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Mars square Neptune

Mars has been applying to square Neptune for the past few weeks. The aspect was partile last night, September 21, at 8:38 pm PT, with Mars at 5° Sag, Neptune at 5° Pisces, (and the Moon at 5° Virgo).

I’m sure there will be some wonderful commentators on the massive turnout for the People’s Climate March — 300,000+ in N.Y. alone, and around the world. Thank you to everyone who joined the global effort. (1)

I’ve been looking at another story that is unfolding before our eyes: the U.S. entering into (yet) another war. The U.S. Sibly chart has Mars square Neptune.

To recap a bit: Neptune is in the 9th house of the Sibly chart at 22° Virgo. In a national horoscope, the 9th is the domain relating to treaties, international affairs, the legal system, and those who practice the law. The 9th also describes one’s ethical or moral stance.

The U.S. inherently may have confused ideas or unclear objectives about its moral and ethical stance.

The obfuscating Neptune is made more sensitive, agitated, and volatile by a square from Mars at 21° Gemini. I once wrote that this aspect might show the “possible co-option or corruption of religious beliefs or a principled ethical stance (Neptune in the 9th) for aggressive aims (Mars).”

Neptune is also connected to media and photography, and the 9th house is publishing and far-reaching ideas. We have had many examples of the potent impact of imagery (remember the photos from Abu Ghraib of U.S. soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners?), and the horrific recent videos of U.S. and British citizens being decapitated by ISIS have been powerfully influential in swaying public opinion towards bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria. (Another Mars-Neptune headline today read: “Americans Support Bombing ISIS Although They Don’t Think It Will Work.”)

I listened to some media coverage on Saturday and the sound of Mars-Neptune was everywhere — i.e., the president is “haphazardly seeking legal justification and legal loopholes;” trying to “slip through the existing legal definitions” to justify bombing ISIS in Syria; he is seeking authorization from Congress “who themselves do not understand the situation.”

There seems to be agreement, as of now, that there is no international legal justification for bombing ISIS in Syria. (2) The president’s natal Mars is at 22° Virgo, precisely on the U.S. Neptune.

Speaking of Neptune’s potential for obscuration: It was in George W. Bush’s (first) post-911 State of the Union address — given on January 29, 2002 — that we first heard the indelible phrase “the axis of evil.” At that time, the Sun and Neptune were conjunct at 9° Aquarius; the essence of the day was marked by Neptune’s many possibilities, e.g., delusion, projection, naiveté, idealism, denial, deception, etc.

There was a mighty worldwide effort by peacemakers to stop the war on February 15, 2003 (with transiting Jupiter at 11° Leo opposite Neptune at 11° Aquarius). (3)

Bush gave a speech alerting Americans to the impending invasion on March 17, 2003 (with the transiting Saturn/Mars midpoint on 0° Aries).

A few days later, on March 20, 2003 at 5:35 a.m., the U.S. began bombing Baghdad. The Sun was at 29° Pisces, a poor omen for a successful outcome. Transiting Saturn was at 22° Gemini, conjunct the Sibly Mars and square to Neptune.

Patrick Cockburn writes: “For America, Britain, and the Western powers, the rise of Isis and the Caliphate is the ultimate disaster. Whatever they intended by their invasion of Iraq in 2003 and their efforts to get rid of Assad in Syria since 2011, it was not to see the creation of a jihadi state spanning northern Iraq and Syria run by a movement a hundred times bigger and much better organised than the al-Qaida of Osama bin Laden. The war on terror for which civil liberties have been curtailed and hundreds of billions of dollars spent has failed miserably.” (4)

Okay, on to some other ideas for activating Mars-Neptune. (Easy for me to say, I guess, as I have them conjunct in the natal 12th house.) I did yoga today; took a walk by the (very dry) lake, and maybe will have a glass of good wine with dinner. And, I remember the words of someone very important in my life (who has Sun, Mars, Neptune conjunct in the natal) who sincerely — and often — said: “Heaven help us all.”

Footnotes:

(1) A thought on the huge turnout: Mars signifies action, with Neptune — individual action for a unifying cause.

(2) The Daily Beast

(3) The Day the world Said no to war YouTube
Protests against the Iraq War Wikipedia

(4) ISIS consolidates London Review of Books
We anti-war protesters were right:the Iraq invasion has lead to bloody chaos The Guardian

3 Comments

  1. The president has the Sun square Neptune in the natal. Here’s another point I wrote about earlier:

    “What a perfect fit for the country, as President Obama’s natal Mars at Mars at 22º Virgo is exactly conjunct the country’s Neptune.
    (President Obama also has the natal Sun-Neptune midpoint at 25º34’ Virgo, with Mars at 22º34’ Virgo. It’s a three-degree orb, which is larger than I usually use, but with a larger than life character, perhaps a wider orb can be allowed.)”

  2. This nation’s invasion of Iraq in March of ’03 under George W. Bush’s administration also took place whilst Mars was retro — a marker that is positively the worst for a major military initiative. Dead upon arrival. And the worst and biggest and one of the costliest policy blunders by this nation in decades.

  3. The president refers to the land mass/countries as ISIL – this is larger than ISIS.


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