves into Cancer, we are to be inundated, even overwhelmed, with data, info, intel, facts — all governed by Gemini, the sign Mars currently occupies.

The actual moment of today’s turning is 3:57 pm, EST. I plan to do a ceremony at that hour, to honor the fact that Mars, as it turns, conjuncts my natal Saturn exactly, affecting my mind and nervous system — and my skin (which Saturn rules). (And Saturn itself, is variously configured with most of the planets in my chart!)

My question: What is the direction of the path (Saturn) to which I must devote my energy (Mars)?

A few hints of the importance of this question, given to me by “circumstances” in the past few days:

I. I cut my LEFT hand, twice (while working in the greenhouse). One of the cuts is still healing.

2. A “murder” of crows sat in a tree high above the driveway and splattered their white shit all over the LEFT side of my car. (Ravens (the big brother of crows) have long been my symbol, ever since I had the Big Dream of Raven clawing my shoulders and shouting “WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT’S TIME! IT’S TIME!” and I knew instantly, intuitively, that it was the archetype of the Crone, asking me to help her emerge from the Earth, where she had been buried for centuries. The result: Crone Chronicles: A Journal of Conscious Aging, which I started in 1989 and published for 12 years.

3. Over the past few days, a strange ongoing pain in (the muscle of?) my LEFT arm, over the elbow.

3. Yesterday, while closing the front door, I inadvertently slammed it on the final digit of the middle (Saturn) finger of my LEFT hand. (The fuck-you finger . . .) Big bruise.

Hands and arms, governed by Gemini. The LEFT side, connecting with the right brain, the intuitive, dreaming, receptive brain linking to the open heart.

More: In my own situation, not only is transit Mars turning while conjunct my natal Saturn, but transit Saturn too, is working on me, from its position at 23° Aquarius, exactly squaring (in friction with) my natal 23° Taurus Moon. So a double Saturnine whammy.

I will have more to say about this as time goes on. Obviously, I’ve been quite concerned about these seemingly inadvertent wounds to my own body. And have paid close attention to where they occurred, and the symbolism involved. I knew that there is something I must pay attention to, something that wanted to alert me to consider the question:

What is the direction I personally, must now point myself in, now that Mars has turned?

As of yesterday, I think I began to receive what I needed to more fully understand — both what I’m needing to do, and why.

Will have more to say soon.

P.S. If you have any planet at around 8° of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces (the latter three signs square or opposed to the first), you are also impacted by this Mars changeover which, remember, occurs only about every two years.

Sabian symbol for 9° Gemini (always use next whole degree for Sabian symbols):

A QUIVER FILLED WITH ARROWS

Keynote: Man’s aggressive relationship to natural life, as a basis for survival and conquest. 

Me: Given what’s happening with the accelerating Died Suddenly phenomenon, human survival is decidedly at risk.

The part of Rudyhar’s explanation for this symbol that struck me especially:

Implied in the symbol of the arrow is the piercing of a target. The mind of man is essentially a trans-piercing power: it goes through the object toward which it is aimed. It seeks to go through and beyond the obstacles on its path, and this usually implies the destruction of the obstacle. At a higher level — as in the Zen practice of archery — the higher obstacle is the ego. 

Yes, ego: governed by Saturn, that self-enclosure constructed over time that signifies both “identity” and isolation.