Time to Say It Like It Is
by
Sarah Varcas
This aspect began around the time of the New Moon. It’s a tricky one to manage hence my wanting to deconstruct it a bit. Mars in Scorpio squaring Jupiter in Leo: both powerful forces in a relationship of antagonism and friction. That said, although often given bad press, a square aspect is ultimately a creative one because it forces us to deal with obstacles and blockages in the fabric of our lives and develop new ways of living, being and behaving. It’s the squares in our lives which often make us change and grow. However, we tend to resist their action at first, trying to maintain the status quo or avoid an uncomfortable conflict until we can do so no longer and the pressure has built up to such an extent we can’t help but react! This is why squares are sometimes connected with explosive emotions and reactions, because we don’t deal with the issue when it arises, we deny it, try to manipulate from behind the scenes and all manner of other approaches to avoid dealing with it head on and changing ourselves as a result!
So when we have a powerful one like this around for a week or so it is useful to be aware of the risk of doing exactly that: turning a blind eye to mounting problems and pressures. If we do so we could end up with a messy explosion at the end of it when we can’t tolerate the stress anymore. Far better that we intervene at an earlier point and deal with things in a more measured and constructive way!
We have already seen that Mars in Scorpio can rake up the dirt and doesn’t let us off the hook until we’ve dealt with it. And with Jupiter in Leo providing a handy hook of self-righteousness for the ego to hang it’s perspective on, we may end up all too aware of everyone else’s faults and wilfully blind to our own! Alternatively our efforts to avoid a confrontation may place us under so much stress that the eventual face-off is a million times worse than anything we anticipated, purely because we didn’t deal with the problem in a timely way.
At this time unexpressed anger about one issue can overflow into another. We can’t risk expressing our fury at work so it spills out at home, for example. Thus we create, or become ourselves, receptacles for displaced anger unskilfully managed. The challenge of this aspect is to deal with our feelings when they arise, not allow them to become distorted into something altogether more complicated and convoluted. If we’re fed up with someone tell them. If we’re frustrated address it. If we’re hurt, be clear about it. This is the best advice when these planets are at work. It may be tough to do, but it’s better than the consequences of not doing it. And each time we do it makes the next time easier, because we come to recognise the value of just being straightforward rather than trying to manipulate a situation by keeping quiet but simmering in private.
To be clear, we don’t have to launch into other people all guns blazing! Simply stating our position, our feelings and perception of what’s going on is enough. They may or may not respond in a constructive way, but the value of our own straightforwardness will benefit us enormously. It’s all about taking responsibility; to honour our own feelings; to honour our interactions with others and to acknowledge that sometimes we have to have difficult conversations in order to get relationships back on the right track. Of course it’s also about creating a space in which others can do the same to us. We need to know if they’re upset or angry, hurt or confused. The more we can all allow for these difficult conversations to take place the more likelihood there is of finding common ground and understanding which enables us all to get a long a whole lot better.
So whilst this aspect comes with some significant challenges, I can’t help feeling ,as I write this, that it brings a great gift to us, of honest dialogue and clarity where both may have been lacking up to now.
Sarah Varcas
