Astroworld

Mars builds, takes risks, and is aggressive, protective, and passionate. In stress aspect to other planets, you can find your aggressiveness and assertiveness turn into foolish anger: screaming at your kids or spouse or neighbors, passion turning to violence, becoming your own worst enemy, turning the energy into the “God of War”, out of control, over the top. When the negative of Mars is unleashed, one feels as if they can do anything: move mountains, leap the tallest buildings in a single bound, be at war with everyone in the world. And you are positive you will win because you are the strongest, fastest, and are better than anyone. These are the times we become our own worst enemy. Believe me; if your baby is throwing a fit for no apparent reason, that child is having a negative Mars transit to their planets. It affects us all a couple of times a year or more with varying degrees of intensity.

If a person possesses a natal tendency toward bellicosity, and a love of violence, when a negative Mars transit comes along there can be a pretty big mess by the time it passes. There will be no one to clean it up for you, because you’ve alienated everyone by this point, “cutting off our nose to spite our face.” With any little bit of luck as we grow older, we start to use these times to clean closets or paint a room instead of destroying what’s around us.

Mars takes about two years to go around a chart, staying in a sign for about six weeks (unless retrograde) and it hits our planets along the way with a variety of results. On the square it’s ourselves creating problems; at the least we will be impatient, snappy, pugnacious, the loud mouth, even violent, but definitely on a “short fuse.” With the opposition we project with a result of problems seemingly coming at us, and we try to respond to the attack, employing everything from diplomacy to all out war.

Mars has just made his Ingress into Capricorn, the last time Mars Ingressed into Capricorn was September 9, 2001, just two days before “someone” else slammed into our values and safety. They came to us and we hit back, we didn’t care “why” they attacked us, we just wanted to make sure they understood our wrath. Mars in Capricorn opposes the Venus, Jupiter, Sun, and Mercury in the US chart, George Bush also had Mars opposing his Sun and Saturn, we looked toward him to carry our message of revenge back to our aggressors—the rest of the World sympathized with us and supported our “revenge.” No matter what you personally believe about revenge, nearly everyone understands it. Because George carried our angry feeling forward with an attack on Afghanistan, we forgave him of what followed those attacks.

Mars not only opposes George’s Sun and Saturn, but it squares his Neptune, Chiron, Moon and Jupiter in Libra. What came next was part of George’s own making, and we gave him a pass because we were feeling benevolent toward him with Jupiter on our Sun and his. Enron came next creating falling dominoes throughout Corporate America. They lied, betrayed, and stole from us. But, in our own anger and grief we gave them a pass, and our government has made good use of our numbness by dragging their feet on corporate reform, and the economy is in a “mess.” Well here we are again with Mars in Capricorn.

There aren’t any protective rays of Jupiter to the US and GWB’s Sun now as there was in 2001, Jupiter has passed into Leo and it’s on George’s Pluto. Jupiter on Pluto has the reputation of being the “King Maker.” Creating the belief in one’s own omnipotence, one’s own rightness, one’s own power—an expansive energy and transiting Mars will be inconjunct Bush’s Pluto and transiting Jupiter. What will those energies bring? I expect more John Wayne cowboy Texas talk and not realizing (or not caring) that most of the world finds it offensive—further driving a wedge between the United States and the World.

Mars in Capricorn falls first in Mr. Bush’s 5th house of creativity and the 6th house of his “job” and health. There are possible problems with children or young people, and opposition to actions he takes. In the 6th house there might be some health problems as his “job” becomes very stressful. Mars squaring his Neptune (this last happened in Sept. 2001) means increased delusions swirl around him. Remember how distracted and kind of flaky he was when the Towers were first struck, and his speech the other night was so drifty and repetitive? Some columnists have already asked the question if he might have been medicated.

By April of this year, neither Bush, Iraq, nor Saddam will be free of the influence of transiting Mars as it sets up a grand cardinal square with Iraq’s Sun/Mars/Jupiter natal t-square. Mr. Blair also has a number of cardinal signs (Aires, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). He too will be trying to get more started. The United Nations will feel like it’s falling apart (it already does). Arguments will increase among the Nations, and everyone is sure they are RIGHT. Hubris (a word I am so sick of) will be flying here, there, and everywhere all over the world, as well as some kind of action. Everyone is going to want to “mix it up” and testosterone will be on the rise for the “Cardinals.”

In 1971 there was a movie out called “The Time-Bandits.” The story line revolved around the Time Map begin stolen from the Supreme Being, with that map one could return to the past and change it if they wanted. The Supreme Being was anxious to get it back, and the Evil Genius was trying to get his hands on it, the possessor of the map would rule the world. For a time Evil Genius and his assistant Benson captured the map and Evil was ecstatic, thrilled, overwhelmed with power. He said to Benson, “I can turn mountains into valleys, deserts into oceans, birds into dinosaurs, I can turn…” and Benson, swelling with creative excitement said, “You can turn BEANS INTO PEAS.” The Evil Genius slowly and careful turned to him, and said “Benson, dear Benson you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence.”

That is the Mars square to our planets, we can become free of intelligence, and we act upon pure, raw emotion. For the next six week George Bush is in danger of becoming “mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence”(not that he doesn’t already have this problem). There is (with Neptune, the deceiver, still opposing Bush’s Pluto and inconjunct his Sun, Jupiter conjunct his Pluto, puffing up his delusion of power, and Mars, squaring and opposing nearly everything in his chart) no help from his progressed or natal planets in sight. There will be “no pass” this time, and anything coming toward the United States will now be suspected as a result of Bush’s ineptness. The dynamics for the United States has changed and those changes have yet to be recognized by our government.

While Pluto and Saturn are still close, Saturn is moving out from under the shadow of Pluto, particularly since Pluto will be turning retrograde in a couple of weeks, but Saturn will still be squaring our Neptune and activating the US Mars/Neptune natal square, bringing to light our secret addiction to war as a way to resolve conflict; at the same time, we are ashamed of that addiction and deny it exists, “we’re the good guys.” This President’s Uranus falls in alignment with our Mars/Neptune square and shockingly has thrown our own blood lust, against anyone who is different, into our face. We will have to deal with the “shame” over the next few weeks, as we become not the victim but the victimizer.

In 2004 when Pluto sets off that square again, we may have to pay dearly for our pugnacious addiction to war, and we might experience what other countries have had to experience—constant terrorism on our land. We haven’t lived in a “war zone” since the Civil War, when our own unacknowledged “dark side” kept us cleaning up the bodies of our families, friends, and neighbors. However, we should remember while the Civil War forced us into acknowledging our “dark side” America arose from that better and stronger and more honest as a nation.

Since 1865, we’ve had leaders who worked to “unite” us, not “divide” us. We don’t have a leader like that now. Unification doesn’t come by calling people names, controlling their movements, dismissing their concerns, fostering and encouraging a culture of spying on each other, creating another culture of entitlement for the elite, turning a deaf ear and supporting vitriolic and hateful talk shows, while arresting people wearing T-shirts with the word “Peace.” We cannot “unite” other countries when they see us supporting dictatorships with appalling Human Rights policies on one hand, and using marketing tools to go to war with a country BECAUSE of their “dictatorships and appalling Human Rights policies.” It makes me wonder how the “uniter not divider” spells betrayal, murder on a greater scale than WTC, and prevarication.

Bush faces a ton of challenges over this next six weeks with Mars, as do many of the players on the world’s stage, us too. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to have the social tools to handle these challenges well as we’ve been shown. When under pressure he is belligerent and quarrelsome, and has a habit of “making it up” as he goes along; saying and doing anything he thinks the people want to hear for the purpose of getting his way. On his march to his personal objectives he has a strong tendency to dismiss others. He hasn’t shown and interest in what others think, say or feel. He has made it plain that he’s the only one to make this decision. Bush only threw it out to the world’s opinion because he believed or was told, “The world will do what we tell them to do.” I don’t think the administration realized or believed they had squandered the good will of the world since 9/11. I think they have been living under such a cloud of illusion that they have felt they could do or say anything and the world would bow; and now Neptune is clearing the fog for them and they don’t like what they see. George never learned how to play well in the sandbox, and this transit of Mars in Capricorn will exacerbate that unpleasant quality.

The big question remains whether WE have a sense of playing well in the sandbox or will we let these “cowboys” pull down the UN and NATO. The hard-core conservatives among us never wanted the UN or NATO as it smacked of the “liberal consensus” concept they so hate. Mars in Capricorn promises a difficult six weeks for the United States, this Administration and Iraq. The “hot” spots in the World have already made their location known; Mars will give them the push to turn up the heat.

Personally, without a surprising “act of God” (and don’t rule that out) George is going to go to war, his under-developed fragile ego will never be able to accept anyone’s concept of a solution other than his own. George is unraveling as we watch and from one human being to another human being I feel sorry for him, as a citizen of the country he believes he “rules”, I am frightened of him.