-
The following article was written for publication in an astrology magazine and was sent to the Editors on the 3rd August 2022, but due to “other events” there was not the space to publish.
Mars in Gemini 8.57 BST 20th August 2022 – 25th March 2023 at 11.57GMT
Most people are familiar with the two year + cycle of Mars (roughly 780 days) when he returns to the same sign, although his aspect to the Sun will be different. Some are familiar with his 15 year cycle made up of 7 synodic periods, but very few are aware of his 79 year cycle. Mars has an erratic cycle as he journeys around the Sun and when you look at charts up to the medieval period, you may find the astrologer has Mars out by as much as nearly two signs. It was only with the advent of the telescope astronomer/astrologers were able to pinpoint Mars whereabouts with some certainty. On average Mars takes 2 months to go through each sign. Mars generally spends around 3 months retrograde every 26 months.
Every 15-17 years you will find that Mars stations retrograde in Leo and Virgo, whereas in the other signs, it can take up to 47 years for its SR to reoccur.
As Mars enters Gemini roughly every two years, there doesn’t appear to anything special about his entry this year. But this year he will remain for an unbroken period of 7 months in the same sign. The last time he spent an unbroken 7 months in tropical Gemini was 79 years ago in 1943/44. (24th August 1934 -27th March 1944). This is not to say he doesn’t spend this amount of time in other signs.
I thought I would go back to the beginning of the 20th Century to see how often, and in what signs, Mars remained in one sign for a continuous period of at least 6 months. Remember Mars normally takes around 2 months to go through a sign.
As I write this we have an approaching Mars Saturn square coming up. I wondered if there were any significant patterns connected with the square of these two malefic planets which may have formed whilst Mars was undergoing a protracted stay in any of the signs, especially the fixed.
He spent 7 months in Cancer from the 15th/9/1913- 1/5/1914. It wsn’t until 17 years later before he entered Virgo on the 13th November 1932 where he remained until the 6th July 1933.
In December 1934 (10th) he entered Libra where he remained until 30th July 1935. The next lengthy period was from the 2nd July 1941 until 11th January 1942 when he was in his sign of Aries.. Here we have a gap of 7 years.
He spent 7 months in Scorpio from 20th January 1952 – 27th August 1952. Four years later he took up residence in Pisces from 3rd June 1956 through to 5th December 1956, so this was only 6 months, but nonetheless, still a lengthy time in one sign. During this time he did make a whole sign aspect with Saturn, but Saturn was in early Sagittarius and Mars was at the end of Pisces.
On the 12th October ’62 he entered Leo where he remained until 2nd June 1963. Just over a year later on the 5th November ’64 he entered Virgo and didn’t leave until 29th June 1965.
During October ’62 to May ’65 he and Saturn were in opposition. Saturn was in Aquarius. The dates of exactitude were 6th February 1963, 19th May ’63 and 3rd November 1964.
This period saw the Assassination of JFK, the first airing of Dr. Who, the first home video recorder and the first Boeing took to the skies.
In America, the infamous Alcatraz prison finally closed (12th March 1963) and Martin Luther King gave his wonderful speech “I have a dream” for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the flowing year. In ’64 the pilot for what would become “Star Trek” was filmed. There were various horrendous cyclones, and of course the ongoing Vietnamese war saw America enter the fray.
As is so far apparent it is highly unusual to have two such lengthy periods in one sign in the space of just two years.
The following lengthy one sign period was from 25th February 1969 – 20th September ’69 when he was in Sagittarius.
On 4th May 1971 Mars entered Aquarius and remained here until 6th November 1971. He was on a whole sign square aspect with Saturn, but they were not in orb. Saturn was in Taurus until mid June 1971.
The next unbroken lengthy stay wasn’t until 17th December 1981 when he entered Libra and remained here until 3rd August 1982. This time he was co-present with Saturn for much of this period. They conjoined on the 7th July 1982.
We then had the start of the Falklands War and the birth of Prince William. Later that year the IRA detonated two bombs in London killing some soldiers, injuring many people and killing seven horses. One of the badly injured horses, Sefton, survived and even returned to active duty before dying at the age of 30. There was a huge rise in unemployment in the UK and this year also saw the Greenpeace movement. This was swiftly followed by a lengthy stay in Scorpio from 12th January 1984 to 17th August 1984 when he was again co-present with Saturn. They were conjoined on the 14th February 1984.
In 1984 the UK had the Miners Strike to try and stop the closure of British collieries. This was also the year of Band Aid to stop the starvation in Africa. Both of these movements failed. WPC Yvonne Fletcher was killed during the Libyan Embassy siege and the UK severed its links with Libya. There was also a 5.4 magnitude earthquake in North Wales which was felt throughout the UK. That September saw the birth of Prince Harry. There was an attempt by the IRA to assassinate Margaret Thatcher by bombing the Grand Hotel in Brighton which killed 5 and injured many others.
On the 28th March 1986 Mars entered Capricorn and didn’t leave until 9th October of that year.
We then arrive at 12th September 1992 before Mars once again takes up a lengthy stay in one sign. He entered the sign of Cancer and remained here until the 27th April 1993.
As an aside, late 1999 saw the start of the Dotcom bubble leading to the crash in 2000. During this period Mars was first in square to Saturn (Mars in Aquarius, Saturn in Taurus) and then moved into Taurus and conjoined Saturn mid April. The Nasdaq fell 9% and the downward trend continued all year.
In February 2001 (15th) Mars entered Sagittarius and remained there until the 8th September 2001. Towards the end of this period he was in a wide opposition aspect with Saturn. This period saw 9/11 and the Enron Scandal in October 2001.
On the 17th June 2003 Mars enters Pisces and remained here until 16th December before he moved into Aires.
28th July 2005 Mars moved into Taurus and didn’t leave until 17th February 2006. He again aspected Saturn in Leo with a wide square during this period.
The dates of exactitude were the 31st July 2005, 18th November ’05 and 28th December ’05.
This period saw more strikes, a series of co-ordinated bombings in London, a further “Live 8” concert and a tornado hit Birmingham.
Our next lengthy period was from 17th October 2009 until June 6th 2010 in Leo. The following year he moved into Virgo on the 11th November 2011 and didn’t leave until the 3rd July 2012. On the 8th December 2013 Mars entered Libra, remaining until 26th July 2014.
Mars most recent extend stay in one sign was when he entered Aries from the 28th June 2020 until 7th January 2021. The next time is as we know from this coming August where he moves into Gemini.
Mars will trine Saturn from September to November and for most of this time, he will be peregrine (anchorless). They perfect a trine on the 28th September and then again at exactly the same degree on the 28th November.
On the 30th November, Mars reaches perigee (closet to Earth) and will be very bright in the night sky. This is followed by a Full Moon on the 8th December (4.08) when Mars is conjoined to the Moon.
Since 1900 this configuration only occurred twice; on the 18th December 1975 and again on the 2nd December 1990. Mars was in orb of aspect, but not partile conjunction/opposition as he will be on the 8th December 2022.
In late ’75 there was a failed assassination attempt on Gerald Ford, various civil wars (Indonesia, Lebanon and Mauritania), kidnappings, bombings, a cave-in in India and in January ’76 a huge earthquake in Guatemala.
There was more of the same in 1990, but with two notable events; the first known web page was written on the 13th November 1990 (Sir Tim Berners-Lee). On the 1st December the French and English sections of the Channel Tunnel were joined creating a “land link” between England and the Continent. England entered into a deep recession and the unemployment rate rose to nearly 2 million.
So what can we predict or “forecast” using these very basic historical examples?
We know there is a global recession looming. Quantative easing has failed, the unemployment rate globally is rapidly rising. People will be facing extreme hardship this winter through the spiralling costs of fuel. There is war in Europe that shows no sign of ending, adding to the problems of Europe. It is quite probable there could be a financial upset this October/November as big companies struggle to fund their debts with reduced consumer spending.
We may also conjecture, there could be a devastating earthquake or unusual weather event. Naturally we would have to look at the Aries Ingress charts around the world to try and pinpoint the events. Of course we can say every month there is war and hardship somewhere in the world, but it seems this coming period from October to December indicates something major that will see 2023 start on a very different foot. Whether it is a further stock market crash, or more intense global conflict, time will tell.