At dawn, on Saturday the 24th, on our tropical coasts, populated by the heirs of ancestral African customs, the drums sounded to honor Saint John. Men and women indulged in the sensuality of their bodies, dancing endlessly to a percussion rhythm, joining the body movement to the vibrant energy of each drum beat: a clear expression of the cultural and religious syncretism that joins the pagan invocation to the Sun of the Solstice and the Christian Heroism.
On that same day, a short distance away, the military troops also gathered to celebrate, but in a martial style this time, a new anniversary of the glorious and triumphant Carabobo Battle, which sealed independence. Two events joined together by the same force; the expressive condition of movement, action, instinct, sexuality, combats and war; all, represented in the figure of an ancient deity: Mars.
During this week, Mars travels the second decanate of Cancer and, from that zone, forms three different angles with as many sidereal bodies, providing an energetic torrent of much confrontation. Because of its location in outer space, its physical-atmospheric characteristics and its size, the reddish planet possesses qualities similar to those of Earth. It is even suspected that at some point it provided the minimum conditions for harboring life.
The planet that follows ours in its cycle around the Sun —and takes twice the time Earth takes to complete its cycle— was named after the Roman god of war: Mars. The Greeks called it Ares; and, in different mythologies, even when its name was changed, the same role was always attributed to some divine character.
It has to do with an immortal force that represents the instinct, the impulse, the courage, the eagerness to fight, the ability to fight, the resistance, the conquest. It is identified with action and initiative, with audacity and courage, with manly character and with the masculine pole of sexual energy. It is, in short, the form in which an irrational energy is expressed, that hurls itself after its prey, or fights until conquering or dying.
On the level of astrological symbolism, whenever Mars occupies a relevant position on the sky map, whether it is natal or concerning the transits of a given moment, the conditions of cosmic energy indicate a tendency towards action, confrontation, violence or aggression. There is, in those cases, an inclination to express in the terrestrial environment, in human behavior, conscious or unconscious, a current favorable to impulsive action, irrational violence and confrontation.
The week begins with Mars in Cancer, over on the natal Sun of Venezuela and the USA, forming a 90 ° angle with the largest of the planets, Jupiter, that travels through Libra. This last outer body represents abundance, exaggeration and excess, which, when connected with the aggressive force of the red planet, stimulates situations of high tension and conflict.
On Wednesday the 28th, Mercury, the small planet, and the one closest to the Sun, occupies the same zodiacal point of Mars in Cancer. It is a conjunction between both. Such alignment of the two causes a combination of energies that become a single one. Mercury gets to transmit and communicate the aggressive flow of Martian action, either through deeds or the word.
Next Saturday, the first day of July, the Crescent Half-Moon will allocate itself from Libra at the intermediate point between Mars and Pluto. A triangle —with a lot of destructive power— will be formed this way. This figure, known as a T-Square, will increase the confrontation levels through the mediation of our satellite.
Finally, next Sunday the 2nd, when Mars reaches 18 ° Cancer, it will line up with Pluto, which will be at the opposite point (18° Capricorn), generating a dissonant vibration between the two qualities they represent. They are two bodies that share the same nature: intensity, shuddering and transformation. It will be Mars, expressing its explosive and external character, and Pluto, doing likewise as regards its implosive and internal form; both, though, sharing the same amount of violence.
In short, throughout this week, Mars will receive successively the encouragement of Jupiter, Mercury and Pluto to convey, with different nuances, its challenging character and competitive spirit. The Half-Moon will help to process that stream of vitality, enthusiasm and courage, which the warrior planet represents. It is up to each of us to turn that flow of cosmic energy into a source of Jupiter’s optimism, mercurial cunning, and plutonian transformative power, with the intuitive and emotional help of the growing Moon.
Translated by Jorge Pardo Febres-Cordero, Certified Public Translator (Spanish-English-Spanish) – [email protected]
Photo Credits: Paxson Woelber