The week begins with Chinese New Year, initiating us officially into the Year of the Black Dragon. Mars supplies the dragon’s opening salvo, stationing retrograde on Monday afternoon. Mercury spends the middle of the week square Saturn, stressing necessary, if onerous, communications before entering Aquarius on Friday and spending the weekend in near simultaneous aspects with Uranus and Jupiter. Things are shifting into place for the next act.

Puff The Magic Dragon Lived By The Sea…

     Although I am primarily concerned with applying the “Western” tradition of astrology in my writing and practice, a brief side-step seem appropriate this week, as the New Year which begins on Monday just so happens to be celebrated by a couple billion people.

So let’s talk a little bit about dragons, in particular black dragons, the fantastic animal totem given rulership over the year. There are other dragons in the 60 year cycle of elements and animals, stems and branches- red, yellow, green and white. But this year is black, meaning that it is the dragon of the Water element. Like the element of water itself, the Black Dragon is more subtle than the others, more easily hidden, more attuned to the psychology of its enemies and prey.

Thus when the black dragon attacks, it won’t be all claws and death breath. Nope, it’ll be a mind-fuck, the old sea serpent playing with your pitiful emotions- like hope, fear and the rest of the contemptible lot. Now, it’ll no doubt be a hell of a year, with real things happening to real people, but before you protect your small pile of gold, your family and traveling companions and the rest of what you hold dear, protect your sanity. Your clarity of mind is a diamond blade which no Gordian knot or dragon hide can withstand. Speaking of forging sacred swords….

Mars’ Retrograde Station

     After months of buildup, Mars finally stations retrograde this Monday. Here the tension that’s been accumulating is released, the inversion no longer pending but engaged. Yet the full on retrograde is in many ways easier than the growing uncertainty of the shadow. No longer creeping darkness, mere night-time instead.

      Here, on the night-side of Mars, we have access to what lies beneath our presumed sense of power, the vulnerability and unsteady confidence which are the underbelly of the martial psyche. Embrace the imperfections and fears that your armor usually covers, for in them lies the design for superior equipment. There is a duality here, the yin and yang of strength and vulnerability, armored and naked.
Life’s battles call for us to suit up- to protect our weaknesses with armor and compensate for our shortcomings with tools. Yet if we do not step out of our equipment at times, we shrivel inside it like pitiful Vaders, out natural capacities atrophying. However, going naked into the World is a suicide run. Our flesh, our feelings are too tender. Without armor, without tools, we risk becoming impotent hippies, our feet cut by broken glass, our hearts sliced by the everyday contacts.

    There is a natural back and forth here, a cyclical alternation. Embrace what hides beneath your breastplate, but don’t come naked to any knife fights.

The Messenger’s Many Errands

Meanwhile, Mercury makes a number of aspects this week, emphasizing the role of the mind in managing the inward journey Mars has embarked on. Mercury spends Monday through Thursday in an applying square with Saturn, emphasizing necessary communications and travel. Like the Sun’s square to Saturn last week, this configuration has a mandatory down-to-business nature.

     On Friday, Mercury enters Aquarius, where the swift planet will be until Feb. 13th. In Aquarius, the mind overflows with visions of what-could-be, competing patterns of utopian possibilities and nightmarish futures. There is an abstract and inventive tone to communications and thought patterns. Use this time to work through the different routes that this year could take, but remember to keep it practical, as there is a tendency here for the mind to be seduced by improbable utopias and trapped by worst-case scenarios.

Over the weekend, Mercury in Aquarius sextiles an explosive Uranus in Aries and simultaneously squares slow growth Jupiter in Taurus. Squaring Jupiter in Taurus, there is a tendency to become frustrated with pokey pace of personal and material growth. This tendency toward impatience is exaggerated by Mercury’s sextile to Uranus in Aries, which lends the messenger a few bolts of lightning, triggering realizations and visions with alacrity. The trick here is to accept the need for speedy change that Uranus lends us without getting frustrated by pace of actual growth. The embodiment of ideals can only take place at the speed of manifestation.

All of this points back toward Mars’ retrograde through Virgo, whose time pulls our eyes toward the tools we have at our disposal. Many are likely worn out, or designed for tasks no longer at hand. We may need to go back and go under before we can go forward and upward. It is important that as we plot our way forward that we do not envision straight lines, for they tend to end abruptly at the first obstacle. The way is always turning, contouring its way around and through obstacles, carving the landscape like a river.

HOROSCOPES

Aries: The Ram

Mars’ 3 month retrograde begins on Monday. Representing a real risk to both your wallet and health, you may need to rein yourself in hard as you amble toward the end of the month. This retrograde is about the importance of being precise in your application of personal power.

Meanwhile, Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting the necessity of decorum in professional relationships. On Friday, Mercury enters Aquarius, boosting communications in your social sphere for the next several weeks. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The aspect to Uranus provides a new perspective on the mutation process you’re going through, while the square to Jupiter points out that whatever the changes through, you still need to take care of business one dollar at a time.

Taurus: The Bull

Mars stations retrograde on Monday, beginning a 3 month period of rethinking and refining the way you apply your personal power. Consider, especially, how you’re wasting your energy and how you can stop doing that.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting tension between big plans and the necessity of a balanced budget. Mercury joins the Sun in Aquarius on Friday, shifting the focus of communications toward professional matters. Use the objectivity entailed in this position to offset the dramatic tendencies of recently retrograde Mars.Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The aspect to Uranus triggers realizations about the power you forget you have while the square to Jupiter asks what the relationship between personal growth and professional success really is.

Gemini: The Twins

Mars goes retrograde on Monday, pulling your attention to issues with your living situation. Mars’ turn retrograde also starts you on a 3 month exploration of where you’ve come from and how that both empowers and enfeebles you.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting conflicts between your available energy and what is demanded of you by your obligations to others. Mercury joins the Sun in Aquarius on Friday, adding the messenger’s mental power to the Sun’s focus on long term goals. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. Mercury’s aspect to Uranus fires up your mind, as well as your social life, while the square to Jupiter asks you to remember how important slow, solid growth is, regardless of how uninspiring it may seem.

Cancer: The Crab

The week begins with Mars’ retrograde station on Monday. This reversal starts a 3 month reconfiguration of the way you apply your personal power to your daily life. Consider fixes for the various inefficiencies in your schedule and watch out for random douchebags.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting tensions surrounding living situations and personal relationships. On Friday, Mercury enters Aquarius. Mercury’s time in Aquarius adds mental energy to the Sun’s focus on exchanges of time, money and energy. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus, infusing thoughts and communications with a little excitement about ongoing professional changes as well as some frustration with social situations.

Leo: The Lion

Mars goes retrograde in Virgo on Monday, initiating a 3 month focus on identifying and solving financial issues. Therein are a series of insights into the relationship between resources and personal power.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting tensions between the need to solve problems and the constraints of your schedule. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday, adding mental energy to the Sun’s focus on relationships for the next several weeks. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The aspect to Uranus may throw a curveball into your relationships while the square with Jupiter signals you may need to bring personal conversations and professional aspirations into more harmonious alignment.

Virgo: The Virgin

Mars stations retrograde on Monday, beginning 3 months of Virgo rage and deep insight into what personal power really is. You’ll learn plenty about the use and abuse of the martial current.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting the necessity of marshaling both your mental energy and cash in a disciplined manner. On Friday, Mercury enters Aquarius, bringing the topic of communications and tone of thoughts into line with this lunar cycle’s focus on practical innovation. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. With Uranus we see excitement about novel arrangements with other people. Yet with Jupiter there may be some frustration with the lack of impact that your long term objectives are having on the daily experience of living and working.

Libra: The Scales

Mars turns retrograde in Virgo on Monday, dishing out a fair amount of irritation. The red planet’s retro begins a multi-month expedition into the cracks and crevices of your psyche in search of a power you somehow got disconnected from. Expect moments of confusion amidst cutting clarity.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting obligations to your living situation. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday, bringing communications and thoughts into line with this lunar cycle’s focus on what you’re doing with your energy. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The aspect to Uranus sees creative ideas enriched by contributions from close friends, while the square to Jupiter asks how much of your energy you will reserve for yourself and how much you will devote to others.

Scorpio: The Scorpion

Mars goes retrograde in Virgo on Monday, kindling latent conflicts in your social sphere and beginning a 3 month lesson on just how important social skills are. And how annoying people can be.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting conflicting needs between internal and external needs. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday. This shift sees your thought process turn toward your living situation for the next several weeks, seeding ideas about how it can be improved. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The sextile to Uranus may see you find novel solutions to living situation issues, while the square to Jupiter points towards the challenges inherent to the friction between your living situation and personal relationships.

Sagittarius: The Centaur

Mars stations retrograde on Monday, heralding a set of important changes to the way you apply personal power to your professional situations. It will be easy to ignite professional conflicts, so carry that big stick, but remember the walk softly part.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting friction between social and monetary obligations. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday, which amplifies the number of peripheral communications and conversations for the next several weeks. Try not to get distracted. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The sextile to Uranus may see some unexpected fun emerge, while the square with Jupiter indicates that you should make some time to take care of your fiscal and physical health.

Capricorn: The Goat

Mars stations retrograde in Virgo on Monday. Mars’ reverse journey will involve a close scrutiny of what your long term goals really are. The challenge here is to define and refine what direction you want to go. Your answer to that question will be your vehicle. Clearly defined goals to lend a person strength and resolve otherwise unavailable.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting professional communications. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday, which sees the mind shift toward financial matters for the next several weeks. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The aspect to Uranus might see you considering changes to your living situation, while the square with Jupiter points out that it is not just your money that needs to be deployed strategically, but your creative energy, as well.

Aquarius: The Water Bearer

The week begins with Monday’s retrograde station of Mars. Mars’ retrograde will entail an exploration of the potential empowerments and pitfalls of joining your resources with others. Consider partnerships carefully before committing.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, highlighting how unforseen factors affect long term plans. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday. Mercury’s shift puts his powers of communication and cognition at your fingertips, giving you a boost of mental energy for the next several weeks. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The sextile to Uranus puts a hot pepper up your brainstem, while the square to Jupiter asks you to consider how your living situation is supporting or eroding your personal one.

Pisces: The Fish

The week begins with Mars’ retrograde station. The red planet’s reverse journey through Virgo will test and refine your ability to handle conflict in your relationships. It’s about finding the power to manage and dismantle interpersonal conflicts.

Mercury spends much of the work week in a square with Saturn, emphasizing that you make time for your obligations to people in your schedule. Mercury enters Aquarius on Friday, where the messenger will take you on a tour of forgotten thoughts, misplaced epiphanies and carefully hidden conundrums. Over the weekend Mercury makes aspects to Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. The sextile to Uranus prompts you to consider a new perspective on your actions, while the square to Jupiter asks you to find the time in your schedule for a bit of poetic pondering.