Mars has been receiving plenty of press lately because of its close encounter with Earth on August 28, 2003. Conditions for viewing are perfect and observatories, astronomy clubs and even enterprising bars are sponsoring “viewing parties” that draw hundreds of people to peek through telescopes to check out the polar ice caps and red deserts of our neighboring planet. The close encounter is unprecedented in modern times with Earth being closer to Mars than it has been in an estimated 60,000 to 73,000 years.

The unusual placement is reflected astrologically as a Sun/Mars opposition and has resulted in a rather long retrograde period for Mars. Not mentioned in the news is the fact that Mars is also aligned with Uranus, a planet that cannot be seen with the naked eye but has a very strong astrological effect nonetheless. The presence of Uranus adds another order of magnitude in the “strangeness” department. Every month when the Moon comes by, we have a Moon/Mars/Uranus conjunction that is very disruptive but exciting and different. Mars and Uranus are conjunct every 26 months or so for about 10 days, and most often the Moon doesn’t happen to arrive within the normal two-week window when Mars and Uranus are within orb of an effective conjunction.

This summer, however, the slow retrograde motion of both Mars and Uranus has resulted in the situation where we have four such conjunctions, in Pisces, on four successive months. It has been very interesting so far. On July 16, the tragedy at the Santa Monica public market occurred within two hours of exactitude of the conjunction. On August 13, the big blackout of the power grid in the northeast came within 18 hours of exactitude, with the Moon still in Pisces. The next Moon/Mars/Uranus conjunction is set for September 9-11 and should be the most powerful of the lot because of the closeness of the 3 orbs and their exact square to the eclipsed point of 1 degree Sagittarius. That eclipse occurs on November 23 and is the last total eclipse until 2006.

These external, mundane events are easy to track and it will certainly be interesting to see what the headlines will say during the September 9-11 time frame. With the conjunction in Pisces, it just may be that the energies involved may be so behind-the-scenes that they are not obvious or heralded by the media. The conjunction will definitely bring something into every sensitive person as far as their spiritual environment goes. Internal events are just as important as external happenings, however, with the difference being that we can do something to influence how the energies of Mars and Uranus affect us and what we do with them in our daily lives. The external, after all, is simply a manifestation of what is felt internally.

Close to the Sun is the slower-moving planet, Jupiter. Jupiter moved into health-oriented Virgo on August 27, just one day before Mars was closest to the Earth. The Sun is our conscious awareness, so with the Jupiter/Mars opposition in Virgo/Pisces we have the classic psychosomatic funnel that channels spiritual stress into the physical distress of the body. It may be that some old afflictions or aches and pains have returned with a new intensity. This is a great time to get at the root of these problems and try to recall what past and forgotten events placed these imbalances into physical memory.

The human body is an extraordinarily complex and sensitive instrument. It is the vehicle of the soul, perfectly suited for maneuvering about this physical world, like a diving suit for deep-sea exploration. Mars rules the iron in our blood, tinting it red and providing us with the vigor and fire to move about in the physical world. With Mars retrograde and so close to the Earth at present, this energy seems to vacillate between surges of frustration and anger alternating with a sudden lethargy. Mars is in Pisces, after all, with its deep and fluctuating moods, just like the last days before spring.

When any planet is retrograde, its energy comes to us in a more reflective mode than when direct. This is a time of reorganizing, re-evaluating, and maybe a grating revisiting of old hassles over our internal landscape. This is a good time to shed non-rewarding activities that take time and energy but provide no pleasure or reward. Are you doing too much? The universe is helping you to cut back.

In mundane affairs, Mars is assigned rulership of the sign Aries. For those on the spiritual path, however rulership moves to the sign Scorpio. This means that all those who realize that power and recognition to the personality is not the ultimate goal in life use their Mars to overcome the base desires of body and ego. This is a tough job. The phoenix which rises from its own ashes is the symbol for the Scorpio stage on the path of discipleship, when the ego is subdued and lower desires are killed, allowing the soul to rise to a position of power and recognition. Now is the time to “hang in there” and persist with spiritual practices, be they meditation, reading or whatever it is that gives you inner courage and motivation. This is a time of testing, but it is also a great opportunity to deal with bad habits and start some new, good ones.

For those far enough along the spiritual path to have teaching responsibilities, Mars assumes the rulership of the sign Sagittarius. It is not necessary to be a formally recognized “teacher” to be in this position. A parent “teaches” their child about life simply by performing daily tasks in a spiritual, thoughtful way. It is by our example that we teach others. The retrograde Mars time is sure to cause all of us to reconsider or revamp our techniques in presenting our spiritual insight to others. For some who practice formally it might be time to revise workshop procedures or materials. Maybe you can consider another distribution system, as you may find increased turnover among those who look up to you spiritually.

When the long-count of the Mayan calendar ends on December 22, 2012, our Sun and Earth line up perfectly with the galactic center around which our personal star revolves. This is clearly the official beginning of the Age of Aquarius and the end of the Age of Pisces. This is the completion of a 25,920 year cycle and the beginning of another. Uranus is in Pisces right now and will advance into Aries in January, 2011. With Mars conjunct to Uranus, lollygagging so long in the sign of Pisces, this is clearly the “beginning of the end”. Before we can advance to the next dimension and make our collective ascension, things have to be cleaned up where we are right now. This is the Pisces directive. This is why the sign is associated with karma pay-off and self sacrifice. This is a long cycle that we are completing and it is to be expected that there is a lot of karma to be reconciled. This is being played out in world events and environmental changes. The current Mars retrograde period is bringing the need to reconcile all personal and physical “dwellers on the threshold” into urgent prominence.

For every disaster, tragedy and act of terror in the mundane world there are unreported and unappreciated acts of kindness and moments of increased awareness all over the world. These are a result of positive thought and an unselfish attitude. This is the work of the Spiritual Hierarchy and incarnated light workers on our planet. You can be one of those. Use the increased energy of Mars to bring love, consideration and an increased vibration to a disturbed soul near you.

On August 28, Mars will reach its closest approach to Earth in 73,000 years. Just two days later, Mars reaches perihelion, and this will be the closest Mars has been to the Sun in 300 years. These phenomena are exceptional, both physically and because of the fact that Mars and Uranus are only 4 degrees apart at the time. The saving grace of the whole configuration is that they are both trine to Saturn, indicating that a certain amount of restraint will be present. Saturn is in Cancer, the sign of the people, and perhaps public dissent over war will be the only thing that averts it.