Jeffrey: Mars, the planet of sex and aggression, the “I will do this and I will do it right now” planet, is entering slow, sensuous and stable Taurus on Wednesday, May 11. Mars is not terribly happy in Taurus. From a traditional astrology perspective, Mars is in its detriment in Taurus. It kind of makes sense, because Taurus is slow and steady and careful and not a very risk-taking type of sign, whereas Mars is go, go, go, now, now, now, don’t hold me back. So, it can be difficult to get things started in Taurus. But once you get the momentum going, you are able to keep it.
Michelle: Well, there’s staying power in the sign of Taurus, because Taurus is a fixed and earthy sign. Now, Mars isn’t necessarily known for its staying power. Mars can burn itself out. So there is something about Mars in Taurus that I think can be quite beneficial.
Venus and Mars Swap Homes
This week we still have Venus in Aries, so Venus and Mars are in mutual reception. [Mars is in Venus’ sign and Venus is in Mars’ sign.] So it’s not a bad start to Mars’ journey. It’s like they’ve swapped apartments for awhile. When two planets do that, they strengthen each other. They communicate with each other. They can share information together, even though it’s ironic because Venus isn’t comfortable in Aries, and Mars isn’t comfortable in Taurus. Neither of them is quite happy in the other’s home, but they can support each other nevertheless — at least while Venus is in Aries. Next week she’ll move into Taurus. But that’s another story.
Jeffrey: Right. So, how do you think the mutual reception aids Mars in its journey?
Michelle: Well, I think that Venus — as the hostess of Mars — even though she’s not there to greet Mars at the front door, she’s saying, “Help yourself to anything you need. You know where the food is.” It’s almost as if there’s some alchemy involved between them. It’s a way of learning from each other when they’re in mutual reception. We only have this mutual reception for a few days. So I think it’s almost a way of Venus saying, “Hey Mars, you got to my house before I did. So until I get home, help yourself. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be there when I can. I’ll get there next week. In the meantime, put your feet up and I’ll try not to destroy your place while I’m still staying here. Please try not to take a blowtorch to my couch.”
Jeffrey: I don’t think Mars wants to keep his feet up.
Grounding Mars
Michelle: Well that’s the thing… in Taurus, Mars has to find a way to ground his energy and that’s how we’re all going to feel the Mars in Taurus effect. Mars is the sexual instinct, it’s aggression, assertion, it’s that adrenalin surge that you get, it’s the competitive instinct. And that energy, it needs to go somewhere. So in Taurus, you have to really ground it into work or physical endeavors that bring about stability and help promote future development and growth. Because Taurus is a sign that really focuses on financial security, abundance, material acquisition, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense. Some people think there’s something wrong with wanting material wealth. But let’s face it, we’re living in the material world. Until we enter the Star Trek universe, we all require some kind of financial stability. So I think that Mars in Taurus can really help boost that drive to get right with all of your resources.
Jeffrey: It’s little bit like the impetus to build one’s nest, to put in the work to acquire financial stability, but it’s not like cash under the table easy paycheck type of work. You actually have to have the patience to know, “Okay I’m really going to get on my knees and dig or do whatever I need to do to create that for myself.” But the returns are not going to be immediate. And I have to actually do this day in and day out consistently to reap the benefits. It’s a little bit like, if you’re going to garden your crops, they’re not going to show up overnight. You have to wait.
Michelle: I think that’s a great illustration too because it’s funny, Taurus is associated with gardening literally and Mars gives us physical stamina. This is the time of year in the Northern Hemisphere where people start to work on their gardens. So if you are a gardener, hey you’ve got some extra umph. What I also like about Mars in Taurus is that even though it’s said to be debilitated, there is a real match I find because Taurus is really sensuous energy. And Mars is the sex instinct. So I feel like when Mars moves into Taurus, he becomes the patient and tending lover. It’s not about, “Let me take care of my needs right now and it’s all about me,” which can kind of happen when Mars is in Aries where he’s just come out of.
Jeffrey: It’s like, “Wham bam thank you Ma’am.”
Michelle: We move away from, “Wham bam thank you Ma’am” into, “What can I do for you? Let me please you. Let me make you feel good.” Foreplay becomes more sensuous and may take longer, which I think might be welcome news. You sometimes hear women complain that men forget about this thing called foreplay. When Mars is in Taurus — because Taurus’ energy is so much slower than Aries’ energy — there’s a chance to really, really connect with your body, with each other’s bodies and to just take it slow and enjoy the process. So it’s not all bad news with Mars in Taurus. I think it can work just fine. I think the key thing to bear in mind is you do need to funnel that energy. You’ve got to put it somewhere or you are likely to feel hooked up with nowhere to go. That energy will turn on you, so make use of it. Really physicalize and actualize it.
Jeffrey: You can’t just stay in your head.
Michelle: Yeah. Right now, we have Sun and Mars in Taurus. So it’s going to force us to really get into our bodies and out of our heads. But just enjoy reconnecting with your body. It’s been a really wild, wild Aries rollercoaster ride, and there’s something really refreshing about taking a moment to stand and get grounded. Look around, see where you are, and tune into what the body is telling you.
Jeffrey: Looking at the movement from Aries to Taurus, Aries is the fire of inspiration and when you move into Taurus, it’s about implementing it. It’s making it real, something physical. Like even if you’re a writer, you put your pen to the paper and you have something that’s tangible. If you just stay in Aries, you could have a million ideas and none of them may materialize unless you actually just labor.
Michelle: That’s right. And you know what else? It’s as if we’ve moved Mars out of the battlefield of Aries and into the common peaceful pastures of Taurus where he gets to take a break from being that militant warrior.
Mars Sextile Neptune
Jeffrey: We actually have a little bit of an energy that will make the warrior more peaceful and spiritual, which is that Mars is making a gentle sextile or 60 degree angle with Neptune in Pisces, Neptune being a planet of mysticism and transcendence and just sort of letting go of the ego. So whenever I look at these two planets together, Neptune does weaken to some degree the energy of Mars. It has a dissolving energy. So Mars can feel a little bit lost and not know where to go, where to put its energy. It can be a little bit like, you wake up in the morning and you just sort of forgot what your agenda is.
One way to work with this particular planetary combination is to think about service. You know, compassionate action, like, “What can I do to alleviate the suffering in others?” because Neptune is very much about the suffering and the empathy we feel for other people, which can take some of the self-centeredness out of Mars and direct it towards the world at large.
Michelle: One thing that I find a little bit odd about Mars and Neptune in this sextile is that we’re blending Mars in Taurus — which really values permanence and stability (“Will this thing be here forever? Because that’s what I’m going for.”) — with Neptune in Pisces, which couldn’t be less permanent. Pisces is all about the ephemeral moment, which is always going to pass. And as you say, Neptune dissolves and reveals to us that there really is no such thing as permanence. And it’s a little bit of an odd trick to blend Mars in Taurus with Neptune in Pisces. Because we’re talking about a sextile, which is a 60 degree alignment between two planets and it’s fairly flowing energy, it provides us with an opportunity to fortify ourselves spiritually, and as you say Jeff, to give back, to give beyond yourself. And maybe what we find in this Mars sextile Neptune is that there can be permanence in serving other people or serving our planet, serving Mother Earth since Taurus is an earth sign. Compassion for the creatures of the planet and the creatures of the sea since Pisces is a water sign. So I think if we can take this energy and make it not about us, but about our willingness to put ourselves out there for something beyond us, we can really benefit from the sextile and find a sense of permanence that way.