Mars Attacks - More Often Than You Think!

Okay, before you think that I'm just another "alien freak", let me say that I don't mean that little green men from the red planet are on the warpath. The sort of "attack" that I'm referring to has to do with the very noticeable effects in your life whenever the planet Mars forms an "aspect" to one of the factors in your birth chart.
Have you ever had one of those days where you seemed
restless, perhaps even nervous, when you were impatient with others, when you couldn't sleep at night... and there didn't seem to be any obvious reason for your agitated state? Well, then you may well have been experiencing what is known to astrologers as a "Mars transit".
As you may already know, a birth chart is a map of the exact (to the degree and minute of arc) planetary positions on the date (and at the time and place) of your birth. One of the main techniques that we astrologers use to make predictions about the tendencies of a person's future is that of the so-called "transits". A transit occurs when a planet on a specific day/time (for example, right now) is passing over a degree of the zodiac that is in a specific angle to one of the important factors in your birth chart. Let's get more concrete. Suppose you were born on November 8 1955, at 9:48 am EST (as I was). The Sun in your birth chart is (as seen from the earth) in 15 degrees, 25 minutes of the sign Scorpio. Now, on Nov 6, 2005, the planet Mars is in 15 degrees Taurus: exactly 180 degrees from "your" Sun. An 180 angle is known as an "opposition", and is but one of the various aspects used in astrological work.
In order to interpret such an aspect, several things must be considered:
- The planet making the aspect (in this case, Mars)
- The planet (or other factor) in the birth chart receiving
the aspect (the Sun, in our example)
- The Nature of the aspect (in this case, of the opposition).
- Other considerations, such as the signs and houses these
planets occupy, other aspects that are present among the
factors in the birth chart, etc.
In our example, we'll simplify. An opposition is regarded as an aspect of tension, and often represents a challenge we have to face. As I write these lines, the planet Mars is in opposition to my Sun, and has been for several days - and I sure have noticed it! I've been busier than usual, teaching my students, working on different Internet projects, and have generally not had much time to just sit back and relax. This is often the case when Mars is in aspect to your Sun.
Also typical of Mars is, on occasion, accidents, or
experiencing pain of some sort. Well, a few days ago, one of my back teeth began to hurt. My dentist had warned me it was going to give me trouble some day (it already has several fillings in it), and I'm afraid that day has arrived. A toothache is a painful thing to have, as I'm sure many of you know, and in just a half hour, I'll be leaving for the dentist's to see whether the tooth can be saved, or must be extracted. In any case, the inevitable unpleasantness/pain associated with undergoing dental work is also typical of a Mars transit.
Nervousness, impatience and impulsiveness often occur under a Mars transit, so if you're experiencing such a time, I suggest you try to relax, take your time, drive more slowly than usual... for when under the influence of Mars, we tend to get ahead of ourselves, and this can, depending on the circumstances, lead to an increased risk of accidents.
How can you know when a Mars transit will be affecting you? Well, just about any good astrology program allows you to calculate transits. Our own "Omnicycles" program lets you do both your birth chart and transits (in graph form) for the weeks/months when Mars will be showing its influence most strongly in your future. There are also some astrology sites that let you calculate the positions of the planets for different time periods: use seach terms such as "astrology", "on-line ephemeris" (put this one in quotes), and "aspect" in Google to find sites that offer such a service.
Despite the occasional upsets that Mars transits can bring you, I should also mention the positive side. During these times, you will have more energy, and will no doubt be able to get a lot more done in your work, studies, etc. Take advantage of this trend: if you feel so "worked up" that you don't know what to do with all that excess energy, maybe it would be a good time to paint the porch, indulge in your favorite sport, or work it off in some other way. Just resist the temptation to do too much, or to tax your strength to the limit: be active, but don't take any unnecessary risks.
Since Mars can, in its worst manifestation, represent
violence, we can be pretty sure of one thing - If those little green men from that neighbouring red planet ever DO decide to attack and wipe us all out, it will probably happen when Mars is in a rather bad aspect to the Earth!