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Have you felt the vibe shift? On 7/5, Mercury glided into Cancer and Mars eased into Taurus. Both planets moving out of their active domains (Gemini and Aries, respectively) and into signs of slow contemplation and receptivity. The planets immediately made a supportive sextile aspect to each other as if to say, “Hey babe, we got this.” Communications are subtle and actions are nuanced under these skies.
Mercury is said to be mute in the water signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces), but that doesn’t mean Mercury in Cancer has nothing to say. Mercury in Cancer communicates through intimacy, alchemizes acts of love into ballads of revelation. I gave you everything and now there’s nothing left of me sings Mercury in Cancer native Solange. Likewise, Mars is in its sign of exile (or detriment) in Taurus—opposite from its communal and protective home sign of Scorpio—but this doesn’t mean Mars in Taurus can’t apply force. But Mars in Taurus does think long and hard about the moves it makes. Try to rush the process and you’ll regret poking an aggravated bull.
I often describe Mars in one of Venus’ preferred signs (Taurus, Libra, Pisces) as a dancer. Dancers with a capital D Janet Jackson, Madonna and Ginger Rogers were all born with Mars in Taurus. The music video for Mars in Taurus native Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” is a sensual pas de deux. Miranda July (another born with Mars in Taurus) might be known as a filmmaker, but every single thing she makes, from novels to sculptures to Instagram performance art is a dance. This is most evident in her film The Future (2011) that chronicles her character (who is a sad kids’ dance instructor in a dead-end relationship) trying and failing to create 30 dances in 30 days. That much output is a tall order for Mars in Taurus. By the end of the movie, she’s only made one dance and it’s rolling around on the floor in a comfort blanket t-shirt to Beach House’s “Master of None” (Victoria Legrand, who wrote the song and who’s singing on the track, was also born with Mars in Taurus). Mars in Taurus native Muhammad Ali proves that this placement also packs a punch. Float like a butterfly sting like a bee/the hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see is a poem, but the execution will knock you out.
Once Mars in Taurus is ready to act, it happens all at once. This is a force to be reckoned with. A force that would knock Sisyphus’ boulder all the way down the hill, breaking hearts and knocking down a few buildings along the way. This isn’t to say Mars in Taurus’ blows are chaotic. They just make. an. impact. You won’t forget these encounters with the bull, even if afterwards, she returns to her throne in the pasture of blooming spring flowers.
Mars usually spends about six weeks in each sign. This year Mars in Taurus is the last shift we’ll get for the action planet before Mars moves into Gemini on August 20 where it will remain until March 2023 due to an upcoming retrograde. Mars retrogrades usually align with labor strikes, and this one looks like it will be major for media and journalism (Gemini). I expect the way we communicate with each other (both on and offline) to look a lot different than it does now by this time next year.
Mars’ stay in Taurus—July 5 through August 20—is for gathering all the supplies that we’ll need to feast on while we re-strategize. It’s for making amends. It’s not for 30 days/30 dances, but it is for finally making that one thing. This Mars in Taurus also comes with its own share of surprises. Mars will meet up with Rahu (extremes) and Uranus (swift change) on August 1 so the dinner plans, the grocery lists, the choreography: none of it is going to be straightforward. I’ll write more about the Mars/Uranus/Rahu conjunction when it’s closer, but just know that this alignment is very rare, and though on paper it looks like a frightening electric shock to the system, it also brings rapid and necessary innovation. It’s an energy that we desperately need to save the Earth or at the very least, find some sustainability for ourselves. Because what’s happening now just isn’t working. Things have been building for a long time, and now it might be necessary to act. To act all at once.
Mars was last in Taurus on these dates:
January 6 (yes, that day) - March 4, 2021
February 13 - March 30, 2019
March 9 - April 20, 2017
March 31 - May 11, 2015
April 20 - May 31, 2013
May 11 - June 20, 2011
May 31 - July 11, 2009
June 24 - August 7, 2007
July 28, 2005 - February 16, 2006 (including a retrograde)
I encourage you to look back on these dates (whether it’s in emails, journals, google cals) and see if any major events stick out to you. I know going back to 2005 seems a bit extreme (remember: Mars is co-present with Rahu), but I mention it because sometimes that’s the date that effortlessly brings an “a-ha!” moment. Mars was also co-present with Uranus during the transit in 2021 and 2019 so those more recent time periods might have a flavor that’s most similar to what’s going on now. But if you can find some key events from three or four or even more of these time periods, you can really begin to connect the dots. What does Mars in Taurus usually mean for you?
Doing this for myself, I discovered that these dates were all hauntingly similar in their transitional nature: stressful rehearsal processes, apartment moves with heavy furniture lifting, painstaking job searches, working overtime in service positions. The lengthy retrograde period in 2005-2006 matches up with my emotionally rocky junior year of high school. Most of my close friends had either graduated or moved away, and I was left with the impossible task of trying to rebuild a social life in a place I’d already outgrown. By the time that period was up, I hadn’t solved the problem, but I was ready to move on. Despite all the real estate nightmares, and hard conversations, and LiveJournal embarrassments, I can identify all of these as times when I was deeply in the process. I was making deals with God. I was plotting, not plodding. I’ve done this dance before and I can do it again.
So now I ask you,
What heavy lifting must be done?
What complicated recipe are you ready to try?
How can you get the big feeling out in one giant dance rather than a bunch of tiny ones?
Who’s ready for a feast?
If you want to dive into this transit and more of what’s coming up this summer, book a reading with me! Otherwise, I’ll be back soon with more.