Big accomplishments don’t happen overnight. They require a vision, a plan, consistent small actions, and the patience to see the project through to completion even when it takes a long time.
Of course, life doesn’t always play out according to our plans. To accomplish big things also require that we be resilient in the face of changes that might disrupt our carefully constructed plans.
We need to find the delicate balance of following the plan and going with the flow, while staying the course for the long-term outcome.
Easier said than done.
But this week, we get some support in putting this into action.
Two Approaches to Taking Action
When it comes to taking action, some people prefer to jump right in, to “move fast and break things.” They abhor any type of constraints or restriction.
Then there are those who want structured steps and a clear plan, a guarantee that what they are doing will work to attain their desired outcome.
These two types tend to appear as opposites. Many people tend to gravitate toward one extreme or the other.
Check in: what’s your dominant mode of operation?
Why We Get Stuck
Imagine if you took a person who tends to act on instinct and move quickly and paired them with a partner who wants a clear structure for action and guaranteed outcomes.
The first person is ready to take immediate action, while the partner wants to create a step-by-step plan and consider all the permutations of the process and outcomes.
The first person is willing to take risks, the second is more conservative.
The first person “runs hot” and uses the fire of instinct and motivation to drive action. The partner is colder, more reserved, slower to act and more cautious.
What tends to happen?
Conflict. Friction. Stalemate.
Now imagine both of those people are within you. Even if one is dominant within you, you have both.
As above, so too below. Or, in this example: as below, so too above.
Mars and Saturn: The Extremes of Action and Restriction
In astrology, Mars and Saturn represent these extremes.
Mars is the archetype of the warrior, the planet of action. The hot planet, symbolized by fire, wants to drive forward on instinct and impulse.
Restrictions? Limits? Mars doesn’t care about those. It’s fire will burn a path. Mars doesn’t seek to find a way; Mars blazes forward to carve its own path.
Saturn, in many ways, is its opposite. Saturn is the last planet we can see with the naked eye. It was long believed to be the end of the solar system. Located far from the sun, Saturn is a cold planet. Its rings create a boundary keeping things at a distance.
Saturn is the planet of restriction, boundaries, and limitations. Its 28–30 year journey around the sun teaches us about time and patience.
It’s Not Good or Bad, But How You Use It
Mars and Saturn are considered the “malefic” planets of the solar system.
I don’t love that characterization, because it encourages a binary view of planets — and by extension the archetypes they represent within us — as “good” or “bad.”
The study of astrology is a study of how the archetypes play out within us.
Both Mars and Saturn help us see parts of ourselves that may be under or over developed, and they teach us lessons about how to get things done in this world.
It’s not whether a trait is “good” or “bad,” but rather how we use it.
Life is About How You Play Your Angles
How you view life, whether you view a situation as an opportunity or challenge, as a blessing or a curse, depends on your perspective.
Your perspective depends on where you stand in relation to where you’re looking. If you want to see something differently, you change your angle.
Life — and astrology — is all about the angles.
The Angles of Astrology
When Mars and Saturn meet up in a conjunction, opposition, or a square, they produce friction — like the partners we imagined earlier.
Conjunctions occur when planets are in the same degree of the sky. A new moon is a conjunction between the sun and the moon. Conjunctions magnify the energy of each planet. How they play out depends a lot on the planets involved.
Oppositions are when the planets sit across from each other in the sky. This occurs at a full moon. Oppositions highlight the polarity of a situation, or of the players involved.
Squares occur when planets are at a 90º angle to each other in the sky. A half moon represents a square. A square is an angle that reveals tension between two planets.
But there is another angle that is more supportive: the trine.
The trine is a triangle; it invokes the principle of trinity, which mediates a polarity. Nothing is black or white; there are always shades of grey.
Triangles give us strength, stability, and structure. You can sit on a three-legged stool and not topple over.
Mars Trine Saturn: Structure for Taking Action
When Mars and Saturn come together in a trine, as will happen this week (exact on March 30, 2023), we find a middle ground that mediates the polarity of these archetypes.
It turns out that each of these planets has something that can help the other.
Mars, on its own, may be so quick to act on impulse that it burns out when faced with long-term projects and goals. Without some constraints to help it stay directed, Mars may aim its arrow at too many targets. Saturn’s focus on structure and plans can support Mars in sustaining its fire for the long haul.
Saturn, without a heating influence, may stand back too long. It might get too caught up in planning that it lets opportunity pass it by. Mars lights a fire that propels Saturn into action.
When we learn how to mediate polarity, magic happens.
Mars trine Saturn supports us in creating a plan for our vision, a map for our journey, a structure that can hold us without overly restricting us. The structure of our plan can give us stability to persevere for the long journey.
Saturn always comes to teach us about how to play time more effectively, while Mars ignites us to action.
Structure Facilitates Flow
Of course, even the best plan doesn’t guarantee results.
Life throws curve balls. The challenge for Saturn’s structure is that it doesn’t always hold up in the face of what emerges — the unknown unknowns you can’t ever predict.
To accomplish big things also require that we be resilient in the face of changes that might disrupt our carefully constructed plans.
Saturn is now in Pisces and Mars is now in Cancer, both water signs.
Water likes to flow. But without a structure to contain it, water just gives us a flood. On the other hand, water is the most resilient of the elements. Water always finds a way around the obstacles.
If we want to flow in our work — not just in the moment, but over the life of a project — we need a structure that will hold us without being so rigid that it will break when circumstances change.
We need a vision, a plan, and road map that sets a clear path, and also that has some flexibility to help us stay the course for the long term.
This week, with Mars trine Saturn in water signs, we get the support we need to create such a plan. What we plan and begin with this energy will have more clarity, and with the right plan, we’ll have the perseverance to see them through, no matter what obstacles we face on the way.
Concept: it’s how you play the angles.
Mars and Saturn generally viewed as malefics but that’s unfair and incomplete. No planet is bad. They are here to support us.
It’s really about how you play the angles. In a trine, this combo can be helpful. Then explain how.
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