Mars in Libra

[Jim Eshelman]

Mars enters Libra tomorrow, and will remain there November 11 through December 26. I would like to monitor the loudest headlines everyday to see how this expresses, as I've done for the last seven weeks with Mars in Virgo.

Surely its most visible will be in the House of Representatives' opening of public hearings on the impeachment of President Trump. The primary newsworthy inquiry (akin to a grand jury) was almost to the day defined by Mars in Virgo. Now it will continue as an inquiry but more resemble a trial. Current public estimates are that the impeachment hearings, beginning November 13, will "be done by Christmas," and Mars will be in Libra November 11 to December 26!

[Jim Eshelman]

Other themes of Libra can be expected to be in the news as well. We'll eventually see these from observation, not from conjecture, but I'd like to start with a list of themes we might expect. I'll add them in this post as they clarify in my mind.

Slower outer planet passages through Libra have seemed to mark a dawn of a new era; or, at least, that's how Donald Bradley sometimes interpreted Libra's "place of the rising Sun" imagery in his mundane forecasts. This is probably also themed to Libra's style of futurism which center on hope for a better, more idealistic world.

Polarization: I don't know how it can get much more acute than it's been, but I mention this to preload our thinking - especially since it plays into compatible Uranus in Aries themes.

Antipathies & alliances: Obvious stuff in terms of foreign relations, diplomacy, and efforts at compromise (but maybe more, outside of "foreign relations" category). A specific expression we might expect is failure in peace efforts. Other planets in Libra have played up more extreme expressions of either-or or "opposing teams" thinking.

The arts: Will there be a front page level attack on the arts? Or Mars themes infusing the arts? It will be interesting to watch for these.

Social values, especially with respect to love and sex: These may be Mars-infused for the next six or seven weeks. Maybe some kind of renewed combat over marriage laws. As a related theme, women's rights, especially on matters of female empowerment.

I'll add my standard Mars in Libra interpretation for natal astrology:

Warm, sociable, likable. Independent, self-sufficient, survivors (slow to ask for help). Persistent, serious, intent. Interesting, odd (disreputable?), on outskirts. Ego distinction prevails over ego-submersion (but wants marriage). Passion for social justice. Feminine thrives better than masculine (feminist). Women aggressively protect families, friends (power, impact). Men struggle with gender expectations (some bullies). Substance abuse problems.

[Jim Eshelman]

Besides the impeachment hearings, the most obvious things I've noticed (in the day's topmost few headlines) has indeed centered around polarization. Almost every main story is some expression of this (which, of course, may be enhanced because we live in such polarized times). Within this polarization, there are more stories (more concentrated within a short period) of international relations strained - an excellent example is the new layer of saber rattling from North Korea.

Of course, there are other intensely martial stories over the last six weeks or so while we've been in partile orb of the Cansolar progressed Moon-Mars opposition - so many shootings, catastrophes, explosions, and painful, deadly, damaging destructions that we haven't been able to keep up with them here. I suspect we've only posted 15% of these under daily events. The flood of blood and burns and tearing has been acute.

But, back to Mars in Libra: Besides the impeachment actions, today we have England's elections - acute division on the Brexit process with ongoing destabilization of foreign relations in Europe, fueling divisions in the British people - Israel's inability to form a coalition government, leading it back to a likely third election in a few months - and others.

On the flip side, a couple of surprising bipartisan successes have happened in the last week - not sure if this relates to this sign transit (it's more likely other patterns). The House announced a bipartisan agreement with the White House on a NAFTA replacement and, yesterday, passed an immigration reform (that both sides are strongly for) to allow undocumented farm works a legal standing tracked by a new Federal data base.

To touch on some of the other points I proposed we might see... mostly no evidence I've caught yet, but here's a quick review.

"Dawn of a new era," progressive futurism. - Haven't seen it.
Polarization - absolutely.
Antipathies & alliances - absolutely.
The arts. - Well, it's awards season, so a little hard to see what this could be besides the artist eating his own banana.
Social value shifts, love & sex, etc. - Strangely, no. I didn't even see any outrage that Harvey Weinstein was going to be able to settle out from under his lawsuits without paying out of his own pocket.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Everybody on any side of anything has been hollering about how unfair all the other sides are.

[Jim Eshelman]

Conclusions from the time:

Polarization, "opposing teams," little chance of compromise or coalition. Antipathies and alliances shift, strained international relations, failures at peace (strained diplomacy, feelings of unfairness). Legal conflict (prosecutions, demand for justice). Social values highlighted and debated especially with respect to love, sex, and marriage. Empowerment of women.

[Jim Eshelman]

Mars is back in Libra see the summary immediately above for possibilities.

[Jim Eshelman]

Mars left Libra today. I'm not sure recent weeks have given us clear confirmation of these meanings (below). Going from memory, two things stand out: Critical legislation (at the core of Biden's agenda) has gotten passed but with highly polarized conditions; and a significant Supreme Court hearing just occurred on an abortion case that is expected to undercut, and possibly be fatal to, the precedent of Roe v. Wade.

Polarization, "opposing teams," little chance of compromise or coalition. Antipathies and alliances shift, strained international relations, failures at peace (strained diplomacy, feelings of unfairness). Legal conflict (prosecutions, demand for justice). Social values highlighted and debated especially with respect to love, sex, and marriage. Empowerment of women.

[Jim Eshelman]

Mars enters Libra this afternoon. Within a day or two, major headlines should start winding down the contentious Mars in Virgo themes (worker outrage, strikes, service industry upheavals, military escalation) and start turning to Mars in Libra themes.

Based on history, this probably will start with polarization and "opposing teams" in Congress that don't necessarily reflect party lines (especially acute divisions within the Republican majority of the House). Historically, Mars in Libra has made it difficult to build consensus, form coalitions, and forge compromise. General "failure at peace" themes and, especially, passionate demands for justice. It's always interesting to see what these revisits mean.