Message from Mars:

Who’s Got the Power?

 

 

 

 

Mars is retrograde from December 20, 2009 until March 10, 2010.

The energy of the planet Mars is about how we express and experience power in our lives and a Mars retrograde cycle shows us very clearly where we feel powerful or powerless and gives us multitudes of opportunities to claim our truth and enthusiastically and passionately live our lives.

 

It is especially important to be aware that this particular Mars retrograde cycle permeates the holiday season, which for many people can bring up feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, inadequacy, depression, repressed anger and frustration exacerbated by forced family gatherings or the lack thereof and judgment about what “should” be versus what “is’. Misunderstandings abound as everyone is feeling their Mars energy thwarted.

 

When a planet is in a retrograde cycle, it is technically an opportunity to go back over recently covered territory and re-evaluate how to proceed differently when it goes direct again. However, Mars in retrograde often feels more like being stuck with no movement whatsoever, either forward or backward. It can be extremely and unbelievably frustrating.

 

Truly being in the present moment in the worst sense if you are in your own version of hell or approaching it when the Mars retrograde cycle begins.

The gift is that this moment is only miserable when perceived from a perspective of powerlessness and hopelessness. The longer you are stuck there the more opportunities you experience to change your perspective.

 

A Mars retrograde cycle is like a cosmic “time out”.

Remember as a child when you got sent to your room and told to stay there until you had a better attitude? The Mars retrograde energy is kind of the same thing. Just as the parental time out forced you a to reconsider other options of dealing with your exasperating little brother or sister besides hitting them, the cosmic time out is equally valuable to offer you a chance to reconsider how to more effectively identify and transcend the  perceived powerless situations and relationships in your life.

 

Pay attention between now and the end of January for those times that you find yourself thinking or saying and sentence that includes the word ‘always’ as in: This always happens to me; you always…….; I always have to …; It always happens this way; etc. It is the recognition of the illusion of powerlessness that you feel like you have no choices and that is an indication that you are experiencing a Mars retrograde opportunity to identify previously unrecognized choices and reclaim your power.

 

Mars retrograde opportunities allow you to reframe your perspective and reclaim your power because in truth, no situation occurs exactly the same way more than once. Something has changed, it has to, that is the nature of reality – circumstances, players, you? Look for it, if you can’t find anything that has changed, allow yourself to speculate, what might have changed? What would you like to see changed?

 

Think of those pictures in the newspaper printed next to one another where you are challenged to observe the subtle differences between the two. Although at first glance it appears that they are identical, after closer observation there are in actuality many obvious disparities between the two.

 

The same is true for whatever situation you find your self in that seems to ‘always’ happen. Make a point of looking for what has changed or what might have changed and then proceed differently than you have in similar situations. Inevitably you will experience a different outcome than you have in the past.

 

Depending on what you change or allow to be different, you may or may not like the consequences of your new course of action. If you don’t like the outcome that you create, then you simply find your self in another Mars retrograde opportunity moment, and so it goes until the end of January.

 

When you find yourself thinking ‘always’ remind yourself that you have never been here before. When you do this, new options will instantly present themselves. It is okay to ask for help. In fact, you probably need help or you would have already resolved the issue at hand.

 

Go ahead and elicit someone else’s perspective on your stuck situation. Don’t expect them to resolve it for you, but sometimes those close to us are able to be more objective when we find ourselves in an emotionally binding situation and can remind us of choices we are unable to see for ourselves.

 

It is also invaluable to ask for guidance in whatever ways you are most comfortable: ask your angels; meditate; journal; pay attention to your dreams; consult the Akashic Records. Look for a solution. Ask for and expect answers.

 

You will be amazed how quickly things change once you truly commit to make a change. It’s your life. No one can live it for you. If it isn’t the way you want it to be then it is up to you to change it… with all the support of the universe behind you of course.

 

As you work with your Mars energy, an important distinction to remember is that power and control is not the same thing. You can’t force anyone else to change and there are always circumstances that are beyond your control. What you do have power over is how you engage with the situations and people in your life. Your perspective, and consequently your choices and actions, are what will move you beyond the illusion of powerlessness. We always have choices about our own actions even when we are unable to control the actions of others.

 

The key is to acknowledge where your responsibility lies in creating the ‘always’ scenario. Think of the serenity prayer:

 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

the courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

 

Mars is the courage.

If you want to see changes in your life, you have to muster the courage to make them happen. What do you want? What needs to change for you to have what you want? Just as when you don’t clearly state to another person what you need and/or want from them you have no right to expect to receive it from them, the same is true for what you is happening in your life. How can you expect to get what you want if you don’t even know what that is? Can you see how it is a self perpetuating cycle of feeling powerless and hopeless?

 

In order to most effectively make use of the Mars retrograde energy, you are going to have to make a point of slowing down and paying attention to your unconscious, automatic responses to familiar situations. Most of us fill each and every waking moment with activity and do not have any time or energy to spare to ‘re’-anything. It is all we can do to move forward, but as you may have noticed, forward momentum is very difficult to achieve while in the Mars retrograde energy.

 

You are going to have to slow down. The question is whether or not you are going to do it gracefully and make use of the forced slow down or fuss and fume. Just as when you are forced to wait in slow moving traffic and you have the choice to recognize that you have no control over the cars in front of you and choose to use your time constructively or to waste your energy being angry and feeling powerless to make the traffic move.

 

This is the gift of the Mars retrograde cycle.

When all of your time and energy is spent rushing from one activity to the next, physically, mentally and emotionally you are often on auto-pilot: anticipating what you are supposed to be doing next, or the appointment that you are late for, or the bill that you forgot to pay. The result is that you are definitely not in the present moment and when you are not fully participating in the present moment how can you recognize how it might be different that similar situations in the past? It is virtually impossible to respond in new ways when you are perpetually rushed.

 

Fundamentally we all desire to be powerful. First and foremost you have to figure out what you want from your life. You can begin by clarifying what you don’t want (that is the re-evaluation part), but at some point to get unstuck and move forward you have to devise a game plan. Mars retrograde energy is very useful in the scenario because stuck Mars energy is extremely uncomfortable and can be a very effective catalyst towards motivation for change. Appreciate what you are being shown during the Mars retrograde cycle. Recognizing where you are stuck is the first step to moving beyond powerlessness and reclaiming your Mars energy. Thank you Mars.