Mars Stations Direct
Oh my god I'm so tired. I have been so tired. All. Week. Long...
I know it's just the beginning of the week. It feels like an eternity. Since the full moon last Wednesday I've barely been able to drag myself out of bed and into life. Tough when you work all weekend.
Mars, the planet of action, initiation, and ENERGY has been retrograde since March 1st of this year and is stationing direct today. What this means for life here on Earth is that in March we put some things on hold, our projects had to sit down and breathe for a few months, the action we wanted stalled and instead of doing, we were given time to think about doing: what we want to do, how, why, where, with whom, and to what ends. The last few months have hopefully given us all a bit of space from striving, and more motivation to reflect before acting.
Mars goes retrograde about every 2 years, making it one of the least frequently retrograde planets (Mercury, by comparison, is retrograde 3-4 times per year for about 3 weeks at a time.) Because of the retrograde Mars has been in the sign of Libra since December of 2013 and will stay in Libra through the end of this July. Since Mars usually only spends about 2 months in each sign, the eight months it's passing in Libra is a nice, long chance for us to investigate how we initiate, take action in, are aggressive/desirous/violent/passionate/willful/warriors in all things relational (Libra).
Depending on where you have Libra in your chart this will show up in different areas of your life. For all of us though, Mars in Libra opens space for us to consider our techniques for harmonious engagement, diplomatic action, and beautiful assertion. Mars in Libra wants us to fight for love, and if it doesn't mitigate our love of fighting it at least wants us to ask what we're fighting for. Mars retrograde throws some roadblocks and asks us to reconsider our actions/goals/projects while Libra invites us to consider others and our impact upon them in all of our choices. Mars in Libra has the potential to help us clarify and refine the vision we have around our goals and to then (hopefully) act upon them in ways that are peaceful and productive within our communities.
So back to my fatigue. God, I'm so tired.
When a planet stations (retrograde or direct), things and ways of being related to that planet slow down. Mars, ruling our personal energy (and yes, even the desire or willingness to get out of bed,) turning direct feels like all impulse to act slowly grinding to a halt. If I could stay in bed all day and read I would. I'm seriously considering canceling the rest of my day's obligations and only wish I could have done so last week too. And you know what..? It's totally fine. We're culturally obsessed (and I can definitely be personally obsessed) with moving on, moving fast, getting sh*t done and doing the next thing. To slow down for a second, get back into bed and relax my brain actually sounds like one of the most evolved ideas I've had in the last few days!
In fact, one of the big lessons of Mars in Libra is to regulate, be aware of, and check your own energy so that when you share it with others it's not damaging or draining to them but actually serves their wellbeing, and therefore yours too. On this day as Mars is turning around and preparing to go direct again I'm excited to pick up some projects that have felt stalled but in the last week or two might be gaining some traction again, I'm definitely excited to get out and be more actively relating (Mars direct and summer just around the corner), but as I start to move again it's going to be important to regulate my forward moving intention, goals and vision with my inner reflection, quietness and release of striving. If one thing is true it is that our individual goals mean nothing if we don't have relationship and community to share them with/ inspire us towards/ keep us reaching.
May all of our actions, intentions and initiations be made from love, with gratitude, appreciation and respect for all.
Happy Monday and Mars direct! -Renee