At First, A Trickle

The Moon wanes away from fullness this week, which begins on a contradictory note.  An onerous Sun-Saturn square hangs over the first couple days- yet those very days are also brightened by Jupiter’s direct station.  Good news and heavy deadlines occupy the same space.

These dueling currents evaporate as we push toward the weekend.  Friday sees two planets change signs.  Venus abandons Capricorn’s boardroom to seek neglected treasures in the untamed hinterlands of Aquarius and Mars enters Pisces’ oceans with a splash.

Light and Heavy

The first half of the week is dominated by the conflicting influences of Saturn and Jupiter.   The Sun’s inferior square to Saturn can be oppressive, as vital energies may not feel equal to life’s demands.  Discipline is likely necessary here, as well as patience.  Don’t try to get it all done in a hurry- just get it all done.

Although there is certainly toil in the air during the first half of the week, some things may move very quickly indeed.  Jupiter’s direct station in Gemini occurs on Tuesday night, beginning nine months of forward motion.   This station unleashes a speedy torrent of ideas.  Glorious potentials and enticing opportunities zip to and fro above a landscape heavy with labor.  New projects entice while those already in motion oppress.

Sweet Electricity

Venus also changes signs on Friday, leaving the practical pleasures of Capricorn behind for the eccentric delights of Aquarius.  In Aquarius, Venus asks us to find value outside of the norm, to see the beauty in what has been neglected and cast out.  It is an invitation to go treasure hunting outside the magic circle.  Beginning Friday and running well into next week, Venus chases a fine trine to a newly stationed Jupiter as well as a stimulating sextile to Uranus.  A sweet electricity hums through these days.

Proteus Goes To War

Mars takes the fight beneath the waves this Friday, when the red planet enters the oceanic confines of Pisces.  Mars has strength in Pisces, but the type of action promoted by the red planet here is less direct than in other places.

The warrior’s secret that Mars teaches in Pisces is the shapechanger’s art.  This power is best captured in the old magician’s duel, depicted in Disney’s classic “The Sword and the Stone,” as well as in Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series.  These are combats of the imagination, tests of the mind’s adaptability.  For those unfamiliar with the above mentioned works, an example:

A: I become a wolf, whose teeth tear throats.

B: I am an elephant, with thick skin a wolf’s small teeth cannot penetrate.

A: I am hunger, which devours the largest creatures first.

B: I am a bountiful harvest, which consumes hunger itself.

A: I am a plague of locusts, and take what was harvested.

And so on.

Mars in Pisces calls for the application of strategic imagination, the ability to change form in order to accomplish the task at hand.   Yet the same power can also be applied to the opponent.  Storybook witches turn bad little boys into frogs, and in the Odyssey, Circe turned Odysseus’ big bad men into pigs.

This power can be understood more deeply when alloyed to a knowledge of animal spirits, which is found in traditional lore world wide and acted out in certain styles of martial arts.

The contest is ultimately a battle of perception, and the territory to be won or lost is the mind.  The weapons and armor are the forms (hsing) the mind can take.

Out To Sea

After entering Pisces on Friday, Mars heads straight for a conjunction with Neptune, which highlights the power of the imagination, which although not perfected until Monday, strongly influences the entire weekend.

Mars’ entrance into Pisces and subsequent conjunction with Neptune is interesting in and of itself, yet also acts as a harbinger of things to come.  Mars is merely the first planet into Pisces.  The year’s first inundation is not too far ahead, as Mars will be followed by Mercury, the Sun and then Venus- leaving us, by February’s end with a rare pile of planets in the marine sign.  The tide on the mindsea rises only a bit this week, but there is more to come.