Mars Turns Retrograde

Mars Turns Retrograde - Spiritual Warrior

"Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated."

— Carlos Castaneda

There are plenty of shifts and changes to navigate this week. Venus leaves moody Cancer for brassy Leo and Mercury leaves practical Virgo for diplomatic Libra. Jupiter turns direct on Saturday and prepares to take another run through the powerful gauntlet set up by Pluto and Saturn. Perhaps most notably, Mars turns retrograde in Aries, taking down our energy levels and our determination to "forcibly create the future". Although Aries is most often considered an impulsive and headstrong sign, with Mars retrograde, we have the opportunity to explore the Spiritual Warrior nature of Mars. As Mars retraces it's path through the last decanate of Aries, the slowdown and drop in energy, confidence, and 'fight' is unmistakable. With outward energy dropping, we can begin to look inward, exploring our true desires and grounding our intentions with deeper understanding. When our confidence and self-esteem begins to dip this week, we are challenged to delve deeply into understanding what it is we truly want. Outward achievements may be difficult to complete or do not satisfy our expectations. We may have been told what we want — what we think — through clever propaganda aimed at controlling our actions. Over the next couple of months, we can begin to reexamine our desire from within. In essence, we must prepare ourselves for the future we believe we want. In that preparation process, we may feel frustrated but, with awareness, we can recognize that there are adjustments to be made — we can think more deeply about what we want and adjust our intentions to match those desires. With Jupiter turning retrograde, we need to look closely at our expectations. Jupiter's sextile to Neptune encourages our appreciation of the contributions of others. Such appreciation can open doors to important collaborations and powerful organizational activity. The slowdown is actually a benefit but we may not recognize it as such right away and the shifts that occur this week will ultimately be seen as an important element of a much larger phase of growth and understanding.

Providence seems to smile upon us in some way on Sunday. Gifts from our past may be presented. There is some kind of optimistic boost but we should be very wary of setting our expectations too high. Creativity and inspiration come with the Grand Earth trine on Monday. We may not have enough of a determined push to fully take advantage of the benefit but things should seem to fall into place easily. Tuesday begins with the lazy indulgence of a VOC Moon in Taurus. Generosity may leave us somewhat let down — especially if we have let our expectations get too high. The Sun trines Jupiter on Wednesday, which would usually produce optimism, but we still find our confidence levels dropping as Mars stations retrograde. There are some temptations to try to break free in reckless and impulsive ways on Thursday. Creative opportunities are available if we can take a step back from defensive responses. Defensiveness may be an even bigger issue on Friday under the sensitive Cancer Moon. However, by Saturday, we begin to find more appreciation for structure and feel more comfortable finding creative, collaborative solutions. In general, we can see that we need to prepare for the long haul.

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