It’s About to Get Chaotic in Here | Part 1

The Basics

So, if you’ve been keeping apace with where all these planets are zipping around on the ecliptic, you’ve probably been hearing that we a Mars retrograde cycle is upon us again!

The most recent time we experience Mars retrograde was during its long passage in Aries from June 30, 2020 to January 7, 2021, with the retrograde taking place from September 9th to November 12th, 2020. For those of you with placements in cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer, Capricorn), this was potentially a fraught time of dramatic endings and beginnings, pressure to self define and self assert, and leap with self belief and confidence. All while the pile up of Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn sent mixed signals of expansion and limitation — especially in regards to obligation and social duty. And, at some point, Mercury was in the mix, traversing Libra, trying to instill some semblance of civility.

The Nitty-Gritty

This time, Mars, the planet that, at its most basic, signifies our energy discharge into material reality, will spend 7 months in the sign of Gemini, starting Saturday, August 20, 2022 to March 25, 2023. The retrograde is from October 30, 2022 to January 12, 2023 with the “shadow” period starting September 3, 2022.

Before getting into the significance of retrograde periods, the sign difference is rather important this time. When Mars was in Aries, it was in a sign that it rules (aka “domicile”). It was pure Mars energy that didn’t have to answer to any other planet. By the same token, Saturn was in its own sign of Capricorn. So, the tension between these two planets during that entire cycle might’ve felt like being stretched out on a medieval rack.

This time around Mars in Gemini is subject to the dictates of Mercury (the planetary ruler of Gemini) who will motor through 66.66% of the zodiac (through Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries). PLUS Mercury will retrograde TWICE from Libra to Virgo (a sign it owns and is exalted in), from September 10th to October 2nd, AND in Capricorn, from December 29th to January 18th.

Is it starting to feel chaotic yet?

Mercury is the planet that connects points A and B. It rules the signs of Gemini and Virgo (where it is also “Exalted” aka A ROCKSTAR).

In natal astrology, it signifies the “intellect” (which is distinct from “the Mind” — which is the domain of the moon) — with its primary function to package the Mind’s needs and wants in such a way that they can be recognized in the external world. Hence, the association with communication, language, commerce, transactions, skills, travel, liminality.

In transit (as it makes its way around the ecliptic), Mercury asks the questions,

How do you connect the needs and wants of this particular sign and house in your chart to the external world?

What calibrations need to be made to the conduit between this piece of your natal pie and the outside world?”

It does so in order to help one’s consciousness align the internal experience of the planet that owns that sign and that house with the external inputs and perceptions.

Claro?

Uneasy Bedfellows

Now, here’s where we connect Mercury and Mars:

While Mars is Mercury’s tenant in Gemini, like any landlord, Mercury’s job is to make provide Mars with what it needs for as salubrious a stay as possible. In exchange, Mars “pays” its rent by exerting energy into the world on behalf of Mercury — and, in this case, in whatever house in your chart is overlaid by Gemini — the sign of the twins.

Now, a lot of you have heard me go on about how Gemini’s fundamental quest is to discover the authenticity of self and Self via finding its twin. Even identical twins aren’t the same person! Planets in Gemini aren’t being asked to seek out some carbon copy. They’re quest is to enter into a dialectic with each and every person, experience, piece of information that comes their way and to find, through that exchange, the similarities that allow it to better know itself. Like the air element to which it belongs, Gemini, needs to be able to range, flow around a stimulus, fill its every crevice, surround it to perceive its form and shape — and then, like a pollinator on a breeze, carry some essence of that stimulus to the next encounter. It’s chaotic and can be maddening but, almost always, is (with the right framing) delightful and witty…but, beware! In the myths, one twin inevitably rises up to slay the other! And that’s part of the process — recognizing the roles that don’t ring true and then killing that which is not self/Self.

Mars, in general, per Vedic astrology, isn’t much of a fan of Mercury and Mercury is neutral on Mars.

Think about it: Mars is a soldier. Soldiers function best when there’s a clearly stated objective and it can trust in the decision making processes of its superior officers — one of the reasons it exalts in Capricorn! However, Mars in a sign ruled by Mercury — in particular in Gemini. Oh boy. This is basically taking that same soldier and giving it a commanding officer that changes their mind as an MO or tends to wander its way to an objective without a lot of commitment to achieving that goal and is more into the journey along the way.

Mercury, otoh, doesn’t know what to make of this guy. Sometimes it’s great to have him on side, because, when you make demands, threats, or even commands, you want people to know you can see the consequences through. Other times, Mars can be more trouble than its worth managing it — try running errands with a strong, potentially lethal, dog who gets triggered by electronic sounds and people who look at them in the eye — and Mercury wants to move quick quick quick and doesn’t have time to continually think for itself AND for Mars.

Well, we’re about to have 7 months of Mercury having to think for Mars while Mars is literally getting sent on a scavenger hunt with a list and a map that keep changing.

If you haven’t worked on one during this crazy paradigm shifting fixed sign mash-up, you’ve got a couple of days to develop a sense of humor — because that’s what’s going to get you through this one.

The Trickiness of Retrogrades

I recently watched a brilliant doc hosted by physicist Brian Cox in which he visible explained the phenomenon of retrogradation and WOW. Mind blown. I’d always understood it via the astronomical textbook definition and had struggled with explaining its signification astrologically in transit. It just didn’t feel enough to explain — oh, it’s revisiting the lessons and opportunities the planet drew to you during its direct motion.

Okay, because then how does a client act on that? You’re either sat there waiting for something to boomerang back around and/or you’re not waiting to see what happens and that boomerang comes back and smacks you in the back of the head.

In the visual explanation (I wish there was a way to link to it because my words will be a clumsy butter knife), you see the Earth and the planet in such a relationship that it appears that the Earth is moving forward and has to look over its shoulder (so to speak) to see the planet in question — but they’re both still moving forward. The idea of that backwards motion is an illusion of perception. In reality, its moving forward as well and is closer to the Earth than during other points in its orbit…and, at some point, we perceive that retrograde planet being eaten by the sun.

Astrologically speaking, this visual representation shook up my thoughts on this subject — and I’m still not at a point of clarity to share what’s come of these ruminations. However, here’s a best shot: It seems that the challenge at hand is having the issues represented by the retrograde planet become even more relevant to our experience of the now and to meet those challenges keeping in mind that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.

As in CBT, it’s being able to recognize and parse out the difference between the current circumstances and the past you that’s being triggered: Acknowledge and feel the emotions that arise as those old neuronal pathways are activated, see that you are being prompted to repeat the actions that “saved” past you but have created a dysfunctional reality, and then to consciously choose to take a different course of action that both promotes a more functional NOW and takes into account the life you want “future you” to live.

For this Mars retrograde cycle, this will most likely (in Part 2 I’ll go into more specific strategies for each phase of Mercury’s journey and how it relates to Mars) entail issues around self assertion, emotional and identity reflectivity, how to express anger in a more authentic and productive, the enforcement and dissolution of boundaries that promote healthier, more aligned ego identification, as well as issues of identifying one’s fears and exercising courage in the face of them.

More next time! And, yes, I know — I still owe you the second part of Let’s Get Practical 2…but if I keep going this will be a BOOK!