Mars in Aries 2020. A vibrant sword pointing up to the sky. A rising energy flowing into the arms. A runner at the start ready to sprint. A hand letting go the arrow stretched in the bow. Pure energy ready to burst, the lit fuse.
This is one of the most important transits of 2020. Usually Mars stays in a sign for roughly a couple of months. But this year the God of War is going to stay in his diurnal domicile for 6 months, till 2021 Epiphany.
As you can imagine Mars in his sign is particularly strong. Aries marks the beginning of spring, the time of the year when life forces of Nature are strongest. Just think about how quickly the vegetation cover changes with the arrival of the new season. Flowers and buds literally explode.
A warrior can definitely use all this life-force. In fact Mars is Aries corresponds to the archetype of the tireless warrior who fights to the end. Since we are going through a very hard time, having available all these fiery energies is a blessing. We all need a fresh start.
Fighting with Courage through a Difficult Recovery
Mars in Aries is the right energy to tackle obstacles or enemies. To the point that if Mars doesn’t find any, he’s gonna make some anyway. This because the Warrior is in his element only in a battlefield, and for this reason he always tends to create one. We are far away from the reasonable compromises of Libra. Mars is a warmonger.
So far, it seems pretty clear that for this year we shouldn’t be afraid of running out of hindrances. In fact the upcoming aspects of Mars with slower planets promptly suggest a difficult recovery. As you can see in the table below Mars only makes a positive sextile with Saturn, whereas summer and fall are dotted with hard squares.
Sun 28-06-2020 Mars (29Pis59) --> Aries Sun 28-06-2020 Mars ( 0Ari13) Sex [ 0Aqu13] Saturn Tue 4-08-2020 Mars (19Ari44) Squ [19Cap44] Jupiter Thu 13-08-2020 Mars (23Ari04) Squ [23Cap04] Pluto Mon 24-08-2020 Mars (26Ari19) Squ [26Cap19] Saturn Thu 10-09-2020 Mars <28Ari08> Station/Retrograde Tue 29-09-2020 Mars [25Ari20] Squ (25Cap20) Saturn Fri 9-10-2020 Mars [22Ari29] Squ (22Cap29) Pluto Mon 19-10-2020 Mars [19Ari26] Squ (19Cap26) Jupiter Sat 14-11-2020 Mars <15Ari14> Station/Direct Wed 23-12-2020 Mars (23Ari55) Squ (23Cap55) Pluto Thu 7-01-2021 Mars (29Ari59) --> Taurus
Of course the most difficult challenges are going to be the squares with Saturn, especially the one occurring on Michaelmas (September, 29th) since Mars is going to be retrograde. This because Saturn will be back in Capricorn, where not only he is particularly strong, but also very cold and blocking. If Mars is the accelerator, Saturn is the brake.
We have seen how Neptune retrograde is going to make a couple of sextile with Jupiter (in late July and early October). These positive aspects are going to provide new ideals and practical ideas for change. In this regard the energy of Mars is the perfect fuel to concretely realize them. But this not without facing some resistance.
Specifically the configuration Mars is going to fight is made of the same planets involved with covid-19: Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter. This comes with no surprise, since we all know that we still need to confront the long-term consequences of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
So how can we go through this challenging transit? What perspective should we take to embrace it fully, taking the best from it? A possible answer comes from the spiritual virtues of Aries itself, as described by H.P. Blavatsky and later on processed by Rudolf Steiner.
DEVOTION
becomes
POWER OF SACRIFICE
— Virtues of Aries by R. Steiner and H.P. Blavatsky —
From ideas to words, from words to deeds, in Devotion
New ideas require courage. Not only to follow them—that comes later. But first and foremost to affirm them in a world that simply put does not want them. We all seek comfort from habits, feeling safe in a world that we know or we think we know. For this reason ideals become fragile, and their path scary.
New ideas seem weird, suspicious and ultimately wrong. It takes a pricelessly rare quality of the soul to allow them to grow inside of us. It takes Devotion.
Even if addressed only to ideas, Devotion sounds immediately like religion, isn’t it? But aren’t our dreams precious to us? Aren’t they—we could almost say—sacred?
We will have to leave behind many things to follow them. And sometimes we are simply not going to able to do that. Our debts, duties, or family are not going to allow it. Still, there is something we can always do. We can nurture our ideals in devotion, recognizing the higher value they bear.
The moment we try, here comes cynicism. There is something in us that doesn’t even allow us to think about it. Weird, isn’t it? Maybe it’s that cynicism we should look at with suspicion. This voice in our head saying that what we are doing is useless. That it is just a feeling, or a dream. That it doesn’t make any difference. But is it really so?
The Soul, our Garden
Ideas are like seeds, our soul like a garden. If we give them enough space to grow inside of us, ultimately something changes—we change. Devotion becomes the soil from which another virtue is able to spring. Our will slowly becomes mature enough to feel the need to sacrifice itself for a higher cause.
After some time you might find yourself speaking your mind in a conversation you were too afraid to have. Forces of integrity start flourishing in you. Devotion becomes a wellspring of strength. And what you began to stand up for is what one day will take you far.
From ideas to words, from words to deeds. This is the idea that I wanted to share with you today.. If you don’t want to miss future articles please subscribe to the Astronomical Newsletter at the top of the web site. Have a nice week, and thanks for reading
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
