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MARS IN TAURUS… CONSOLIDATION & ALIGNMENT
On January 6, 05:27 PM ET, we witness a significant energetic shift: Mars ends its long transit through fiery Aries, the sign it naturally rules, and enters earthy and practical Taurus.
Mars has been in Aries since June 28, stationed retrograde in September, and stationed direct again in November. The last six months represented an intense season of change, new beginnings, trial and error, adjustments, and experimentation. We had the opportunity to attain deeper self-knowledge and a more profound understanding of our desires, our drives, and our relationship with instinct.
After experiencing a long season of fast, direct, and forward-moving Mars in Aries, during the transit of Mars through Taurus, a Yin archetype, the energy comes back to our center: we now have the chance to consolidate what we started while Mars was in its home sign. Mars will be in the sign of the Bull for the next six weeks and enter Gemini on March 3. Harnessing the influence of this transit can be highly beneficial for all those activities that require continuous dedication and sustained effort.
MARS… DESIRE & INSTINCT
Mars is hot and dry, sharp and direct: it correlates with the principle of separation, the moment of cutting the umbilical cord that links us to our biological mother. In Astrology, Mars is about individuality, about the act of existing as an individual being, separate from the surroundings, with a personal will, personal impulses, and personal desires. The traditional ruler of both Aries and Scorpio, Mars is linked to our sex drive and the way we instinctively experience sexuality.
The Red Planet represents how we act on our impulses, how we go after what we want, how we assert ourselves, how we attack, and how we defend ourselves. Mars correlates with our inner warrior archetype, fighting for what we believe is worth fighting for. There is no forethought in Mars, no pre-plan: it is completely instinctual and explosive, pure Cardinal Fire, burning fast and bright. Mars is in a constant state of becoming, seeing life as a series of new beginnings, moved by the sudden urge to do something, to embark on an endeavor that feels right in this very moment.
TAURUS… SELF-RELIANCE & INNER ALIGNMENT
Taurus is a Yin, Fixed, Earth archetype whose function is to consolidate and stabilize what was started thanks to the impulses of Aries: if we consider the Zodiac in its natural order as a progression of stages of awareness, we are entering the following phase of evolution.
Taurus relates to survival instinct, to the need to preserve what has been created, to the impulse to procreate and perpetuate the species: for this reason, this sign has a connection with the physical aspect of sexuality. The second sign of the Zodiac correlates with our physicality, our body, the five senses, our capacity to receive and feel pleasure.
Taurus is associated with the relationship we have with ourselves and our physical body, with our needs, our desires, our values, our sense of self-worth, as well as our capacity to be autonomous and self-sufficient. For this reason, material abundance and financial prosperity are concepts linked to the archetype of Taurus, also connected to our economic resources, our form of income, our skills and our personal talents.
MARS IN TAURUS… CONSOLIDATION & STABILIZATION
The shift from Cardinal Fire to Fixed Earth is inviting us to invest our energy wisely and to deepen what we already started. Mars in Taurus will encourage us to keep working toward specific goals without dissipating our life force in a thousand different pursuits.
What do I want to consolidate? What is worth my time and energy? What am I willing to commit to and invest in? Do I feel grounded, and how can I improve if I don’t? Do I feel a clear sense of direction? Do I know what my desires and my values are? How has my strategy worked out so far? These questions will be relevant to all of us throughout the upcoming six weeks.
Mars in Taurus is slow and steady: harnessing its energy will support all those endeavors that require constant commitment and dedication. This transit reflects the need to build a firm foundation, a solid ground on which what we have initiated during the last six months can grow and blossom.
MARS IN TAURUS… RECONNECTING WITH OUR NEEDS, DESIRES AND VALUES
Mars in Aries is pure instinct, action without forethought or contemplation, while Mars in Taurus has a practical and pragmatic quality. Mars in Taurus is about taking time before making decisions, it is about reflecting well upon the true needs, desires, and values behind a specific urge prior to taking action.
While, on the one hand, this tends to slow down Mars’ spontaneous drive, on the other, we have the chance to take action from a more grounded, conscious, and aligned place. Once something has been set in motion, Mars in Taurus follows through easily with the patience, commitment, and dedication needed.
During the journey of Mars through the sign of the Bull, we internalize part of our energy and focus and redirect it towards ourselves. Until March 3, Mars in Taurus will promote a deeper understanding of our needs and values and encourage us to become more self-reliant and self-sufficient.
Taurus teaches us to take it easy and to reconnect with the natural rhythms of life. This transit represents an opportunity to align our inner and outer realities in a way that feels right for us. Mars in Taurus invites us to embrace a way of living that respects our timing and our necessities, and to honor the cyclical flow between activity and rest.
MERCURY ENTERS AQUARIUS & VENUS ENTERS CAPRICORN
On January 8, Mercury enters Aquarius at 07:00 AM ET, and only a few hours later, at 10:41 AM ET, Venus enters Capricorn. The two planets are changing signs almost simultaneously, and they generate an interesting energetic shift, increasing the pressure on the archetypes of Capricorn and Aquarius, already activated by the transits of, respectively, the Sun and Pluto, and Saturn and Jupiter.
Venus will be in Capricorn until February 1. Mercury instead will be in Aquarius longer than usual: it will station retrograde at the end of the month and enter Pisces on March 15. While Mercury in Aquarius reflects increased creativity and a tendency to get lost in the world of ideas and ideologies, Venus in Capricorn invites us to stay grounded and rooted in our values and needs.
MERCURY IN AQUARIUS… THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Mercury, the planetary ruler of both Gemini and Virgo, reflects the way we think, how we perceive the world, and how we communicate what we perceive with others. Mercury correlates to our left brain and linear thinking patterns, to how we learn and logically organize the information we gather.
Mercury in Aquarius is original and creative: for the upcoming two months, the Messenger will encourage us to think for ourselves and think outside the box. This transit contains enormous potential for innovation, technological advancement, and interesting discoveries. Mercury in Aquarius promotes a bird’s eye view, invites us to look at the larger picture and to cultivate objectivity and detachment. Our mental energy is likely to increase, as we are encouraged to revolutionize our ways of perceiving the world, to find our own perspective, our own unique way of learning.
During the journey of Mercury through Aquarius, we are encouraged to practice critical thinking and to discriminate the type and the amount of information we take in, to reflect well before we believe in something and accept it as the absolute truth, to listen to different viewpoints and opinions, and educate ourselves through different sources.
This transit offers us an invitation to detach from ideas and thinking habits that aren’t aligned with the person we are striving to become. Mercury in Aquarius is an open call to experiment with what happens if we adopt new mindsets and introduce different ways of perceiving and feeling about our life situation. These themes will be particularly relevant during and after its retrograde cycle, starting on January 30 and lasting until February 20.
MERCURY IN AQUARIUS… TAPPING INTO THE HIVE MIND
Mercury in Aquarius may bring up the need to connect with our soul family in new ways, and to join different communities that share a similar mindset and view of the world. The upcoming two months represent an invitation to explore new communities, new forms of exchanging ideas, of staying in touch with each other, and learning from each other.
This transit encourages us to break free from ideas, ideologies, and communication patterns that aren’t enhancing our experience of reality. Aquarius rules the internet, and the long journey of Mercury through the sign of the Water Bearer can inspire us to reflect upon our relationship with technology and social media. This can be a great period to focus on developing our online presence and connecting with like-minded souls through different platforms.
Mercury in Aquarius is also inviting us to explore the relationship between our individual minds and the group mind or hive mind. Spend some time pondering upon what your thoughts and your words are adding to our collective experiences, and upon how the vibration they generate is affecting the vibration of global consciousness itself.
VENUS IN CAPRICORN… FINDING STABILITY IN CHAOS
In Astrology, Venus rules both Taurus and Libra and corresponds with how we relate with both others and ourselves. It is associated with our financial resources, our material possessions, our values, our sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Venus correlates with our ability to receive and to connect with our body and its needs.
During the transit of the Goddess of Love through Capricorn, we typically desire to form lasting bonds based on commitment and loyalty. We naturally seek stability and predictability, both in our love and social life and in our finances. Needless to say, we are in a delicate moment of human history, and everything feels very unpredictable and unstable.
Venus in Capricorn encourages us to find a sense of inner stability and steadiness in the midst of global uncertainty and chaos and to commit to consistently cultivate practices, such as meditation, breathwork, journaling, yoga, tai-chi, or any form of physical exercise, that help us ground, reconnect with our personal truth, and realign with Spirit and with the center of our being.
VENUS IN CAPRICORN… REFLECTING ON THE NATURE OF CONDITIONING
As soon as Venus leaves cheerful Sagittarius, we naturally turn within and become more introspective and reflective than usual. While Venus is in Capricorn, it takes us longer to understand our own needs and feelings. We may notice a tendency to be more cautious and controlled in how we relate with other people: fears of others’ judgment or rejection related to early life experiences can now resurface.
Our relationship with social expectations, rules, and norms of conduct is likely to be an area of focus while Venus transits through Capricorn. During the upcoming month, we are encouraged to examine any sense of guilt linked to not conforming to social standards that is holding us back from living an authentic life, aligned with our personal values, needs, and feelings.
Venus is in Capricorn invites us to reflect upon how the social, cultural, and familiar conditioning we have been exposed to shaped our values, our expectations, our experience of interpersonal relationships, of our role in society, and our beliefs around money, career, and status. Once we become aware of it, we have the opportunity to react differently and to begin a deconditioning process that will slowly help us break free from any unconscious enslavement to consensus values and social standards.
MERCURY IN AQUARIUS & VENUS IN CAPRICORN… BRINGING IDEAS INTO FORM
While Mercury in Aquarius opens our minds to sudden downloads and flashes of genius, the influence of Venus in Capricorn can help us build tangible structures out of the insights and ideas we receive. Even though these energies may seem contradictory, we have the potential to blend them in a constructive way and to make significant progress in our spiritual development and individuation journey.
Not being excessively hard or judgmental towards ourselves or others, a common temptation while Venus is in Capricorn, is a crucial reminder to make the most out of these transits. Remaining open to what shows up on our path allows us to flow with reality in an organic and almost effortless way. On the other hand, desperately trying to control an outcome or achieve a specific result typically leads to more stress and nervousness.
Our nervous system is likely to be more active than usual during the upcoming two months, as Mercury and Aquarius have a correlation with our nerves and the natural electric charges in our body. Exploring tools that support a state of dynamic balance between our Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous system will help us navigate any challenge with ease.
