Mars in Cancer: Astrology & Planet Positions of Mars Retrograde
September 11, 2007 by admin
Mars will enter Cancer on September 29, 2007, which is not a positive planetary event. In Cancer, Mars is in the sign of its fall, and therefore is particularly malefic. The ancient astrologers specifically looked for times when Mars in Cancer conjoined Saturn, as both planets were then at their most malefic, and their conjunction could only bode ill.
Mars is going to be in Cancer for a long time this year, as it turns retrograde at 12° Cancer on November 15. This means that Mars will be moving very slowly through the rest of 2007, and will have to be dealt with cautiously during this entire time (and into 2008).
Electional Astrology with Mars in Cancer
If Mars rules anything important in your natal horoscope, it may be best to avoid making major moves while it is passing through Cancer, and ideally throughout the time of its retrogradation. For example, if Mars rules your second house of money, making major financial decisions during this time is rather more risky than we would like.
If you absolutely must act, try to find dates when Mars is aspecting benefic planets, or just throw your hands up and call a professional astrologer.
The same goes for Mars-related activities, such as sporting events, warfare, surgery in general, and anything physically invasive.
Mars in Cancer in the Natal Horoscope
Generally, Mars in Cancer will not be a force for good in the natal horoscope, due to its weak placement in that sign. If Mars happens to be conjunct an eminent fixed star, such as in the horoscope of Roger Federer, then its malefic nature is much diminished (though the tendency to shed tears upon winning tennis tournaments is not). However, in general, Mars in Cancer is going to be tough to deal with.
As a different, more difficult example of Mars in Cancer, we can look at the natal horoscope of British poet laureate Robert Southey, who, after a distinguished poetic career, lost his mind and thereafter died. While there is much more to be said about his horoscope, note the Mars in Cancer on the midheaven (ruling his 3rd house of writing, and indicating his prolific career, which led to about 55 books), sextile Mercury in Virgo. Mercury represents the rational mind, so we see his sanity afflicted by his urge for fast and furious (Cancer is a cardinal sign, and therefore moves very quickly) creative output.
—To find out the meaning of Mars in your horoscope, or to find the best time to act while Mars moves through Cancer, why not get an astrology reading?
Astrology – Map of the Planets: Mars in Gemini on August 7, 2007
July 31, 2007 by admin
Mars’s ingress into Gemini will be a bit of a relief, since Mars in Taurus is in the sign of its detriment. Combined with Venus in Virgo (its fall) and Saturn in Leo (its detriment), having yet another weak planet has made electing just the right astrological moment somewhat difficult.
Let’s talk about the meaning of Mars in Gemini. Mars is not particularly strong in this air sign, since Mars is a fiery, hot planet. While this is not a terrible combination, it’s like putting a soldier in an office job; it can be done, and one can achieve some measure of success, but it’s really not a perfect fit. All that Martial energy will be put into airy pursuits, such as communication, which will become turbocharged. Maybe even aggressive and argumentative. William Lilly describes Gemini as a lover of arts/learning, and Gemini is also one of the human signs. None of these characteristics mesh very well with Mars’s aggressive, animalistic energy.
Electional Astrology Advice
If you are going to do anything Mars-related, I highly recommend that you do it before September 29th, when Mars enters its fall in Cancer. Mars will spend the rest of the year in Cancer, as it turns retrograde, and ever-so-slowly makes its way back to Gemini. What kinds of activities are ruled by Mars? Sports, surgery (though the rules for finding a good moment for surgery are far more complex than Mars’s placement), anything requiring courage, warfare, debates (along with Mercury, so especially appropriate for Mars in Gemini), tyranny (good time to lay down to law to your kids and inspire the proper measure of terror, for example).
Some Famous People with Mars in Gemini
Donatella Versace, Aaron Spelling, Neil Armstrong, Tom Foley, Steve Forbes, Julio Gallo, Uma Thurman, Courtney Love, Louis Vuitton, Antonio Banderas, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Tony Blair, Al Pacino.
Planets in Your Horoscope: Mars in Taurus on June 24, 2007
May 28, 2007 by admin
Mars enters the sign of Taurus on June 24, ending Mars’s sojourn through its own domicile of Aries. This is quite a step down for Mars, which was very strong in its own sign Aries, and now is in its detriment in Taurus. Mars will leave Taurus on August 7.
The energy of Mars is stifled and frustrated by heavy, earthy, fixed Taurus. For another analogy, Taurus is associated with cattle, and cattle are supposed be docile. Mars injects an inordinate amount of energy into this calm, contemplative sign, producing something of a raging bull. The energies of Mars and Taurus are incompatible, and the placement is considered an inauspicious one.
Still, there are many redeeming features that help press even the most recalcitrant planets into useful service. A trine from Saturn in Capricorn, for example, is most helpful, and gives Mars in Tarurus some needed structure and discipline. A square from Saturn in detriment in Leo, not so much. Of course, in a natal chart, we would first examine the level at which the person lives. Yes, Saturn in Capricorn might give discipline, but it might be the determination to do harm.
Electional Astrology Advice
If Mars rules an important house in your chart, such as the first house of self, do not start important undertakings during this period until August 7th. From about July 24 through August 3rd, this weak Mars will be squaring Saturn in Leo, which makes Mars rather crankier. Thus, if it is the end of July, and you are planning Martial activities (sports matches, brawls, international conflicts), or activities ruled by Mars in your horoscope, it’s best to wait.
Some Famous People with Mars in Taurus
George Steinbrenner, Jacques Offenbach, John Irving, Adolf Hitler, Kirk Kerkorian, Queen Latifah, George Sand, Alexandre Dumas, Sr., Timothy McVeigh.
How has Mars in Taurus manifested in your life so far?
Planets in Your Horoscope: Mars in Aries
May 9, 2007 by admin
After what seems like an eternity, on May 16, 2007, Mars enters one of the two zodiac signs it rules, Aries. The ancients considered Aries to be a sign of bestial behavior and violence, due to its fiery Cardinal nature. As a Cardinal sign, Aries epitomizes the essence of the fiery element, and manifests it very intensely. Since Mars is a malefic, this gives us something of a scorched earth feel to the sign of Aries. For this reason, even though Mars rules Aries, the planet is considered slightly happier in its other domicile Scorpio, where the watery element defuses and transforms Mars’s hot, warlike energy.
As it passes through Aries, Mars will form a trine to Jupiter and Saturn, each of which is in one of the other fire signs. While the trine from Mars to Jupiter is largely positive, the Mars-Saturn connection is a little bit scary, especially since Mars is in the fall of Saturn when it is in Aries. This means that if you’re planning any major steps or ventures, do them before Mars trines Saturn on June 11, and shoot for the Jupiter contact on June 4 instead. Jupiter is in its own sign nowadays, and even though it is retrograde, it has the added nice effect of humanizing Mars’s animalistic intensity.
What does it mean to have Mars in Aries natally? For starters, congratulations. It is always excellent to have a planet in its own sign in your horoscope, even if it is one of the malefics. It means that you can use the energies of the planet, the house it rules, and any other associated planets constructively. For instance, if you have Mars ruling the fifth house of games, all other things being equal, you might be a pretty athletic, sporty type (unless you have a phlegmatic temperament!). It’s going to be important that Venus and Saturn are on the strong side in your chart, because Mars is in their detriment and fall, respectively. This means that Mars will have the power to harm Venus and Saturn types of things in your life. Hence, we would want the other two planets to be strong, in an ideal world.
The famous French novelist Emile Zola had Mars in Aries conjunct Mercury on the cusp of the fifth house of creativity. As a Naturalist writer, his goal was to mimic everyday reality in his writing, but also display the animalistic, sordid aspects of human nature. How fitting for the “animalistic” Aries!
The Seven Planets and the Seven Deadly Sins
March 10, 2007 by admin
The weakest planet in a natal chart will typically show us to which of the classical “Deadly Sins” one is the most prone. For many of us, we will have more than one such planet, or at least a very bad planet connected to peregrine planets which can be easily influenced by their bad friends. Let us look at Justin Timberlake’s chart again:
Earlier, we looked at his natal Sun, and determined that it was very afflicted due to its position in Aquarius, the sign of its detriment. Also, it was afflicted because it was in the sixth house of illness, a traditionally malefic house. The trine to the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Libra was probably not helpful, not the least because Jupiter and Saturn are in the fall of the Sun. However, I do not think that the Sun is the biggest problem for Timberlake. I would bet that his biggest challenge is his Mercury in Pisces in the seventh house of partners and other people. Because the Sun is stashed away in a cadent house, it cannot act very strongly. So it may be a baddie in this chart, but it cannot exercise its influence.
However, Mercury is in its detriment and fall in Pisces, and it is angular, so it is well able to cast its negative influence over Timberlake’s life. No other planet seems particularly able to help it, or keep it in check, certainly not by aspect, though it may experience some help from Jupiter, due to their mutual reception (triplicity and sign). The challenge here is that Mercury is the only angular planet in Timberlake’s chart, so it will pop up again and again in all areas of his life. Most likely, it will describe Timberlake’s partners, and we can assume that his relationships will not be particularly easy as a result.
Taking a big picture view of the chart, Mercury’s deadly sin is envy. Seeing it in the seventh house gives us the sense that there is a strong tendency here to constantly compare oneself against other people, and focusing on what others have that the native does not. The reception with Jupiter, ruler of the fifth house, shows that this tendency is what drives Timberlake’s creative side to some extent. In that sense, it is a positive and productive expression. However, Mercury being as weak as it is here will not give us a great artist, though it certainly may produce a successful one. The royal star Regulus on the Ascendant does not hurt in this respect.
We can do this with any horoscope, so here’s the list of the deadly sins associated with each planet. When the planet is weak, the associated sin will most likely be an important obstacle that the person will have to surmount.
Saturn — greed
Jupiter — gluttony
Mars — anger
Sun — pride
Venus — lust
Mercury — envy
Moon — sloth
—Readers who are interested in a natal reading from Nina Gryphon may contact her via her reading requests form.
Planets in Your Horoscope: Mars Opposition Saturn on March 22, 2007
March 8, 2007 by admin
Mars opposite Saturn is not a happy combination. When you see the two malefics facing off like that, run for cover. The opposition is already evident in the Aries ingress chart, which determines the overall flavor of the spring season, and to a lesser extent, the entire year. If the Mars-Saturn opposition is angular in the Aries ingress chart for your location, prepare yourself for some serious weather this spring.
Obviously, if you’re starting any important ventures, do yourself a favor and start them after the opposition has passed. You should be okay after March 26 or so. If you absolutely have to go ahead during the few days leading up to the 22nd and even up to March 26, it might be worthwhile to cast a chart and make sure that Mars and Saturn are tucked away somewhere where they cannot do much harm in the horoscope.
Having Mars opposite Saturn in your natal chart is not easy. It will bring you struggles in life, but if either Saturn or Mars are strongly placed by sign, this will help you ultimately prevail over difficulties. For example, if Saturn is in Libra, the sign of its exaltation, and Mars is in Aries, the whole thing will have a rather stronger and better flavor. Nonetheless, the two planets would still be in negative mutual reception, each in the sign of the the other’s fall, but that is the nature of the opposition. In such a case, you still have to earn success, perhaps many times over.
–Readers interested in finding the right time to take a major step (marriage, babies, starting novels) may wish to learn more about the benefits of electional astrology (selection of the best time to do something based on their natal horoscope).
Planets in Your Horoscope: Mars in Aquarius
February 16, 2007 by admin
Mars will enter Aquarius on February 26, 2007
Mars is leaving its exaltation in Capricorn, and will soon enter the sign of Aquarius, where it has little strength. Mars passes through each sign about every two years, since it takes two years for Mars to go around the zodiac. Therefore, if you wish to do anything Mars related, you would be well advised to do so before Mars leaves the sign of Capricorn. Mars in Aquarius is an okay time to do Mars related things, or things ruled by house is governed by Mars in your natal chart. It is certainly not optimal. If you can wait, it is far better to wait for Mars to enter its triplicity in Pisces. Or, if you can wait even longer, let Mars enter its own sign of Aries, which would be even better.
Mars is not very strong in Aquarius, as the airy, hot and moist nature of Aquarius is not entirely congenial to fiery Mars. Mars seems to do best when it has some amount of structure (Mars exalted in Capricorn) or at least raw energy (Mars ruling Aries and Scorpio) to work with. Aquarius provides neither, as its energy is just too diffuse for Mars to use as fuel.
Mars in Aquarius natally is not a remarkable placement, either for its strength or its weakness. Most likely, Mars in Aquarius is going to be Peregrine in the chart, which means that aspects, receptions and other influences upon Mars will determine to a large extent whether it will be used positively or negatively. For example, if Mars in Aquarius is trine Venus in its own sign in Libra, this would be a positive influence upon Mars.
Planets in Your Horoscope: Mercury, Venus, Moon, Jupiter, and Mars on January 30 and 31st, 2007
January 16, 2007 by admin
January 30 and 31st (and the tail end of January 29, if you live on the West Coast of the US) are unusually positive days, when all but two of the seven planets are in strong essential dignity. Venus will be in its exaltation in Pisces, Mercury will be in its triplicity (by night) in Aquarius, the Moon will be in its sign of Cancer, Jupiter will be in its sign in Sagittarius, and Mars will be exalted in Capricorn.
This means that if any of these planets rule important houses in your horoscope, or somehow represent an activity that you want to start, I would highly recommend that you choose January 30 or 31st to start that project. By the way, the art and science of choosing an appropriate date for your actions is called electional astrology (if you click on the link, it will take you to an explanatory article that I wrote for my website).
However, all of this wonderful news comes with an important caveat. The Sun will be in its detriment in Aquarius, and Saturn is still in its detriment in Leo, and retrograde to boot. As a result, if the Sun or Saturn rule anything you’re about to do, you might want to wait a while, until the appropriate planet is in a happier place. If it’s the Sun you’re concerned about, wait until it is in Aries in its exaltation (March-April timeframe). If you’re doing something having to do with Saturn, such as you’ll just have to wait until it enters Virgo in September.
The nice thing about having so many planets in auspicious signs is that if you have to make more than one house strong in your astrological election, you’re more likely to succeed since five out of seven planets will be in a good place.
—If you are interested in finding a personalized astrological moment to do something important, such as getting married, applying for a job, or opening your business, you may wish to get an electional astrology reading.
Planets in Your Horoscope: Mars in Capricorn
January 9, 2007 by admin
Mars will enter Capricorn on January 16, 2007. This is great news, because Mars is exalted in Capricorn — it is on its best behavior in this sign (and in the signs it rules: Aries and Scorpio). It is super exalted in the 28th degree of Capricorn, that is, between 27 and 28° of Capricorn. That particular degree is the pinnacle of Mars’s strength in this sign.
Why is Mars so strong in Capricorn? There are a few reasons: first, Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, so Capricorn gives Mars the necessary structure that its sheer energy requires. Capricorn is a Cardinal sign, so even though it provides structure, it is still dynamic and active in a way that Fixed Earth Taurus, for example, is not. This is one reason why Mars is in its detriment in Taurus; it’s like putting a Ferrari engine in a Yugo.
Another reason why Mars is strong in Capricorn is that Capricorn is a cold and dry sign. Mars is a hot and dry planet. So the two of them share dryness, which makes Mars feel somewhat at home, but the coolness of Capricorn helps calm down Mars’s hot head.
So what does Mars entering Capricorn mean for you? If you’re like me, and Mars is pretty important in your horoscope, i.e. it rules important houses, aspects important planets, etc., you’ll want to choose Mars’s transit through Capricorn to do important things. This is called electional astrology, which is the art of electing just the right astrological moment to do something.
So, if Mars rules your ninth house of long/non-routine journeys (and Mars is relatively trouble-free in your horoscope), you will find Mars in Capricorn to be a beneficial influence should you take a long trip.
If you want to take advantage of Mars’s super-exalted passage through the 28th degree of Capricorn, you will want to start your ventures during the following time, given in GMT: February 22, 2007, 03:00 through February 23, 2007, 11:00.
This is also a good time to do Marsy things, even if Mars is not very important in your horoscope. Starting a fitness program, for example, would be a neat thing to do with Mars in Capricorn.
— Readers who are interested in a personalized electional horoscope, one that is based on their unique horoscope, can learn more on the Astrology Readings page of the Gryphon Astrology website.
Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter in Sagittarius
December 8, 2006 by admin
December is shaping up to be an interesting month, at least in the planetary sense. Three planets — Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter — have moved into Sagittarius. The implications are different for each planet; read on for the specific way in which each planet is affected by being in Sagittarius.
Mercury in Sagittarius
Mercury is pretty darn weak in Sagittarius. This is because Mercury rules Gemini, the sign opposite Sagittarius. In Sagittarius, Mercury is in the sign of its detriment. In Gemini, an air sign, Mercury does what it does best: it communicates and expresses itself. In Sagittarius, these tendencies are taken to an unpleasant extreme. Sagittarius is considered one of the loud voiced signs, and it is also a fire sign. This makes for harsh and in-your-face communication. If Mercury rules any important house in your chart, this is probably not the month to undertake anything major. Most likely, it would just dissipate in a shower of sparks.
Mars in Sagittarius
Mars is neutral in Sagittarius, meaning that it does not have much strength or weakness in that sign. However, all other things being equal, it is still happier in Sagittarius than in Virgo, for example, because the fiery nature of Sagittarius agrees well with Mars’s own inherent fiery nature. The verdict? Things could be worse for Mars. If Mars rules any important house in your own horoscope, and you want to undertake some important new project, wait out the next two months while Mars passes through this sign, because then it will enter Capricorn, which is the place where Mars is exalted and much stronger.
Jupiter in Sagittarius
Jupiter is right at home in Sagittarius, which is the house of its domicile. As a result, Jupiter is like a king in his own kingdom, and is quite strong. Jupiter stays in Sagittarius for one year, so if Jupiter rules any important houses in your chart, the next 12 months or so will be favorable for undertaking new projects that are ruled by those houses in your chart. This is the last chance you will get before Jupiter enters Capricorn and Aquarius, so the two years following Jupiter’s sojourn through Sagittarius will not be nearly as favorable for affairs ruled by Jupiter in your horoscope.
— If you are interested in a personalized prognosis, or simply want to know the best time to undertake anything important, a private consultation with Nina Gryphon may be for you. E-mail Nina at nina@gryphonastrology.com.
Badges
