What learning pursuits or life adventures have you moved to the back burner? What ambition or quest have you shelved? What new areas of exploration have remained on your “someday” list?
On November 24, Mars moved from its home sign of Scorpio into Sagittarius, where it will travel until January 4. It’s still moving close to the Sun, which entered Sagittarius on November 22.
Mars and the Sun in Sagittarius bring a shift in energy and initiate a season for exploring new pursuits.
Scorpio to Sagittarius: Shift From Inner to Outer
Scorpio season can be intense, brooding, even pessimistic. Sagittarius, a Jupiter-ruled sign, is known for being expansive, jovial, and optimistic.
Sagittarius is a mutable fire sign; it brings us through the transition from autumn to winter in the Northern Hemisphere. As a mutable sign, it is adaptable to change and open to exploring different possibilities.
Sagittarius is a sign that is all about exploring and expanding our horizons.
As we come out of the depths of our inner reflection in Scorpio’s waters, our energy is pulled outward as we investigate what the world has to offer.
When the Sun is in Sagittarius, we are invited to view life from an expanded perspective and embrace a jovial optimism about life.
Mars in Sagittarius: Intrepid Explorer
Imagine a passionate traveler packing their bags, fueled by the desire for adventure and the unknown.
This traveler embodies the archetype of Mars in Sagittarius, actively seeking to explore uncharted territories and embrace the thrill of discovery.
Astrologer April Kent explains that
Mars in Sagittarius craves freedom and adventure, in that order. Give Mars in Sagittarius a backpack and a dog, and it will wander happily with little sense of direction.
Mars is the planet of action, drive, and motivation. When it transits through Sagittarius, it invites us to bring our Mars energy to explore new terrain — whether it’s a trip to a foreign land or simply an unexplored corner of our local neighborhood.
Whenever we shake up our routine by exploring new horizons, we open ourselves up to new perspectives and viewpoints.
Mars Square Saturn: Hitting A Roadblock
Almost as soon as we embark on our exploration, however, we might hit a speed bump as Mars at 0º55’ of Sagittarius forms a square to Saturn at 0º55’ of Pisces on November 25.
Hard aspects between Mars and Saturn often provoke a lot of anxiety. These planets are known as the two “malefic” planets. In many ways they seem like opposites:
Mars is hot. Saturn is cold.
Mars wants to drive forward. Saturn is about limits and boundaries.
Mars is impulsive and impatient. Saturn is about things that happen over time.
A Mars/Saturn square can feel like a hard stop when we’re raring to go, a reality-check on our big ambitions.
For reference, in 2020–2021, squares between Mars and Saturn coincided with new variants of COVID.
That said, a Mars/Saturn square isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing.
How Obstacles Can Serve Us
When we remember that everything that happens is for our benefit, we can look at how the obstacles might serve us.
Mars in Sagittarius is a fire planet in a fire sign. A well-contained fire offers warmth and fuel for cooking. On the other hand, an uncontained fire — such as a wildfire — creates destruction.
Astrologer Chani Nicholas notes that Mars in this mutable fire sign can have a scattered energy — wildfire energy.
April Kent notes that although Sagittarius is generally a “happy wanderer” placement for Mars,
Sagittarius does have something of a reputation for being accident prone, usually because we’ve misjudged the terrain or our own strength and capability.
It’s much more effective to expand our horizons when we’re clear on our intentions for our journey, the terrain we’ll be traveling, and our capacity to handle that terrain.
Coming at the very beginning of Mars’ transit through Sagittarius, the Mars/Saturn square offers us a moment of pause at the start of this transit to create this clarity for ourselves.
The Mars/Saturn square reminds us to create a plan for our journey that considers where we want to go, how we want to get there, and what supplies and resources we need to bring with us.
Without this pause, we run the risk of trying to move either in too many directions at once or over terrain we’re not equipped to navigate. Both are recipes for burnout.
Have a Plan and Embrace the Detours
Of course, we would also be well-served to remember that the best plans are just a starting point.
With Mars in Sagittarius, detours and diversion are inevitable. Mars here wants to wander and explore.
Deviating from the plan is necessary sometimes. Our visions and plans, by definition, only encompass the realm of what we already know.
Sticking to what you know will not lead to new discoveries.
It’s the detours and diversions that lead us to discover new experiences, new sources of joy, and new insights.
As Mars squares Saturn, we are reminded that the gift of a roadblock is that it forces to take a new path that we might not have taken otherwise. The obstacles themselves catalyze our exploration of new terrain and new paths to new possibilities.
Once Mars is past the square to Saturn, we might even more fully embrace this desire for freedom to roam and wander.
Rather than stick rigidly to the plan, we would be well-served to embrace the detours to discover what awaits us off the beaten path.
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