Mars Opposes Saturn – The Quickening Hands of Time

When pressure is applied to a lump of coal, it has the propensity to form a diamond. Yet, when the same stress is applied to a Human Being, the result is not always quite so illustrious. When the going gets tough, the response is either to numb out by going shopping in search of some new “toy” to ease the pain, or to go into “every dog for himself” mentality. Although an insult to dogs, this “knee jerk” reaction is especially endemic when a life of indulgent materialism is threatened. It becomes a war for resources, based upon a selfish motivation to either have more than the other, or to try to have it all and to dole it out to another in order to build one’s coffers to an ever loftier level. Meanwhile, those who have gain more, and those at the bottom of the chain suffer ever more deeply. Luckily, this cycle is not one that can continue for long. People will only become so hungry before they revolt. And, at an even more profound level, resources cannot continue to be pillaged infinitely. Eventually they deplete. And, Nature suffers as a result of this “plunder” mentality. It’s survival threatened, it, too, begins to fight back.

The pace is quickening, pressure is increasing and Time is seemingly running out. Yet, all of this is also for a purpose. If more people resolve to look for meaning, the cycle can be stopped.

On Monday, 18th April, 2011 GMT, the swift and impulsive Mars completes an opposition to the steady, slow Monarch of Time, Saturn. These two planets are diametrically opposed. Increasing that tension is a confluence of planets, along with Mars, in Aries. Three of these celestial bodies occupy the same lunar mansion, making the focus more profusely intensified. And, as if this scale were not massive enough, the Opposition coincides with a Full Moon in Libra, and on a day where Venus squares off with the lunar nodes, marking a deeply destined moment.

Mars, at home in its own sign of Aries, will be transiting the lunar mansion of Revati at the time of its Opposition to Saturn. It is joined there by a piercingly reflective retrograde Mercury and explosively expansive Jupiter. Revati, being the last of the 27 lunar mansions , marks an ending, but also a new beginning. These three planets, in a closely knotted sector of the sky, drive home the reality that the pressure is on and Time is running out. Change for the better must take place, or Humanity and the Planet will suffer extreme crisis. The tension related to the concurrent feelings associated with this realisation are increased by Mars’ Opposition with Saturn, itself the Lord of Time.

Saturn, currently in Libra where it is exalted, suggests that we need to live a lifestyle more harmonious to the synergistic relationship we have with our environment, including each other. Poverty and gluttony are destroyed by insight, and understanding of the current astrological climate. Saturn, transiting the lunar mansion of Hasta, warns that if we do not meet the current omens with due respect by practicing more self-control, then the days approaching will become increasingly perilous.

As Venus, presently exalted in the sign of Pisces, forms a tense aspect known as a T-square with the lunar nodes, a karmic crossroads approaches and a conflict of values must be resolved. This aspect occurs approximately every year, but the fact that it coincides with other volatile astrology makes it all the more potent. Venus in Pisces, and the lunar mansion of Purva Bhadrapada, encourages inspiration resultant from the comprehension of True Selflessness. As it squares off with the South Node, in Gemini and the lunar mansion of Mrigasira, and the North Node in Sagittarius and Mula, Humanity is being asked to relinquish selfish greed by being faced with a harsh wake-up call. When the interconnectedness of all is more profoundly integrated, the path ahead becomes clearer.

On the same day, a Full Moon transpires in Libra and the lunar mansion of Chitra. A Full Moon is, in essence, an Opposition between the Sun and the Moon. The Sun is presently exalted in the sign of Aries (new beginnings) and the lunar mansion of Ashwini. It is no illusion that as every moment passes, less Time is left to alter the course towards destruction that we have embarked upon. The level of stress and tension must be great for the potential for transformation to be actualised and realised. It is no mere coincidence that four of the planets involved have their energy in a heightened state of exuberance by either being in their own sign, or being exalted.

Do you wish to shine like a diamond? Or remain a lump of coal on the heap of the dross of Inhumane Humanity?

I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island. (Simon and Garfunkel)