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 20^th August 2022 – 25^th 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. (24^th August 1934 -27^th 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 20^th 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 15^th/9/1913- 1/5/1914. It wsn’t until 17 years later before he entered Virgo on the 13^th November 1932 where he remained until the 6^th July 1933.

In December 1934 (10^th) he entered Libra where he remained until 30th July 1935. The next lengthy period was from the 2^nd July 1941 until 11^th 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 20^th January 1952 – 27^th August 1952.  Four years later he took up residence in Pisces from 3^rd June 1956 through to 5^th 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 12^th October ’62 he entered Leo where he remained until 2nd June 1963. Just over a year later on the 5^th November ’64 he entered Virgo and didn’t leave until 29^th June 1965.  

During October ’62 to May ’65 he and Saturn were in opposition. Saturn was in Aquarius. The dates of exactitude were 6^th February 1963, 19^th May ’63 and 3^rd 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 (12^th 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 25^th February 1969 – 20^th September ’69 when he was in Sagittarius.

On 4^th May 1971 Mars entered Aquarius and remained here until 6^th 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 17^th December 1981 when he entered Libra and remained here until 3^rd August 1982. This time he was co-present with Saturn for much of this period. They conjoined on the 7^th 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 12^th January 1984 to 17^th August 1984 when he was again co-present with Saturn. They were conjoined on the 14^th 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 28^th March 1986 Mars entered Capricorn and didn’t leave until 9^th October of that year.

We then arrive at 12^th 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 27^th 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 (15^th) Mars entered Sagittarius and remained there until the 8^th 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 17^th June 2003 Mars enters Pisces and remained here until 16^th December before he moved into Aires.

28^th July 2005 Mars moved into Taurus and didn’t leave until 17^th February 2006. He again aspected Saturn in Leo with a wide square during this period.

The dates of exactitude were the 31^st July 2005, 18^th November ’05 and 28^th 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 17^th October 2009 until June 6^th 2010 in Leo.  The following year he moved into Virgo on the 11^th November 2011 and didn’t leave until the 3^rd July 2012. On the 8^th December 2013 Mars entered Libra, remaining until 26^th July 2014.

Mars most recent extend stay in one sign was when he entered Aries from the 28^th June 2020 until 7^th 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 28^th September and then again at exactly the same degree on the 28^th November.

On the 30^th 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 8^th December (4.08) when Mars is conjoined to the Moon. 

Since 1900 this configuration only occurred twice; on the 18^th December 1975 and again on the 2^nd December 1990.  Mars was in orb of aspect, but not partile conjunction/opposition as he will be on the 8^th 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 13^th November 1990 (Sir Tim Berners-Lee). On the 1^st 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.