The Astrology of 8/24/20-8/30/20: The Threat Of Spiced Ice

Well well well, here it is, the first installment of the Mars and Saturn squares perfect today at 2pm Eastern. This is not a sudden event, but has been cranking together like a ratcheting jaw for some time now in its gradual grinding motion with some friction sparks as cold metal and torch flames come into contact. Mars has some agenda to employ some actions and make some alterations, cutting back this, severing that, meanwhile Saturn more than suggests everything stay locked tight exactly how it is, no time for discussion. This is largely the conflict of tactics versus strategy, critical response versus how things have been planned. With Saturn still sidling up to Pluto and the technocratic plots and geopolitical meddlings characterized by 2020 contemporary events very thick in the atmosphere of the current moment and continuing to swarm, Mars is attempting to fight for some independence and ability to take action against an absolute phalanx of systemic mismanagement piled up against us in mountainous quantity. The fact that Mars is armed and dangerous in Aries isn’t necessarily to anyones advantage, as he plans to turn retrograde by September 9th and is doomed to be much less effective in a sign which signifies concern with capability while not being any less fired up. I have been repeatedly suggesting investigating martial arts modalities as both a literal pursuit as well as a metaphorical processing procedure, and if you haven’t been getting into fine tuning your body and articulating your energy systematically already you might want to hop on board, as you’ll have an easier time dealing with the irritated episode ahead where you need to wield ten times as much fire power as usual to get anything to happen in a world that seems perpetually doomed to be locked shut and cancelled due to looming shadows and vacuous fears. This is a time to focus on mechanical adjustment, and reconsiderations of how energy is applied, which components can be sheared off, what systems need to be checked, updated, cut apart, fused together etc. etc. As displayed in my last forecast, I’ve been using much of the significations of this Mars square to divide my time into practicing martial arts techniques and acrobatic movement while also doing major modifications and performance upgrades on my motorcycle. These activities feel readily acceptable by the current conveyor belt of manifestation where as some of my more typical pursuits are somewhat slogged. There are certainly productive channels open for us in the gnashing jaws of Mars square Saturn, a configuration we’re just going to live in for at least the next month, so if you can get your gear head screwed on, or are curious about improving your sparring mechanics, you’ll probably be impressed with your results down the road, and these are simply the most overt examples, look at where Capricorn and Aries fall into your chart and feel out where your hammers want to strike and what systems seem to be calling for the most alteration. Obviously, on the macro scale capitalism and systematic corruption of various sorts are the target of individual rage multiplied by the millions. People setting buildings on fire and the aftermath of such an episode is an obvious guess as to what election time looks like. You want to be careful with the tools at hand, but whether you are getting a face full of sparks by taking a grinder to your bike frame or injecting vitriol into an old ancestral pattern there is likely some dimension of your life layers that would be an appropriate place to play out this drama with artistry and care. Think of the zodiacal axises, Cancer opposite Capricorn and Libra opposite Aries. When Aries aggressive actions are given grace they become martial mastery, and when Capricorn’s systematic territory management is conducted with care we get supportive structures that protect us from harm. The action is occurring in the rulerships of the of the malefics, but we can bring our own nativities’ best to the table to work through this with something that gives back after the fire and brimstone subside.

With the Moon, Venus and Neptune in a grand water trine on Monday we might have a sense of this very holistic perspective and find some subtle intuitions to draw on, keeping our feel for the supernal while our situations are exceedingly real. With Mercury and the Sun now in Virgo we gain some support from the earthy perspective, where we might be listening to the gears with acute ears and be in the right mode for reengineering the very mechanisms that make Saturn’s systems tick. Later in the week Venus completes this trine with Neptune and our thirst for basic pleasures could place the conventional into high saturation states, where magical nesting needs floods our fantasies. Just one day before she opposes Jupiter, bringing balance between our desire to drink the good stuff and indulge in sensual supplements with how we might improve our bunkers and reform our compounds, feed and nourish our chthonic statuettes and juice up our necromantic pacts, put our own dead downstream from our libations so we get the benefits of blessings rom beyond the grave. Mercury also trines Uranus, and we get some voltage to bring our inventive experiments up to experimental parameters, maybe having the opportunity to try out instruments that can insert electrified potential for technical discovery. Mars and Saturn are serious players who have no problem with a deadly or dangerous game, but there is enough dynamic upon the board this week for lubricated flow, insight on desires, intuitive nuance and circumstantial opportunity in the midst of a crunch to pull some aces out our sleeves and we probably shouldn’t sleep on it. Be observant and crafty.

The sequence ends by Sunday with some ominous conclusions and general confusion surrounding what is happening. Venus opposes Pluto, and we might have some apprehension around quenching our freshly rearranged desires within an overly oppressive world where unknowns are all to common, meanwhile our pursuits of precise studies and detailed adjustment have gotten us to a place we don’t completely understand and its unclear where one category begins and another ends. We might have crossed some wires a few steps back and information is flowing into juxtaposed confluence. This is only a brief episode, so don’t allow it to herald doom, instead gaze critically into the hallucinatory vortex with fascinated detachment, observe the numinous, and feel out what you aesthetically appreciate about the nightmare which elbows in on your enjoyment. For instance, the odd and ominous atmosphere of Twin Peaks is something we all can enjoy, so if you find its aesthetics on either side of the screen allow yourself to be entertained even when it’s no longer fiction.

Mon 8/24

noon: observe water trine Venus, Moon, Neptune benefic opposition

2pm: Mars square Saturn

Tue 8/25

11am: Mercury trine Uranus

6pm: Venus opposite Jupiter

Thu 8/27

5pm: Venus trine Neptune

Sun 8/30

10am: Venus opposite Pluto

3pm: Mercury opposite Neptune