Mercury and Mars Retrograde

“Despair is hidden arrogance : ‘I have seen the future and it doesn’t work.’ Hope is rooted in trust of the unknown. Work, wait and hope. That is enough. Sam Keen

With Mercury and Mars now retrograde (Mercury through 5/23 and Mars through the end of June) there can be more confusion than usual with processing feelings and information. This can be in part because of the retrograde period – which provides a better time for review and revisioning – particularly about your plans and options for proceeding – than trying to push forward. It is a good time to practice patience. Don’t let delays or snags with technology catch you by surprise.

With Mars and Saturn in Sagittarius it is a good time also to consider the interplay between faith and fear in your life. Saturn’s square to Neptune, an ongoing influence this year, has to do with in part with experiencing disillusionment – in a sense seeing through the veil – and what we learn and how we grow from these types of experiences.

“Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith: it is an element of faith.” Paul Tillich

On the Saturn/Neptune Square

This Saturn/Neptune square is an influence throughout this year – here is what astrologer and writer Lynn Bell wrote about it

“As certain cherished parts of our lives slip through our fingers, it can seem that Neptune and Saturn take us away from where we want to be. And yet it is our outworn dreams and wishes we are leaving behind.

Saturn Neptune aspects test our vision, take us to the graveyard of dreams, and yet it also call up new ones. Human beings generate dreams to keep them moving forward.

The houses transited by the current Saturn-Neptune square show us where new visions are incubated and old ones lose power and slowly drift away. We may be asked to let go of something so that the world can light up again. Saturn-Neptune cycles call up a vivid inner life, long before it appears in our awareness. Paradoxically it is often at the moment of a loss that there is an opening for our dreams to swim to the surface.”

Mars and Pluto

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” Martin Buber

With Mars and Pluto slowing down and preparing to station retrograde it is a time of liminality – a time in between. It is best to let ideas and intuitions emerge. What is calling to you on a soul level? Avoid the tendency to overwork. Provide extra down time in nature to keep frustration at bay and to tune into the life of the natural world.

 

Saturn and Pallas Athene

“Pallas Athene symbolizes the principle of creative intelligence giving birth to thought forms.” Demetra George

Saturn recently entered Sagittarius and will transit through this sign for roughly the next two and a half years (with the exception of a brief foray back into Scorpio this Spring.) Saturn is also now conjunct the asteroid Pallas Athene through January 9.

It bodes well under the influences to look at the structure and form or your life now and entertain ideas and opportunities for the life you would like to have in the future. Take a creative approach, think optimistically and in terms of broad horizons.

If your creativity feels blocked you might ask yourself why. Pallas was a wise defender of justice and was a feminist. Often the value of creativity can be undermined or undervalued as the result of assumptions based on patriarchal thinking.

Amelia Shea specializes in issues of family, relationship and transition as well as life path and career.She can be reached at 603 654 1043, amelia.shea@comcast.net Her readings start at $30 and can be done by phone, email and in person. Quote from Asteroid Goddesses by Demetra George.