Mars-Saturn Trines

Mars-Saturn Trines - Courageous Plans

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."

— Steve Jobs

This week's challenge is to find our way to forward thinking by tidying up discarded and irrelevant elements from the past. We can begin to see hints of creative inspiration and an erratic 'genius quality' emerging from last Wednesday's Aquarius New Moon (4:35 AM PST 9° Aquarius). Neptune stays tightly conjunct the North Node in Pisces all week, helping us to find an intuitive plumb line to guide us as we try to look ahead. Venus has moved on from the conjunction with Neptune and arrives in Aries on Monday, stirring a restless energy that is difficult to manage. Mars is heading into an extended trine to Saturn (completing for the second time at the beginning of next week) as it begins to slow down before turning direct on February 23rd. Essentially, this offers a great deal of support for planning and integrating our new ideas and insights into an entirely new approach. This is the second of three Mars-Saturn trines — the first was on September 29, 2024. As Mars slows and stations direct, it will continue to connect with Saturn until completing the final trine on April 4, when both planets will be moving forward (direct motion). Also, Mercury's forward motion is taking it into the superior conjunction with the Sun which will also complete at the beginning of next week. As the Sun-Mercury conjunction approaches, we can begin to work on communicating our ideas to 'like-minded' allies. This week is mainly about preparing for the shift into forward thinking — clearing away misunderstandings, planning for future initiatives, and building a network of trusted allies. With Mars still retrograde, we are also being asked to do the 'Spiritual Warrior' work of clearing away past anger and resentment, as well as letting go of old boundaries which were established in the past in order to keep us safe but may now be blocking important new progress. Perhaps this week's most important shift is Jupiter's direct station in Gemini on Tuesday, beginning to signal greater intellectual support to connect effectively with others and communicate new ideas and insights. But along with Jupiter's direct station and the Mars-Saturn trine, Mars also returns to square Chiron on Tuesday, challenging us to stay adaptable in this changing landscape and avoid getting 'stuck' in approaches that may have worked in the past but have now been rendered "inoperative". The first Mars-Chiron trine was on October 13, 2024 and the last of three squares will complete on March 26th. The message of the Mars-Chiron square is to stay aware in the moment, without relying on old answers that are no longer relevant in a new environment. This week's preparations are extraordinarily important as we head in to a time of accelerated changes over the next several months.

Energy and initiative are stirred on Sunday. There is also regenerative power with increasing intellectual support. Impulsive competitiveness can lead to considerable conflict on Monday. There are tempting feelings of power and destiny but it is not a good time for 'rashness'. It is somewhat difficult to 'get comfortable' on Tuesday. Restlessness and determination are strong but it's easy to overshoot our capacity or be just a bit 'too clever'. Restlessness builds on Wednesday, encouraging a bit of 'boundary testing'. However, without enough traction, we'll do better to gather more information and record our insights for future review. Misunderstandings and missed opportunities seem to pile up on Thursday. The overall atmosphere is quite optimistic but erratic behavior threatens to keep us off balance. Energy and intellect is especially scattered on Friday. There are a few too many ideas floating around to keep track of them all. The pull of a 'destiny force' reaches a peak on Saturday. There is a deep and powerful inspirational imperative pushing us forward.