Mars, Saturn and Depression - Eric Francis

[Sowelu]

 

Mars, Saturn and Depression
Published by rachel, By Eric Francis, Daily Astrology


Dear Friend and Reader:

There remains this question of how to handle stressful astrology when you know it’s happening. We are currently going through a spell of that — though thankfully, the Mars-Saturn conjunction that is forming in Virgo is pretty well focused, rather than being one of five or six complicated developments, as so often happens. (For example, if planets were changing directions [stationing] or if we were in the thick of the Full Moon, something like a Mars-Saturn conjunction could verge on unbearable.)

Mars to Saturn in Virgo can feel like blasting through resistance. Most of us don’t know any other way, and blasting is not really good for us psychologically or spiritually. So we can frame this as a question — how do we deal with resistance? For anyone who has been through therapy or spiritual training, you know that this is an important part of one’s personal growth plan.

Resistance can be a form of depression. Certainly, depression is all about resistance, wherever it seems to come from. Depression is one of the most serious issues of our times, as evidenced by the wide-scale use of antidepressants; by the silent frustration so many people are in; by how powerless so many people feel. Whether we think the use of mood altering drugs is right, it is a revelation of a deeper problem.

Now, the problem with this deeper problem is that most people will deny that it exists. But we know a lot of the time that we’re in mental overload; that our lives are too stressful; and that we live in a society that conditions people to be self-absorbed and self-obsessed. This makes it difficult for anyone to break out of their patterns, to see the impact of their minds and feelings on others, and in many respects to even notice our individual and collective plight: the sense of isolation, frustration and/or overwhelm that characterizes the lives of so many of us.

In this odd environment, people seem to polarize out into the weak and the strong: someone takes care of the household, while someone plays Warcraft (I am talking about adults). Someone pays the bills while someone else spends the money. Someone takes care of their spiritual needs while someone else takes care of their material needs. Someone plays stuck while someone else plays fixer/solver/doer.

Thankfully today I am not a self-help author, because I don’t have too much to say about how to work that out; people seem terrified to leave even their dysfunctional relationship situations, fearing they will upset the apple cart or tip over the universe.

I’m an astrologer and the astrology says that something is coming through our shared mental environment that is going to move stuck energy. It may be extremely uncomfortable for some people, such as those who are camping out in their anger, stuckness or depression. And for sure, the presence of Mars gives us something to resist and that may be a kind of sport.

Mars may call upon others to exert that assertive or aggressive energy. I suggest that this astrology is asking us to feel our situation; to actually feel it and not pretend we don’t.

Saturn also has a lot to do with our parents’ issues. It is not necessarily mother or father, but rather the complex of old ideas that we were handed by our predecessors, many of which we swallowed whole. And Saturn can represent anything that is much, much larger than ourselves.

That would include, for example, how we as individuals feel when we face the world situation. I remember the 1970s, when there was a feeling of “we can do something about this” that pervaded nearly everything. We don’t live in such simple times. Anyone who looks at our society honestly probably sees a problem that is too big to solve, unless of course you’re a Buckminster Fuller (whose birth anniversary is Saturday) or Niloka Tesla. You might think our psychological issues are too big to solve, unless you’re a Fritz Perls (whose birth anniversary is today). It’s funny how these three men, whose ideas are most needed in the 21st century, were all born in the 19th century.

For now, we are left with ourselves, with the job of guiding ourselves through enormous confusion, chaos and resistance. With Mars gradually making a conjunction to Saturn, I would say — don’t push too hard. Just push hard enough, and when you can, let your mind rather than your emotions do the work.

~Eric Francis

Tuesday 08 July 2008

Mercury (25+ Gemini) septile Apollo (17+ Leo)
Arachne (6+ Libra) sextile Pholus (6+ Sagittarius Rx)
Apollo (17+ Leo) trine Quaoar (17+ Sagittarius Rx)
Pandora (8+ Scorpio) opposite Asbolus (7+ Taurus) - Near Miss Only
Mars (3+ Virgo) semisquare Varuna (18+ Cancer)
Amor (26+ Taurus) quincunx Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Sun (16+ Cancer) quincunx Juno (16+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sun (16+ Cancer) septile Admetos (25+ Taurus)
Venus (24+ Cancer) quintile Arachne (6+ Libra)
Apollo (17+ Leo) quincunx Jupiter (17+ Capricorn Rx)
Jupiter (17+ Capricorn Rx) semisquare Hylonome (2+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (26+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Psyche (11+ Scorpio)
Mars (4+ Virgo) sextile Kronos (4+ Cancer)
Ceres (11+ Cancer) trine Psyche (11+ Scorpio)
Mercury (26+ Gemini) opposite Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Eros (24+ Cancer) quintile Arachne (6+ Libra)
Venus (25+ Cancer) sextile Admetos (25+ Taurus)

planetwaves.net/pagetwo/

[Purplerose]

This article describes much of how I've been feeling lately - resistance, frustration, chaos, confusion, depression, and a general feeling of being stuck in my own patterns and the overlapping patterns with those of my parents. Everything all coming together, and feeling like one big lost mess. I hope this period passes soon, coz it's yucky!