After eight weeks of using lunar tools do to martial things, Mars is more than ready to depart the sign of its Fall and enter the regal sign of Leo on the 20th. Mars in Leo expresses itself using solar tools such as creativity, visibility and generosity. Just like the Sun which rules the sign of Leo, Mars in the lion’s den executes its will with charisma, confidence and presence.
The last two months might have felt as though we needed to be extra careful around precarious emotional weather fronts. In a Moon ruled sign, some of the questions Mars considers before taking action include how can I protect my savings and assets, my home & family, my emotional well-being, my body, other people’s feelings and the vulnerable? Coupled with the recent Mercury retrograde, the conditions that would enable us to move forward with confidence simply weren’t available.
Things are clicking into place
Things are changing now. Mercury stations direct today. As the Messenger Planet begins to pick up speed, clarity and efficiency will increase. Mars moving into Fixed-Fire also helps. Mars in Leo isn’t weighed down by emotional considerations that has us constantly reacting, absorbing and adjusting with the sensitive power-steering that Mars in Cancer uses. Mars in Leo proceeds steadily like the Sun. The Action Planet’s tour through Leo these next seven weeks opens a fortuitous time to find your gear in a project or goal and make significant strides forward.
T-Square
As Mars enters Leo on May 20th the day after the New Moon in Taurus, he’ll be forming a special aspect pattern called a T-square with Jupiter and Pluto. T-squares form when one planet opposes another and a third planet squares them both. This configuration holds a lot of tension that can express as ambition. The discomfort and restlessness inherent in a T-square drives resourcefulness, ingenuity and accomplishment.
On May 20th, as Mars ingresses into Leo, he will oppose Pluto in Aquarius. Both planets will square Jupiter in Taurus. All three planets are at 0° of a fixed sign, signifying a bold beginning with a lot of enthusiasm and might behind it.
If you’ve been gearing up for a power move, now is the time to pull the trigger. When drive (Mars) purpose (Jupiter) and power (Pluto) join forces, they create a field of enthusiastic risk-taking. Action begun at this has the potential to mature into an enormous win or a cataclysmic loss accompanied by a priceless lesson on what not to do next time.
Barbaric Yawp
Another time to note on our calendars will be when Mars squares Uranus on June 26. I love the language Renn Butler uses for Mars-Uranus in The Archetypal Universe : “electric yang enthusiasm and a swashbuckling style”. He quotes Walt Whitman’s “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world!” Butler goes on to warn against “desires for sudden change, reckless audacity, high-flying contempt for the mediocre and defiance of all limits to expression.” Wow!
I like to call Mars-Uranus hard aspects road rage or the I quit! aspect. Think twice before shooting from the hip during this time. All this to say that The Warrior Planet’s charge through Leo might be a bit passionate and high spirited for some of us, especially if your Time Lord is Mars. We’ll be thanking our lucky stars that Venus spends some extra time in Leo this year during her retrograde, soothing and smoothing over any casualties Mars leaves in his swashbuckling wake. On the other hand, we can truly get a lot done if we ride these enterprising energies with mastery during this time.
Mars invigorates the Leo part of our charts until July 10th when he enters Virgo. Words to live by during this time: “Fortune favors the bold” by Roman poet Virgil who had his Mars in Leo. And maybe one more reflecting the valiant beginnings available to us now: “There’s two buttons I never like to hit: that’s panic and snooze.” — Ted Lasso.
Images made by me in Midjourney