Mars Pluto is hoving back into view aiming for a direct opposition on the 27th; with the Sun squaring Mars and Pluto in the days before. All of which will add up to an aggravated and frustrating finish to what has already been a tumultuous month. The edgy mood will run into the middle of May when the opposition wanes.
Mars Pluto hard aspects (conjunction, square, opposition) tend to coincide with ruthless actions or disasters. The Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 had Mars in Libra square Pluto. The Ukraine Invasion of 23 February 2022 a Mars Pluto in Capricorn conjunction.
Digging through my event file: A devastating Iran Iraq earthquake of 12 November 2017 had a Mars in Libra square Pluto. The Zebrugge ferry sinking which killed 193 on 6 March 1987 happened on an exact Mars in Taurus opposition Pluto; when tr Pluto was already hovering around the opposition to the UK 8th house Mars. The Andres Plane crash of 13 October 1972 happened on a Mars Pluto in Libra conjunction. The Titanic sinking of 14 April 1912 happened with Pluto in late Gemini conjunct Mars in Cancer (with Mars inconjunct Uranus). The Titanic Hull laying of 31 March 1909 which is effectively its ‘birth chart’ had Mars (Uranus) inconjunct Pluto.
Not all disasters or conflicts have Mars Pluto hard aspects; and since they come round usually three times a year they are part of the roller coaster of life and do not portend the end of times.
The recent ones: Mars Pluto conjunct in Aquarius on 13 Feb 2024 – Israel launches an airstrike on Lebanon on the 14th. A Kansas shooting also on the 14th. Trump is fined $354 million in a New York Civil Fraud case on the 16th.
Mars in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius June 11 2024 – Hunter Biden is convicted on gun felony charges; with Florida floods on the 12th.
4 November 2024 Mars in Cancer opposition Pluto in Capricorn. Trump was elected on the 5th.
From a previous September 2024 post:
Mars will dominate this winter as it moves through Cancer in opposition to Pluto from late October, going retrograde early December and staying within orb till after the USA Inauguration in late January. It goes direct late February and moves into Leo from mid April picking up the Pluto opposition until mid May.
Mars opposition Pluto tends to feel blocked, frustrating, trapped, powerless and infuriated. On occasion it brings high-risk and crises. Progress will only come after superhuman efforts, meeting force with force. Mars Pluto can move mountains but it will take courage and unrelenting determination.
Understanding the nature of Mars, also a previous post.
Mars, god of war, testosterone-fuelled and so competitive he would kick his father out of the way to get ahead, may have had a heroic image in ye olden times. But he/she is struggling to revision themselves in these non-binary, tree-hugging, #metoo sensitive days.
Broken down into simple words Mars is 1) assertive; 2) argumentative and competitive; 3) bolsters identity in ‘I want’; 4) provides forward gear; 5) is an essential factor in decision-making); 6) necessary for sex drive; 7) generates will-power and the life force. Without Mars there would be no life, no reproduction, no progress.
Mars is usually thought of as angry. But anger is only stored up assertion. When ‘I want’, ‘I intend’, ‘I will do’ – all of them reflecting the core identity of the individual – gets blocked or remains unexpressed Mars slowly starts to boil until it erupts. Synonyms for assertion are – decisive, believing in oneself, self-assured, confident, forceful. All of those can be subtly conveyed – or not – depending on the sign Mars sits in.
Mars in the Fire signs – Aries, Leo and Sagittarius – will be loud, inclined to flare up, outspoken and unselfconscious about demanding their own way. In Aries and Sagittarius squalls never last long and are soon forgotten. In Leo, being ego-centric and Fixed, there can be a prickly defensiveness hanging around after arguments.
Mars in the Earth signs – Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn – can be slow burn and is usually focused on a practical or financial outcome. Mars in Taurus is slow to anger but earth-shaking when the lava erupts. Money will be what motivates them into action. Mars in Virgo, the workaholic, is a perfectionist. In Capricorn is super-ambitious, climbing ever higher up the ladder with steely determination.
Mars in the Water signs – Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces – is more problematic. Fire makes Water boil is quintessentially true of Mars in Cancer, which is volatile and gets over-emotional when provoked. Scorpio, secretive as ever, harbours a grinding resentment which is kept under control until the time is right and then the scorpion sting is let loose. In Pisces, Mars gets flummoxed since Pisces hate confrontations. Where the pair come together most effectively are in artistic ventures especially dance and yoga. Forward march to Pisces means taking the roundabout route.
Mars in the chatty Air signs – Gemini, Libra, Aquarius – pumps fire into thinking and speaking. All good debaters and adept with words. Mars in Aquarius can be ornery, awkwardly stubborn.
How Mars integrates in the chart and which planets it sidles up to or clashes with makes a difference. The essential nature of Mars in its chosen sign gets modulated, watered down or the opposite, depending on which other planetary energy it has to work beside.
Sun conjunct Mars is competitive and courageous; in square and opposition doubly so, headstrong, willful, reckless and noisy.
Moon Mars – comes from the angry mother who blocks the child’s assertion, leaving issues with women/domestic life behind in adult life, quarrelsome. Alcohol tends to lift inhibitions so flare ups follow.
Mercury Mars – quick thinking, fast-talking and sharp-tongued, inclined to argue endlessly and stir up controversies.
Venus Mars – in conjunction can be passionately enthusiastic and, in some, a tendency to promiscuity. In square and opposition it leads to strong ‘romantic’ attractions but not always sensitivity to the other’s needs.
Jupiter Mars – high vitality plus positive thinking = good luck. Helpful for starting new projects.
Saturn Mars – blocked assertion can have positive outcome in self-discipline and promoting a military turn of mind where suppressing personal needs and identity for a specific purpose is helpful. Can be destructive, violent. Tends to be passive-aggressive. Simmers with resentment and then blows a fuse.
Uranus Mars – rebellious and freedom-loving plus fiery zeal can be an explosive and self-willed combination. Good for high-risk ventures, adventure and thrills. Bad for tolerating interference and compromise.
Neptune Mars – can attract publicity and glamour, common in showbusiness types. Has a hint of Mars in Pisces so not always good at full-frontal demands.
Pluto Mars – a challenging combination stemming from a dominating, scary father who at times would feel life threatening. Leaves behind an adult who is good in crisis situations and is do-or-die determined. Some turn ruthless since it was what they knew, others remain suppressed and attract difficulties because they are unsure how to live out the super-charged energy.
Modern astrology equates the Moon with ‘the mother’, but as far as I know this idea does not extend further back historically beyond the 20th century, when psychology began to develop and influence astrology.
In traditional astrology it is the 10th house that represents the mother, not the Moon.
Perhaps it is this misunderstanding which causes confusion.
Wouldn’t the 4th represent the mother?
Mother or home.
In traditional astrology the 4th house represents the father and grandparents, ancestry and the home, the roots essentially.
The 10th represents the mother as it is the seventh house from the 4th.
There are plenty of books out there on the subject of traditional astrology, but if you prefer to get your information online the Skyscript website has lots available, all free.
It depends on the astrologer – some use 4th house and its ruler for the mother as well, and the 10th is then the father.
Moon as how a child sees the mother is something that you will have a bit of difficulty to disprove.
“It is also does not make sense when you consider a bunch of brothers and sisters all with the same mother, but only one of them has a Moon Mars aspect.”
What you here do not see is that the Moon is not how a person is, or how you as someone who is not a relative, or how a colleague sees that person – it is how the child sees their mother, the impression they have of her. So three siblings might have widely differing views of the same mother, and that will usually show in the charts. Or the mother will have a certain line run through her for all the children to see, and it will appear in a chart in similar ways.
Moon–Mars conjunction maybe reminds me of a person, not their mother, being kind of passive aggressive, maybe emo-ish, a lot of pent up angry emotions boiling under the surface. But then there are exceptions and colourings (which sign, which house, what aspects to other planets does that conjunction make etc.).
David Hockney is opening a huge show of his work in Paris today, open to the public tomorrow. A Cancerian man with a Scorpio Mars, he’s very much his own person and has lived his life with Mars aspecting Pluto and Uranus. Back in 2017 Marjorie wrote:
“Born 9 July 1937, Bradford, England, he is a Sun Mercury in Cancer with Pluto also in Cancer, with all three planets trine a determined Mars in Scorpio; a rebellious Mars opposition Uranus ”
Hockney continues to paint for several hours a day, despite being quite frail now according to the article I read. Chapeau!
I have Mars in Taurus getting a last pass by transiting Uranus and my nerves will be glad when it’s moved on – Taurus likes stability! My Mars is at 26.59 Taurus – should I consider that 27 degrees is officially past the actual transit? I know the effect lingers but wondering what people think. I had an astrologer who considered that once a transit ticked over to the next degree it was officially past, but what if your natal planet is at the last minute of the degree?
For what it’s worth, I also am giving a lot of thought to transits moving off by 1 degree. My sun is at 2 Aquarius and I was counting the days until Pluto moved off to 3 Aquarius. It’s there now and things are a bit better, but I don’t feel like I’m out of the woods. Mostly I’ve gotten use to the nightmare. My animals were attacked by coyotes last week and I had to clean up the bodies afterwards, so Mr. Death is still tapdancing around my sun. Hang in there with your Uranus transit.
@Lizzie, I’m so sorry to hear about your animals. Best wishes to you going forward with the subsequent passes. May Pluto be empowering to your Sun!
Thank you @Les.
So very sorry about your animals, that must hav been heartbreaking.
@Gilly thank you. There are times when I hate Mother Nature raw in tooth and claw.
I have two female relatives with Moon Mars conjunctions, both tending to be forceful and domineering, if not outright aggressive. Their mothers were gentle and easy-going without any anger issues that I could see or know about.
It is also does not make sense when you consider a bunch of brothers and sisters all with the same mother, but only one of them has a Moon Mars aspect. I do not see how as astrologers we can then say this aspect signifies an angry mother.
I can perfectly understand the reasoning behind the idea that a Moon Mars conjunction might mean an angry mother, but we should be careful of being too quick to jump to such conclusions.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Moon aspects usually get translated by forming an opinion on the mother. The Moon and its aspects relate to the early years of life too, and subjective experiences of the young individual, which are not necessarily mother related, or at least not solely. I have Moon-Mars quadrat and I am fiercely assertive and sometimes aggressive. However I did not have an angry mother. In fact she was the opposite. My childhood was awful though but not because a horrible mother.
Yes, that’s a good point about early years and subjective experiences, thanks.
I am sorry to hear you had a rotten time as a child. I wonder if you know the fairy tale about the child asked by a fairy figure if he/she would prefer to have a happy and easy first half of life with a difficult and sad second half, or vice versa, the child chooses the vice versa – a difficult first half of life and a happier second half. I hope that is how it is turning out for you.
I agree Claire, and frankly this is the source of my “problem” with birthchart astrology. I have a close female relative with autism. She has moon Mars conjunct in Aries ( ouch!). She is very young still but her emotional life is intense and explosive. However, her mother is wonderful – kind, firm , organised and loving, exactly what an autistic child needs. Her mother has no Virgo in her chart, surprisingly to some. This child makes superhuman efforts even now to “fit in” emotionally. Does the astrology describe her autistic troubles? I don’t know, but I do know her moon does not describe her mother, and her intensity is also loving, caring and vulnerable.
Neptune ,pluto and sun too r considered healers so their signs or houses can also make one a healer
Moon/Mars conjunction here. I had a mom who was only angry with me. She was an Aries Asc/Cancer Sun conjunct Pluto in the 4th, and on my South Node. My moon/mars opposing her Sun/Pluto.
She treated me roughly all her life, critical and domineering, zero affection. But never in front of others, not even my dad. My younger brothers went unscathed. When I confided in outside family members later in life, they couldn’t believe my warm, joking mom would ever be that way. I was afraid of her even in adulthood. And still loved her in spite of it.
It’s the perception/experiences of the person with the moon/Mars in their chart who will feel this. Mars sitting on my moon has me overly emotional, even in Capricorn.
Other planets also need to be seen….saturn and all other planets in trine with my mars so saturn overpowers mars hence the blocking became ban….some said it was because she wished to save me from clan of mars paternal family but today her siblings r worse than my paternal mars clan…my siblings always got what they wished and even today despite ravaging her life’s savings and reputation but then that’s it…she was married into mars clan despite all forecasts warning of early death but she became them…i m only one ever born to be not martian in both clans…but have saturn strong which all day overpowers mars and have pluto saturn conjunction..
But as i c now it can be since I m virgo and she sag which don’t fit well ..and she’s aries moon and I have virgo moon so again opposition
The only gleaming aspect is her love for literature and art which she shares and gifts only to me secretly since,”only you understand” instead of my siblings or anyone ..and yes, algol in my 4h so I now don’t expect anything
I agree with you regarding family signs. My Arian mother had a Pisces triple in her 12th, her father and ten siblings mostly water signs, very strict Catholic. She married into a Sag family (I take after the paternal side) who were indifferent to organized religion, very much interested in literature, and free thinking. Mom thought they were arrogant (some projection there), crude and insensitive. I am a lot like my paternal grandmother. I don’t think she consciously recognized this.
And Saturn? Conjunct Venus in Scorpio in the 11th.
People still mistake me for my mother since I look like her but those close easily c my paternal granny in me…v seem to have too much in common …nice to meet u
My understanding is two fold. One – the Moon aspects indicate the child’s experience of the mother which may well be coloured by different circumstances at the time of birth than were in place for other children. Secondly Moon Mars can suggest a mother who stifled a child’s anger/assertiveness. So the mother is not necessarily angry just that being upfront and confrontational was not welcomed in the child by the mother.
This is indeed the case with my Scorpio Moon/Mars, though it’s part of a stellium with Mercury and Neptune. House position is relevant too. Stellium is in the 3rd house, so 3rd house themes – brother who was likely adhd with difficult, challenging behaviours, me a silent middle child who had to repress my own needs due to an awareness that my parents couldn’t cope, subjected from a very young age to bullying from children in my neighbourhood and female teachers, specifically the violent headmistress at my first school who utterly terrified me, a traumatic boarding school experience with bullying and neglect from female staff. Silent victim of 2 sa crimes before the age of 17. All of which has given me a lifetime’s supply of therapy material. I’m not naturally assertive and it’s been a life’s work trying to express anger in a healthy way.
My brother had Moon in Scorpio too, but in the 1st house square Uranus opposition Sun.
Sorry Marjorie, but to me it is still generalization. My tight Mars-Moon quadrat manifested first in having to be separated immediately from my mother for nearly a year after being born, because of her illness, that actually caused my early arrival too. She was a loving, caring mother but this early separation was the psychological ground of anxiety and anger issues based on feeling generally insecure in the world. My mother was not perfect, but she cherished, protected and encouraged me as long as she lived. My sister has the same perception of her, and she is not shrinking violet either. Having said that my sister has Moon-Saturn opposition and we can say that us three had a karmic relationship, that I wish on nobody. Still, the reason was not my mother as a person, it was fate through her.
Yes I can see that. In my case, the mother is the main carer and thus the main person dealing with daily meltdowns and helping the child learn how to regulate herself. This could be seen as “stifling” the child’s assertiveness, but it is not a negative thing in this instance. If you look at their birth charts, there are some very affectionate aspects ( eg mum’s moon conjunct child’s Venus), and I would say it is necessary to look at the whole chart(s) to get the true picture.
Above in reply to Marjorie
Not a Moon-Mars person but Aries Moon 3h tight square Cancer Mercury 7h. Moon loosely trine Leo Saturn. In my experience, this plays out in sequence based on the exactness of each aspect
Mom was a librarian and debate coach. She was in the run up to a bad divorce from my father when I was born. As a child in the home, if she was angry, from a young age I left. Went outside. She expressed anger in the car because I couldn’t get away. I’d get angry at first but learned to just be quiet and not argue. One time coming back from my first break in college, she furiously upbraided me about light poles that then swung into a lot of other arcane and impersonal topics. I stopped answering 30 or so minutes in but she kept going without me saying a word until she slammed the car door in front of the house 3 hours later. She was very embarrassed because she forgot my shy roommate was in the back seat.
Other times she would debate in the car. If I made good points, she would switch sides, saying she was the devil’s advocate, take my view, and force me to argue the other side. I despised this debate thing.
She was a Gemini Sun-Uranus. Contrarian.
My Moon-Mercury with Saturn played out in sequence when she was angry in the car, she was the Aries Moon in 3h, me arguing back but them blocking her. Me first acting as Mercury talking then Saturn blocking.
As debate coach she’d start as Cancer Mercury 7h, with me getting mad Moon 3h which the square and 3h position really impelled me to debate, then if I got to Saturn mastery, she’d leap on Saturn and make me take on the Mercury position to debate that side. Her Saturn was conjunct mine.
The Canadian election on the 28th April is the day after the Pluto in Aq/Mars in Leo opposition. Canada’s national chart has Mercury placed in the 5th house at 4Leo22. Dramatic communications likely to be in play.
Fascinating as always Marjorie. I am a Mars in Pisces so I recognise the picture of people who quite literally like to dance around confrontation.
Fascinating article, Marjorie.
From my collection of historical charts, I have the Wannsee Conference 20/1/1942 which has an exact square between Mars and Pluto at 4 Taurus and 4 Leo respectively. These planets in Fixed signs tend to be particularly brutal.
The Wannsee Conference also has Uranus 26 Taurus so conjunct Algol.
Thinking of Holst’s Mars, bringer of War at this point. At the same time, where would we be without that Martian energy? The Wannsee Conference Mars square Pluto is thought provoking, and close to this approaching 3 degree opposition. I noticed that it occurs on the day of a Taurus New Moon at 7 Taurus, with Black Moon Lilith at 3 Scorpio, and the transiting Mars/Pluto midpoint 3 Scorpio. Quite a punchy fixed combination, struggling to find an outlet? The New Moon will be one degree off the 8 Taurus Pluto in the US Civil War chart of 1861.
Following today’s shenanigans, things do seem to be building up a head of steam or reaching fever pitch.
Also possibly relevant to the mysterious resonances of history and the cosmos…..A factor in the US Civil War was the contraversial Morrill Tariff of 2nd March, 1861.
“The Morrill Tariff was an increased import tariff in the United States that was adopted on March 2, 1861, during the Presidency of James Buchanan, a Democrat. It was the twelfth of the seventeen planks in the platform of the incoming Republican Party, which had not yet been inaugurated, and the tariff appealed to industrialists and factory workers as a way to foster rapid industrial growth.”
“The tariff inaugurated a period of continuous protectionism in the United States, and that policy remained until the adoption of the Revenue Act of 1913, or Underwood Tariff. The schedule of the Morrill Tariff and both of its successors were retained long after the end of the Civil War.” Wiki
Mars was 8 Taurus, Pluto 7 Taurus on that date in 1861. Mercury in Pisces aligned with Neptune in Pisces, 28-29 degrees.
Thank you, Jane. The Wannsee Conference astrology makes me very nervous, seeing as – as you say – that chart will be triggered by the coming Mars/Pluto opposition. And yes, BML will be in the early degrees of Scorpio too.
I have Mars sextile Pluto with Mars in Scorpio. As Marjorie says, I am quite calm and come into my own during a crisis, but spend non-crisis times worrying myself stupid about trivial stuff.
I have Mars in Scorpio too, VF. It makes a number of aspects including Pluto and Uranus. Agree, good in a crisis, and I won’t give up easily when fighting for something. But I do tend to worry about trivial things, and find it hard to leave negative situations – I think if I try hard enough, things will improve. But then I have Cancer rising too. However, once I do let go of something, leave a job, or a relationship, that’s it. Gone. Probably why I enjoy taking ‘stuff’ to the charity shops!
Me too, Jane – Scorpio doesn’t let you get away with any kind of toxic positivity and I catch myself being a bit of a shroud-waving debbie downer at times! But I love having a clear out – most therapeutic.
But we all forget that the child also absorbs the mother in womb and takes her moods outside…my mother’s career was 1st blocked by my sudden birth and earlier by sudden marriage to feudal village family while she was raised as assertive career woman and her decade old career was shut off so that anger all came out on me…I saw same thing in my neighbours 2nd son….he was always seen as disruption to her flourishing career and he’s adult now but silent unlike his elder brother…surprisingly, he got my parents as saviours as they had retired by then yet his biological mothers anger on him as was mine ‘s on me ended his sunny personality .
As an experiment which showed that ducklings took a cow as mother when it was her when they opened their eyes so it seems that eventually a child starts taking as mother one who gives him affection even if she’s not related …
Maybe that’s a virgo trait as popular …worrying ..
The other long reply was typed and my phone went off and as I began to reply this one ,I was happy to find it waiting to be posted so did it anyways
Rachana – yes to Virgo’s capacity for worrying and I have mutual reception with Mercury in Scorpio sextile Pluto in Virgo. I could worry for Britain and as a child was often flooded with terrifying thoughts with my vivid imagination. My mother also has a Virgo ascendant, Neptune rising in the 12th and was a catastrophiser. With my brother’s unpredictable, risky behaviour – he once lay down in the middle of a busy road, went missing in Epping Forest on a family picnic and another time, during a holiday outing broke away from us to climb a perilously steep chalk cliff – things often did go badly.
Migrating the site to a new server so there may be a few delays. Hopefully all sorted by tomorrow.
Marjorie, did you do a chart for the move to the new server so that Mercury was moving direct for the move?
I have Mars and Pluto conjunct in Leo with a late Taurus sun trining a Cap Moon which is opposite Saturn in Cancer. Find it not so difficult when fighting for someone else who has suffered a wrong, as I never give in, but not so when this is for myself.
Really fascinating article , thank you astrologer