Mars finally turned direct on June 30th after being in retrograde since mid-April. What a ride it has been! Mars was in Sagittarius when it made its station to go backwards and is now at 23° Scorpio. This is an important place because Mars is the co-ruler of Scorpio and is really in its home. Mars is a warrior energy, in Scorpio it can withstand anything and then rise from the ashes, like the Phoenix. I believe this has been one of the most challenging Mars retrogrades I have witnessed in recent years. Perhaps in these last months, you have felt that you were drowning somewhere in your life. Maybe it felt excruciating at times, frustrating and that you were never going to come out of this funk. It was hard to find answers.

Now, with Mars turning direct, there should be some relief. We rise up and move forward in a new, wiser form, revitalized. Nothing made sense unless you were able to dig in deep and connect with any remaining dark emotions that were leftover from 2014 and 2015. Remember, we are looking back to Saturn’s transit of Scorpio that went on from 2012 to last September 2015, especially February and October 2014. Mars re-tread Saturn’s path and woke up whatever was lingering there. But this was such a whopper of a retrograde that I found myself transported back to 1985, which was the last time Saturn transited Scorpio. Maybe you have had this experience as well, if you were living on planet earth at that time. Mars has gone in and done some housekeeping of these places in the zodiac. It may have brought things to light for you that you did not expect at all. It may have been a real wake up call in how to finally resolve those issues where Saturn and Mars spent these times. This is a real turning point for a variety of reasons. For one, Scorpio is always powerful transformation and resilience. Then, remember that back when Saturn had its visit in Scorpio, Pluto has been in Capricorn, Saturn’s home. You might recall a blog where I called it an apartment exchange because they were in each other’s homes – Pluto rules Scorpio and Saturn rules Capricorn. All these details form a more significant experience of changing one’s life than is typical of a Mars transit. This time, Mars has stepped in a place to help us acknowledge healing something from the area of our life it is visiting. If you know your chart or can look it up online, find where 23° Scorpio is and review the attributes of the house in your chart. Does Mars speak to any other planets in your chart? Is it a nice conversation or is it a complex conversation?

Meanwhile, on July 4th there is a New Moon at 12° Cancer. The fact that this is happening while Mars is gearing up and coming back to life is no accident. New Moons always indicate a fresh start. This one connects in a positive way to Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Virgo, as well as the Nodes of Destiny. It supports the dream and visions we have been having since last August. The wishes we have been making. Now is time to make those wishes come true. We may have felt we are being called forward to join this vision, this is the moment to join and dance with your dream.

In any event, it is time to move forward, as we have been waiting to do for so many months. The plans that have been on hold can now start to reform. We have new ideas and a renewed sense of life energy available to us.

MARS TURNS DIRECT IN SCORPIO