The transits of the planets
Transits of Mars
By Robert Hand
Transits to the Moon
All relationships in your life that are based on instinct and emotion will be strongly affected by these transits. They tend to touch your most personal and intimate ties. The most difficult manifestation is passionate anger that arises when a desire to strike out against someone who has made you angry overwhelms any attempt by you or others to get your emotions under control. When you see certain Mars transits to the natal Moon, namely the conjunction (0°), square (90°) and opposition (180°), be on your guard. Avoid situations that commonly make you angry, and avoid people who do as well. The best that can be said for this group of transits is that if you do not completely lose your temper, an outburst of anger may clear the air and make it obvious to you and others what is really bothering you. But do not set that as an advance goal. The best you can hope for is that when such a situation occurs, you or others are able to turn it in this positive direction.
Transits to Mercury
Mercury, on the other hand, is meant to be the flawless transmitter of information. One archetypal Mercury figure is the medieval herald. A herald would take a message from the king or other powerful personage, memorize it verbatim, travel to the intended recipient, and then recite the message word for word, prefacing it with something like “Thus spake my lord, the king.”
In the modern world, Mercury signifies all forms of communication and, tellingly, we refer to perfect sound reproduction as “high fidelity” — fidelity being Mercury’s essential quality here.
When Mars interacts badly with Mercury, the fidelity of the message is corrupted by Mars’s egoistic energies. From this comes intentional deceit, also known as lying. Unfortunately, Mercury can do this rather well because Mercury has no ethical or moral position other than transmitting the energy it receives faithfully. This is why Mercury’s astrological energy often signifies the mythical trickster. It is not up to Mercury to make the message true, only clear. The low Mars guarantees that the content will be distorted by egotism. Short of outright lying, ego drives can also operate when a message becomes so complex and convoluted that any recipient can interpret it in various ways, making a correct response difficult. The negative image of the legal profession arises partly from this: the point is to win by whatever means necessary — usually not outright lying, but using the kind of skills seen on debating teams. A successful defense attorney measures success by the number of clients defended, not by how many were actually innocent. A successful prosecutor measures success by the number of convictions. While technically obliged to seek the truth before making their case, political considerations often make them more interested in winning than in finding the truth.
Of course, the combination of natal Mars and natal Mercury may truthfully signify that the sender is very angry, so a common signification of Mars transits to Mercury is angry discourse and verbal conflict.
As for Mercury combined with high Mars, this indicates having to engage in conflict through the mind. Here the mind’s content, as it seeks to express truth, takes over the combination and Mars’s energy is subordinated to truthful communication. Returning to our herald analogy, this is the king’s herald delivering a declaration of war, particularly if it is a just war — or on a less elevated level, a just conflict where a principle is at stake. Returning to attorneys, a defense lawyer who vigorously defends an innocent client exemplifies Mercury combined with high Mars, as does a prosecutor who prosecutes someone the prosecutor is quite certain is guilty. In any given case one of them may be wrong, but if both sides make an honest effort to reach the truth, both manifest the high Mars-Mercury combination.
Transits to Venus
From a practical point of view, we can continue with the idea that in some ways the energies of these two planets are antagonistic and in others complementary. They are complementary as follows: as the glyph of Mars (t) is used in modern times to represent the male sex, the glyph of Venus (r) represents the female sex. This is not merely symbolic. The sexuality of the two sexes is indeed differentiated, with male sexuality aligned with the nature of Mars and female sexuality with that of Venus. Notice that I did not say “men and women.” The two types of sexuality are not completely identified with the two sexes. In same-sex relationships, for example, one partner usually plays a role according to masculine sexuality and the other according to feminine sexuality. So even though the partners’ biological sex is the same, their psycho-sexuality is different.4
One result is that the combination of these two energies can indicate the arousal of intense sexual passion and love, as well as conflict. This depends more on the levels at which Mars and Venus are expressed. Low Mars combined with low Venus can indicate either a purely physical attraction or possible conflict. High Mars combined with low Venus is more likely to indicate intense physical attraction. Low Mars combined with high Venus is more likely to indicate conflict. Finally, high Mars combined with high Venus produces complete love combined with strong physical passion.
These transits can also indicate external phenomena that represent the energies of Venus and Mars without being particularly sexual. For example, Mars signifies the element iron and Venus signifies copper, so the combination can indicate objects made of both. Note that iron typically produces a reddish oxide (Mars), and copper typically produces a bluish green oxide (Venus). Also, Mars has everything to do with tools and weapons of war, traditionally made from iron or steel, whereas copper is too soft to be used as a weapon unless mixed with tin to produce bronze. (Tin is signified by Jupiter.)
Transits to the Sun
A major difference between the energy of the Sun and that of Mars is that the Sun as an archetype operates reasonably well at all three levels — personal, interpersonal and transcendent — but it is at its best at the transcendent level. It is also better at the interpersonal level than at the personal level. At the personal level, the Sun’s energy can be just as egotistical as that of Mars. At the interpersonal level, the combination can represent a person capable of leadership, following a clear objective with the collective good in mind. This is the archetype of the noble king or queen leading the people. The highest level of the Sun is the archetype of consciousness itself, the light of day being a physical representation of the light of universal consciousness. The Sun was known in Greco-Roman mythology as Apollo — though not entirely the Apollo of popular mythology. Apollo, as he was known in later Greco-Roman religion, signified the transmission of awareness and spiritual consciousness into this world. Apollo was also the god of poetry and music because these were regarded as divine in origin. At this level, the Sun’s energy can combine quite well with the energy of transiting Mars.
In more practical terms, the challenge of Mars transiting the natal Sun is to prevent egoistic forces from creating disputes and conflict. This arises when individuals enter disputes solely with the aim of winning and conquering. Of course, some degree of this energy is necessary because you must have enough ego-energy to withstand others who would try to take control of your life.
On the physical level, the energy of both planets has much to do with basic vitality. It is impossible to pursue any kind of intentional purpose without these two planetary energies functioning — preferably together.
Transits to Mars
Finally, there are other manifestations that may arise along the way, such as illnesses and accidents. There is nothing glib to be said about what “causes” these. The possibilities are numerous: acting with such force and energy that you wear yourself out, or acting impetuously and without caution such that you have accidents. These are not inevitable. They result from using Mars energy unconsciously and without understanding.
Transits to Jupiter
So, the chief result of this combination is a high level of self-confidence and an intuitive sense of timing. However, the Wet of Jupiter is never entirely neutralized by the Dry of Mars. The result is that, while Mars by itself can be destructive and lead to breaking things down, Jupiter in combination with Mars can bring previously separate and even antagonistic elements together into a system.
Another effect of this combination is that Mars’s energy is more likely to operate at its highest level when combined with Jupiter than when combined with any other planetary energy. In traditional astrology, this combination is associated with military leaders — particularly those who protect and defend rather than attack.This energy is also extraordinarily useful for all forms of physical activity, whether in the service of work, play or creativity of any kind. It is often associated with athletic ability and performance, and with good sportsmanship.
Transits to Saturn
There is a tendency for the heat of Mars to cancel some of Saturn’s frigidity, but not perfectly. The Cold in Saturn is stronger than the Hot in Mars. The dryness of the two combines to produce excessive Dry. Saturn cools down Mars’s high energy, but increases its dryness, so this combination is more separative and destructive of relationships than any other pairing of two planetary energies. More concretely, Saturn tends to block Mars’s tendency to raise energy levels, yet it may increase Mars’s egoistic tendencies. Unfortunately, the Cold of Saturn and the Hot of Mars do not simply cancel each other; they can coexist. This creates a sensation of blocked energy, frustration, and often covert bitterness and anger. The anger is kept hidden until finally the hot energy of Mars can no longer be blocked, and Saturn’s energy channels it irresistibly along certain lines.
This is why this combination is traditionally considered one of the most difficult in astrology. However, as with all “difficult” combinations, it does have a high side. Everything described above assumes that both planets are operating at their lower levels — Mars at the personal level and Saturn at the interpersonal level. Both energies have higher manifestations. When they manifest there, they can operate creatively, although this combination is never easy to handle. At its highest level Saturn gives the desire to retreat from ordinary reality to experience reality as it is, rather than as mediated by social convention. Combined with Mars, this relates not so much to the “protect and defend” energy but to Mars’s search for excellence.
Combined with Saturn, this is not a “personal” excellence but a transpersonal one — a desire to be perfectly controlled in the pursuit of spiritual truth. This gives rise to the spiritual hermit living in a cave with almost no comforts, little food and only water. It is a combination that tends toward asceticism. On a more mundane level, yet still exhibiting the high sides of both planets, it produces intense discipline in the pursuit of any goal. Emotions are not allowed (emotions being wet); only rational logic dictates what one does. Even at these high levels, this combination is not what conventional astrology calls “benefic.” But it can be extraordinarily constructive so long as the goal is positive — which requires the near-complete suppression of the egoistic elements in both Mars and Saturn.
Transits to Uranus
With Mars, only the Dry is excessive and unbalanced; the Hot is temperate. With Uranus, when experienced at the personal level, both qualities tend to be excessive and unbalanced. Uranus acts suddenly and without warning. It operates outside normal conventional reality systems and is associated with things that are non-ordinary, unusual and even deviant. Put these energies together and you get a range from the highest level — an explosive, sudden, complete change that allows and requires fundamental transformation — to the lowest level — a rebel who uses rebellion as an excuse to disrupt everything normal purely for ego gratification. Of course, there is also the rebel who is willing to do whatever is necessary to disrupt a social system that has become oppressive, predatory and corrupt. That kind of rebel is another story altogether and represents Mars-Uranus operating at the highest level.
The transpersonal quality of Uranus often becomes an impersonal one. This part of Uranus has no feeling, emotion, empathy or compassion. It is simply an impersonal force of nature that expresses itself without regard to human considerations. The negative Mars-Uranus manifestation may consist of tremendous ego drives with no compassion for the consequences or for those who are hurt. The most positive manifestation results in elevating Mars from low to high. Then the disruption indicated by this energy is, ideally, the necessary breaking down of things before they can be built anew as a new social order. Fortunately, in Mars transits to natal Uranus it seldom reaches this level of drama. Unfortunately, it often manifests as disruptions and sudden changes that, however drastic, serve an individual’s or group’s egoistic ends.
One more point regarding Mars transits to natal Uranus: Uranus is a transcendental energy. Its manifestations in an individual’s chart are not necessarily strong as they relate to that individual. For it to manifest in a more individual way, Uranus must be strong in the natal chart. This can be signified in any of the following ways: Uranus on an angle (conjunct the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant or I.C.); Uranus having many close aspects to several traditional planets; or Uranus in close aspect to the Sun or Moon.
Transits to Neptune
There is one pitfall even with this higher aspect of the mixture. Mars’s egoistic tendencies can sneak back in and poison the combination, turning it into fanaticism. This is not a failure of the combination itself, but an illustration of how covertly egoistic energies can poison things.
A general note on all the following descriptions: Neptune is a very slow-moving planet. Therefore, the position of your natal Neptune will be very close to that of everyone else born around the same time you were born. When Mars transits Neptune, the energy may not be felt in your personal life. It is more likely to be felt in the community of all the people around you who are roughly your age. In other words, it is felt collectively rather than individually. However, if your natal Neptune is somewhere near the angles (the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant or I. C.), or it makes a powerful aspect to the Sun, Moon or any planet that is itself near one of the angles, you may feel the energy more personally.
Transits to Pluto
Plutonian energy is completely transcendental. One of its highest manifestations is the transformation that occurs within someone moving toward greater wisdom or even enlightenment. Such people let go of the desire-nature that previously prevented them from following the path. The transformational energies associated with Pluto are not the product of human will, whether that will is expressed individually or collectively. In this way Pluto’s energy completely transcends the ego.
Add Mars to this, and problems may arise. Mars typically represents egoistic energies, even though ultimately that is not what Mars is meant to be. When Mars’s egoism combines with Pluto’s relentless supra-personal energy, the results can be extraordinarily difficult. At its worst, the Mars-Pluto combination represents the megalomaniac — the ruthless seeker after power who lets nothing and no one stand in the way. As we know from history, such lives are so destructive that the kindest thing that can be said is that they may pave the way for necessary historical transformations.
The Mars Pluto combinations described here are short-term transits. Therefore, they are unlikely to bring about the kind of devastating problems more commonly seen when Pluto transits natal Mars. Your task, even with Mars transits to Pluto, is to make sure that whatever you are working so hard to accomplish is worth accomplishing — not just for yourself but for many others. This is an excellent energy under which to accomplish heroic tasks and to resist forces and elements in society that attempt to harm people. Just be certain you are not among those doing the harm. You may get away with it briefly, but ultimately the price will be paid somehow, somewhere, sometime.
A general note on all the following descriptions: Pluto is a very slow-moving planet. Therefore, the position of your natal Pluto will be very close to that of everyone else born around the same time you were born. When Mars transits Pluto, the energy may not be felt in your personal life. It is more likely to be felt in the community of all the people around you who are roughly your age. In other words, it is felt collectively rather than individually. However, if your natal Pluto is somewhere near the angles (the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant or I. C.), or it makes a powerful aspect to the Sun, Moon or any planet that is itself near one of the angles, you may feel the energy more personally.
Transits to Chiron
For Chiron and Mars to work well together, Mars’s heat must be tempered so that it promotes growth and shared activity rather than destruction and disintegration arising from egotistical impulses within groups. A successful athletic team is one in which all members contribute in their own ways to the energy of the whole, expending effort to the degree needed to make the team function properly. Here we see the balance. We even see this in sports where one individual competes with another. Unless each player balances their own Mars energy so that their team functions as a whole, that player will be unsuccessful. Similarly, in a team where one or several members play in ways that do not integrate with the rest, the team will be ineffective. I dwell on this metaphor because the effective functioning of the Mars-Chiron combination is very much like a team. Mars contributes the energy and, when properly balanced, Chiron contributes the teamwork.
As a result of all this, every transit of Mars to natal Chiron can indicate either a trauma — in which Mars’s Hot and Dry completely overwhelm Chiron’s integrating energy — or a process of healing, in which a moderated, tempered Mars contributes to an integrated whole, like the body of a well-trained athlete or the synergy of a smoothly functioning team.
Not everyone experiences the energy of these transits with equal potency. For the effects to be noticeable, Chiron must be strongly placed in the chart. The following are criteria by which Chiron can become a more powerful influence in the chart.
- Chiron is near the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant or I.C. (the angles).
- Chiron makes close, powerful aspects to the Sun, Moon or to another planet that lies upon an angle.
- Chiron makes many aspects to various points in the chart beyond those listed above.
If none of these conditions pertains to your natal Chiron, the effect of these transits will be observable but not very powerful.
Transits to Midheaven
Given that difference, there is an affinity between them. The Midheaven signifies the form and structure of your role in society and the greater social order. As the ancients would have said, it signifies what you do in the largest and broadest sense. Modern astrologers tend to think of it as career and profession, but that is only because in the modern world career and profession are the principal ways we express our role in society. In the Middle Ages the Midheaven was more about social status, but that too is a role in society. To make the similarity clearer: in medieval and other hierarchical societies, status did not define class as we think of it now — peasant, middle class, clergy or nobility — so much as it determined what you did, your activity. A modern aristocrat descended from the medieval aristocracy is not at all the same thing as a medieval aristocrat. The medieval aristocrat was first, last and foremost a military figure. The modern aristocrat holds, if any, a ceremonial position and nothing more.
So the various combinations of Mars with the Midheaven by transit express the unfolding cycle of where and how you place your energies as you define your role in society as an individual, as a member of society and as part of a collective. It is very different from the Ascendant, which has more to do with appearance and how you are perceived. The Midheaven is about doing — and ultimately so is Mars. It is interesting that in medieval astrology the houses or places were counted according to the Chaldean order starting with Saturn as, to use the medieval term, co-significator of the first house. The pattern continued with Jupiter as co-significator of the second, Mars of the third, all the way to the seventh of which the Moon is co-significator. Then, starting again with Saturn as co-significator of the eighth, the same sequence gives Mars also as co-significator of the tenth — representing Mars as action.
As the cycle of Mars unfolds, with approximately two years between each conjunction of Mars to the Midheaven, the transits show the ways your allocation of energy assists or inhibits the expression of your social role. In a very real sense the two-year cycle of Mars with respect to the Midheaven is a bit more understandable if you think of it as beginning when Mars opposes the Midheaven and conjoins the I. C. While the logic of what is written for each Mars-Midheaven transit follows that pattern, the passages below start with Mars conjunct the natal Midheaven.
Transits to Ascendant
Transits to the Lunar Nodes
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About Robert Hand
Robert Hand is one of the world's most famous and renowned astrologers. He takes a special interest in the philosophical dimensions of astrology and is quite dedicated to computer programming. Currently he is fully engaged for Arhat Media as an editor, translator and publisher of ancient astrological writings. Rob Hand lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Rob is an honor graduate from Brandeis University, with honors in history, and went on for graduate work in the History of Science at Princeton. Rob began an astrology practice in 1972 and as success came, he began traveling world wide as a full time professional astrologer. In 2013, he was designated as a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) by The Catholic University of America.
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