Vedic Predictive Astrology

#42
Mars' Transit Through Aries
Published January 24, 2004

(Note: Forecasts underlined and in maroon are links to previous Forecasts.) 

Mars' Long Suppressed Energy
     Mars' projective energy has been largely withheld since June 3, 2003, as the planet of war has been under the restrictive influence of Saturn since that date.  Today, Mars moves into Aries, where its 7 month accumulation of aggression and violence can be released upon the world and our individual charts.  The nature and timing of this Martian eruption will be detailed in this Forecast.  First, here's a recap of Mars' dispositions since last summer to better enable our understanding:

     Aquarius  Mars stayed in Saturn-ruled Aquarius from June 3 to December 6.  While Mars typically travels through each sign for 2 months, its retrograde from June 29 to September 27 tripled its time in Aquarius to 6 months.  Saturn is a delaying and withholding influence, especially upon impulsive Mars, and while some Martian energy was released before and after its passive retrograde, the overall effect was an accumulation of pent-up energy.  The October 9 Forecast, Mars! Mars! And We Ain't Talkin Candy Bars, discussed that situation, spotlighting the remarkable 3 tiger bites in early October that manifested the partial release of carnivorous Mars' ferocity after ending its retrograde motion.)

     Pisces  Only recently out of its summer retrograde, Mars has moved quickly through Pisces in 7 weeks, beginning December 7 and ending today, January 24.  Mars' behavior during this interval was explained in the October 15, 2003 Forecast, Gandhi, Martin Luther King & Today's Democracy Dilemma,

     This quote also speaks to the efforts for democracy in Iraq and improving international relationships, which has turned out to be an accurate prediction, although enduring positive results are not assured.
     Concomitantly, philosophical Jupiter has brought serious and deep consideration of the democratic presidential candidates, making Howard Dean's emotional outburst unacceptable.  Here's why Dean "lost it" last Tuesday, Mars' day of the week.  Mars has become frail this week as it moved the end of the sign (this is called Sandhi, meaning dead in Sanskrit) and a weak warrior is an angry and destructive one.  With Dean's birth chart Mars similarly weak and throwing an aspect to his 10th house of career and the public in Pisces, the Mars transit through Pisces stimulated a loss of emotional control at failing to win the Iowa Caucus.
     It is interesting too that the NASA space probe has malfunctioned, as again, a weak Mars is a destruct- ive Mars, and this is, after all, the planet of engineering and machines.

     Aries  Today, then, Mars enters Aries, and for the first time since last June, Mars is not held back by Saturn.  This is detailed in the following section and is the focus of this Forecast.

Releasing Mars' Destructive Energy

   Mars in Aries portends the release of 7 months of withheld energy.  This will tend to be precipitous and even devastating, for Rahu amplifies and intensifies Mars.  Again from the Gandhi Forecast, 

In the December 13, 2003 Forecast, Vedic Vignettes, I added weight to this prediction by stating,

     This pivotal Mars transit was further emphasized in the December 8, 2003 Forecast, Vedic Astrology Points The Way in the section Two More Intervals Of Opportunity, which included the above 2 quotes and predicted that this violence would discredit President Bush.

Into Aries - The Battle Is Joined.
     Mars rules (owns) Aries, which strengthens and elevates it energies.  Courage, wealth, logic, military prowess and success (as examples) are all favored.  However, the presence of Rahu also transiting Aries ruins these higher significations of Mars and promotes its lower significations - anger, fear, cowardice...  Again, the Gandhi Forecast is referenced in its discussion of Mars' contrasting qualities.  Also as discussed, an aspect from religious Jupiter to Aries makes religion and other belief systems (such as neo-conservatism) a natural focus.  Further, although expansive Jupiter could be understood to tone down the Mars/Rahu fury, it also inflames it -- like using bellows to pump oxygen into a fire.

Event Timing
     To anticipate when and how Mars will release its energy, Vedic Astrology looks to when Mars: ends its "dead" Sandhi as it reaches 2 degrees of Aries, closes to conjunction with Rahu and crosses the November 8, 2003 lunar eclipse point. 

     February 2 and 3 are Moon Mondays and Mars Tuesdays, and on these days, both Mercury and Venus will be changing signs and thereby Sandi, which indicates instability.  Further, emotional depression is indicated in the Moon transiting past Saturn.
     Another sensitive period occurs during the evening of February 11 through Noon, February 12, when the Moon will first be directly opposite Mars and then conjunct Ketu.  There is further weakness in the Sun, which signifies power and government, crossing signs at this time.
     On Saturn's Saturday, February 14 in the early morning, the Moon will be in its fallen sign of Scorpio receiving a bad 8th house aspect from Mars.

     At midnight on February 22, Mars will begin its violent transit across Rahu, which is further empowered because Mars is going forward and Rahu backward, making this an even more severe clash of dissonant energies.  This conjunction will be exact the Tuesday evening of Mars 24, at which time the Moon will also be in Aries.
     February 25 will be challenging all day as the Moon pushes onward toward the Mars/Rahu conjunction at 6:00 PM.  At this time, Mercury will be closing in on the Sun, which illuminates mentality but in tying the ego to the mind, stimulates unbalanced and illogical decisions.
     Mars will cross the November 8 lunar eclipse point at 22 degrees and 42 minutes beginning at 3:30 PM on February 27 and ending 3 days later on March 1.  The evening of February 29 and morning of March 1 may be the most challenging, for during that interval, the Moon crosses depressing Saturn.  Also at this time, Venus will change signs again, transiting into Aries, further weakening the planetary map, but by March 2, Venus will have regained strength to bring its softening love and compassion to bear upon the Mars/Rahu antagonisms.  By March 2, therefore, conflicts will tend to abate.

     To summarize, here are the sensitive dates: January 27, 28, 29.  February 2, 3, 11, 12, 14, 23-29, March 1.

Anticipated Events And Issues
     Jihad, religion-inspired violence, in the Mideast has previously been predicted.  Terrorist acts abroad or even in the US are a likely accompanyment.  President Bush will have Mars and then Rahu in his planetary cycles from February 7 through March 4, which must bring him into that conflict and also injure his reputation.  Note that for Bush, the Mars/Rahu conjunction occurs in his 10th of career and reputation.  The thought here is that violence in Iraq, which may extend to other countries, harms Bush and actualize earlier predictions that the Iraq invasion was Bush's great  misadventure, bringing his fall.  The consequences of Mideast discord and violence in February will be felt when Bush runs his Saturn/Jupiter/Saturn cycle from March 4 to July 28.  The most severe  period is late May through early June.
     The New Hampshire primary on January 27 promises to be a heated contest, with impulsive voting.  The 3 strong candidates identified in the January 18, The Presidential Candidates - An Early Look, will be hard-pressed to convince voters before the primary and will struggle with results.  8 more primaries follow in February in Southern and Midwestern states.  John Kerry, Howard Dean and Wesley Clark are the 3 polling leaders, and here's how prospects for each appear::

     John Kerry  Mars/Rahu are in his 6th house of enemies, indicating he will fight hard but also encounter a backlash of some type.  He will likely win New Hampshire, and beginning February 2, will use diplomacy and his wife to advantage in the February primaries.

     Howard Dean   Mars/Rahu are in his 11th house of goals, opportunities and friends, suggesting he is highly motivated but will lose friends or by harmed by them.  Struggling as he is with the difficult planetary cycles of Saturn with Venus, and entering a difficult Saturn/Venus/Ketu planetary cycle on February 8, Dean will survive the New Hampshire primary but fall far behind as the February primaries end.

     Wesley Clark:  Like Kerry, Clark is Scorpio rising -- so Mars/Rahu are in his 6th house.  He will gain on Kerry and Dean in New Hampshire and continue to perform well through the 8 February primaries.

     
     There's a caveat here, for should Iraq erupt in violence or terrorist acts occur, either of which would discredit Bush, then the strongest antiwar candidates will benefit.  Although Kerry and Clark would be able to capitalize on this, Dean, as the original and staunchest antiwar/antiBush candidate, could resurrect his candidacy on Bush's failure.  If this doesn't occur, however, Dean's campaign will be completed by the end of February.  Kerry and Clark are simply too strong for him at this time.  
     
     At this time, John Edwards' birth time is still not available, and I have not yet attempted rectify the birth time to find a reliable chart.  However, if his Ascendant is Aries, which appears to fit, then he would be running very powerful and advantageous planetary cycles of Jupiter with Rahu.  Edwards would therefore tend to be highly competitive and stay in the running.  For that chart, Mars/Rahu would be transiting through his 1st house, which would empower and impassion his efforts.  Still a convincing sweet-talker, Edwards would put steel in his positions.

     
     With the second Mars rover due to land today, the question naturally arises as to how these two robots will perform.  In 1999, Mars (machines) was conjunct Ketu the very hour that NASA lost contact with a previous lander.  Since Mars will also be aspecting Ketu during its transit through Aries, expect that the first rover will not be full reactivated and that the second rover will also fail during February.  (Yes, Sadie Thorndike, Vedic Astrology does work on Mars.)