Good Intentions: An Astrological Retrospective
Mars has turned direct! After 2.5 months being retrograde, we are moving forward again.
The past several months I have been consumed, preoccupied. Mars and Saturn are prominent in my chart, conjunct, opposing my moon. I am a creative writer and editor by trade. And yet, I enjoy most the research and development of ways to help others. Astrology has figured prominently in my life. At age 8, I acquired my first astrology book. For the past 8 years, I have researched the planets, clocking hours that would rival PhD students of Philosophy. The astrological advice I have sought has given me counseling unrivalled.
Astrology is my life path, no matter my doubts.
Mars has turned back yet again from Scorpio into Sagittarius on March 7th making a conjunction with Saturn. It was around this time that I set forth on planning a natal chart consultancy business. I was forced to look upon my fears about expansion and laugh. I dared to plunge forward into what I thought was impossible.
When I began this article, Mars and Saturn were conjunct in Sagittarius. Mars: The physical drive, the creative impulse, kundalini energy. The sparking flint of life force. Mars is physical drive, the will. It is the God of War. Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of extremes. Sagittarians might be the first off the plane during a bungee jump. She wants to fall and on the way down, watch it’s fear in amusement. Mutable fire. Ideology, firmness of belief. Learning, change, absorption, fullness. There is doubt she has room under her wing for more information.
I am the sole sentinel of my own doubts, my complexes, my fears. I have watched and listened as I have ever refused with more voracity not to succumb. Source consciousness gives me a choice. Source wants me to succeed. We all are born with a call to do something with this rare opportunity. Not just to live, but to become. And in this becoming, we grow the initiative to continue.
So Saturn says to Mars: what now? Where are we going to, and how long will it take to get there? Saturn is paternal, parental. The lord of karma. But with Mars and Saturn conjunct, Mars is driving the car, and in the back Saturn was the young child asking “are we there yet?” Many of us have good intentions, but where are we are we going, do we know where we are headed? This is what our segue into Mars Scorpio retrograde is all about. We are our own judge and jury. What are the inner workings of my consciousness?
May 28, Mars drove back into Scorpio, going in retrograde motion. Mars retrograde only happens every two years. Scorpio is deep regeneration, deep introspection. But retrograde motion intensifies this flow. We are colossally redefining who we are, and not stopping at simple change. We are on a mission to find out the ‘whys’. We are reflecting upon all of the leaps of faith we made back when Mars and Saturn were conjunct in Sagittarius. This is deep. We felt thwarted. We were hitting pot holes, tripping on the same square of errant concrete over and over. It was exhausting. The same head-tapes played over and over again. But in this repetition came the unique opportunity to listen to ourselves closely. To understand that we have faults, and in identifying these faults, we better figure the dimensions of our souls.
Mars went direct June 29th, and we have been loosed. Individually, collectively. We are starting our own small revolutions. The intricacies of introspection stemming from Mars Scorpio Retrograde have helped us to make a launch into a new precision.
We are becoming all of the time. So who do we become? What do you do with your time here on earth? What legacy will you lead, and will it serve you now, and will it serve you when you are let into the aether? If I regret anything, I will have regretted that I didn’t love enough. That I didn’t forgive enough. Especially myself. I have drawn imaginary lines and scary figures, then refused to cross their paths. The toughest of climes are our inner maelstroms. I am learning how to make manifest a potency of faith in myself, and I know you are too.
Ashley Marie Scurto received a B.A. from George Mason University in Creative Writing. She is a published poet, review writer, artist, and a former poetry editor at The Baltimore Review. Yet for the past 8 years, she has conducted an intensive self-study of Psychological and Esoteric Astrology, including the delineation of Birth, Draconic, and Synastry charts and planetary transits. She aims to obtain further education in Astrology, possibly with NCGR or ISAR. She self-identifies as a healer; and an emotional and bodily empath. In addition to Astrology, she explores Buddhism, Crystal Healing and The Tarot.