Mars has entered Sagittarius, and tomorrow joins Ketu, South Node of the Moon, in an aspect that somewhat tempers this ‘turnt up’ placement of the reddened ‘lesser malefic.’  The decrease which characterizes Ketu might be a material bane at times for many a planet that encounter it, but Mars transiting Jupiter’s diurnal home in Sagittarius, particularly its first decan, can sometimes use a dialing down.  Here the martial quest, the ‘spiritual sojourn’ of the Archer, may find itself as concerned with gischt or essence as it is the physical plane for a bit of the week.

Mars in Sagittarius ‘itself’ is ~

* visionary, spirited, philosophically aggressive
* the pious pulpit, the disseminating soapbox
* quick to get fired up, quick to get back to having fun
* optimistic and implicitly expectant of success
* the quicksilver intuition, nonstop party, imagination meets instant action
* the unrestrained tongue, the relentless pace, the oversaturated vision
* juicing the narrative
* the ‘feel player’
* the long distance runner with periods of inconsistency
* can plummet to potentially manic depths if its ideals are not met

That said, it’s possible the conjunction with Ketu might for a couple days bring some the sense of a ‘not particularly Mars-y Mars.’  In this moment for example, through the early portions of Thursday, December 16th, as the Moon in Taurus approaches Gemini and later its fullness in the Twins — we might be feeling a blend of busy, stimulated, and yet pleasantly relaxed throughout whatever pace.  The confluence of a Taurus Moon with Mars-Ketu can bring such a slower seep, as well as the strong spread of earth element placements overhead.  Having been born with Mars in Sagittarius, ruled by an exalted Jupiter in the 9th House, I tend to do well under these kinds of transits regardless.

At the same time, there is a hint of excitability in the air aside the seething cauldron of Venus-Pluto in Capricorn; relationship transformation, and the dubiousness of power structures, yes, but with momentum surrounding all our narratives to continue mounting.  Mars ruled by Jupiter in the third decan of Aquarius, a face known for cool detachment as much as a sweeping, humanitarian love, is soon to give way to the ‘greater benefic’ making its ~yearly change of signs.

It is around Jupiter’s ingress into Pisces on the 28th of December that the character of winter’s commencement might bring all the more impassioned and ardent a nature — both amplified and challenged by Venus’ retrograde in Capricorn, flirting over and over with Pluto-as-Hades before her rebirth as a morning star on March 20th, 2022.

These next few months of Venus’ jaunt through the underworld will see two additional conjunctions to Pluto in Capricorn, serving to clarify the pace of her exploration in the sign of the Sea-Goat.  All this as the third and final Saturn-Uranus square of 2021 prompts the ever present-question of where in our lives a grassroots-futurist revolution really has most been due.

Indeed, the headline here might be less what Mars is doing, and more what the red planet -isn’t- doing to interact with the Venus-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn.  In this meeting, Aphrodite beholden is conjunct a celestial body not part of the traditional seven, but still one of ‘the death planets’ along with Mars and Saturn.

However, Pluto’s character is not to divide as Mars or negate as Saturn.  Pluto’s is to decompose, to drag through the plumbing, to shine volcanic light on those truths we’d rather ignore.  It reaches and wretches us out into something like ‘transformed.’  It can be passionate, and often a bit of an emotional pressure-cooker.

As author and astro-mage Jason Miller wrote, and those who know might remind, “they call them plutocrats for a reason.”  There are untold riches to be mined from our lived experiences and the far reaches, whether of the business sort or the broken open to receive others.  Swim well, stargazers~

—A.B.

‍