Engage Integrity Then Full Steam Ahead
by
Sarah Varcas
Mars is currently approaching a conjunction to Pluto, exact on 10th/11th November 2014. This is a powerful combination and one to be treated with respect. The god of war meets Lord of the Underworld! Not a partnership to mess with! That said, as we all know, energy is energy and it’s what we do with it that makes it into something more consequential, so it is up to each one of us to use this powerhouse for creative rather than destructive ends. We have already seen that Mars in Capricorn suffers no fools and brooks no attempts to circumvent the material realm. ‘Deal with it and do what’s needed!’ is his motto, and as he approaches Pluto, catalyst for the deepest transformation we can know, his impatience with those who want a way out rather than through simply grows! We’ve recently had the opportunity to find creative and playful ways to implement the change needed in our lives, now along comes a more formidable force to up the pace and raise the stakes. They don’t really care how we implement change now, only that we do it, come hell or high water!
Pluto conjunct Mars can express itself as the aggressive imposition of power over others or even over life itself. We want our own way and will do whatever it takes to get it. There exists little integrity in this coupling. Ego can be in control, calling the shots and demanding its own way, and god help anyone with other ideas! So whilst these two heavy weights hook up we may encounter just such display of egoic power in ourselves or other people, and we would be wise to step out of the fray if we do, allowing things to cool for a while before we engage. That said, we have the Uranian planet Kronos on our side now, opposing this conjunction and reminding us that the only way to manage such powerful energies is from the highest place of integrity within. Its presence reveals that this conjunction comes not to break apart our previous best efforts but to demand that we improve even upon them, refusing to bring anything other than our greatest integrity and our deepest wisdom to the table.
And we’d better do so because we’re going to need them! Life may challenge us in ways that create frustration and anger, fear and even panic. ‘We’re running out of time!’ we may feel, as it seems that life closes in on us demanding action. We may encounter an emotional pressure cooker within, demanding release but with no safe way to meet the need. If so, panic not! Kronos offers that safe way, reminding us that we belong to something greater, an infinite universe which manifests as all things in our lives and elsewhere. A cosmic collective whose needs must be taken into account just as fully as our own.
Once we take account of these collective needs we will see the way ahead. That is the promise in this formidable alignment. We cannot afford to think only of ‘Me! Me! Me!’, especially given the approaching exactitude of the Uranus/Pluto square due in mid December. We must look at the wider picture and decide how best we fit into a world steeped in an evolutionary process upon which so much rests. We must consider the most positive contribution we can make. This alignment assists us in doing so and offers us the opportunity to defy egoic demands that we ‘get our own way or else’, in favour of soul wisdom which says that we are mere cells which together create a whole, and no cell can survive if it kills its surrounding ones to win an imaginary race. We are not in competition for fulfilment we are in collaboration for it, and it is not personal fulfilment which marks the destination but that of the collective destiny. The more we can penetrate and make real this understanding the more effectively we can work with tricky energies like these and turn them into something powerfully constructive and supportive of the whole.
Mars conjunct Pluto…. It’s a tough one! But that doesn’t mean we can’t handle it. It simply means we need to get our integrity in gear, our soul up front in the driving seat and our ego in its place: along for the ride but no longer calling the shots!
Sarah Varcas
