Mars and Saturn Retrograde Mercury Direct

  

This is a very big week astrologically.  Mercury, which has been retrograde since February 6^th, is moving forward, stationing direct at 18 degrees of Aquarius at 9:00 a.m. on February 28^th.  While many of us are heaving collective sighs of relief at the end of this Mercury retrograde transit, we need to be mindful of the fact that Mercury will not officially be out of its retrograde shadow until March 21^st, when it hits 3 degrees of Pisces, which is where it stationed for this retrograde transit.  But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

But Mars is stationing retrograde at 27 degrees of Libra on March 1^st and Saturn follows suit at 23 degrees of Scorpio on March 2^nd. Mars in this extended stay in Libra will definitely put the focus on relationships.  Mars is retrograde until May 19^th, when it will resume direct motion at 9 degrees of Libra.  So we will get the full treatment of reviewing and realigning relationships.  A focus on pleasing others is definitely up for consideration.  I liked what Michael Lutin had to say about this Mars retrograde: that it would be like a time machine because the station of Mars would take us back to the feelings of 1983 and 1984.  What was going on then?  Plenty—Pluto was in the late degrees of Libra transforming relationships and the Mars station will be passing right over that.  Pluto has a tendency to transform the area of life governed by the sign it transits.  And Pluto in Libra was all about relationships.  Pluto in Capricorn is transforming business and government now.  He commented that it would also trigger feelings from that rare Venus transit back in June 2012 which helped usher in a shift in relationships.

This station of Mars is right on my Neptune, so it is definitely personal and pertinent to relationships.  I have Neptune conjunct my Libra ascendant, as well as my Juno, aka the marriage asteroid.  I am not one prone to substance abuse, but I suspect that my dreams and creativity will be heightened as a result of this transit.  And I have no doubt that this transit will have a huge impact on my relationships.

And then there is Saturn.    The themes of Saturn are patience, discipline and responsibility.  Saturn retrograde will probably cause many of us to feel that there are delays in progress towards personal goals.  Strong Saturn transits to personal planets between 16 and 24 degrees of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) will feel it the most.  Saturn’s initial station on March 2^ndwill conjunct my Venus.  In addition to relationships, this brings up financial issues for me.  I will need to be investing some money for business with the hope that my investment will pay off in terms of attracting new clients. And in June and July transiting Saturn will be conjuncting my Black Moon.  This transit will not be pretty because Saturn and the Black Moon are not exactly BFFs. It is known for encapsulating the struggle between the polarities of masculine and feminine.  I suspect that it will either propel me to take more action in the outside world or let go of my feminine tendency to rescue others.  Balance will need to be restored.  When Saturn goes retrograde on March 2^nd, it will be squaring Mercury in Aquarius for a couple of days, undoubtedly causing more glitches.  So if you need to set anything in motion, it is prudent to wait until at least March 4^th to proceed.  I know that the best advice for dealing with Saturn frustrations is to make adjustments, but for many of us, that is a bitter pill to swallow.

Basically, I am trying to believe that in spite of the fact that these two planets are appearing to move backwards with their retrograde motion, we are moving forward, even if it takes some major reviewing and reassessment to get us there. Hasn’t history shown us that you need to learn from the past in order to have any progress?

On the plus side, we do have a new moon in Pisces this weekend to look forward to.  The new moon will occur in 10 degrees of Pisces at 3:00 a.m. on March 1^st.  We can anticipate a reenergization of our inner journey.  This new moon will also trine Jupiter in 10 degrees of Cancer and I like Molly Hall’s interpretation of this aspect—go for the inspired path!  With a new moon in Pisces we may feel lost because everything is changing, but give yourself plenty of space to deal with it.  This is still Pisces season and we need to be mindful of its particular energy.  This new moon falls in my 5^th house, so I am eagerly anticipating a surge in creativity.  And to add some frosting to the cake, Jupiter in Cancer finally goes direct on March 6, 2014.  I can hardly wait!