Mars Opposes Saturn: Open War or Reconciliation

Throughout each month transiting points create dynamic relationships with your natal chart.  Often times two transiting points will create a dynamic exchange that affects us all in particular ways related to the points involved.  Sometimes energies merge together when two points occupy the same degree within the same sign; other times they try to strike a balance, as they will when they are 180 degrees apart and opposing one another. 

There can be flowing energy when two points are at the same degree but in different signs with the same element (like one point in fiery Aries and the other in fiery Leo) or when they are at the same degree in different signs where the elements complement each other (like one point in fiery Aries and the other in airy Gemini).  The most dynamic and challenging relationship between points occurs when two points end up at the same degree in signs with elements that do not mesh together (one point in earthy Taurus and the other in fiery Leo).

This article will look at one of these dynamics happening between two points this month, Mars in Cancer opposing Saturn in Capricorn.

The Opposition, and Mars and Saturn

This month, when the faster moving Mars reaches 18 degrees 58 minutes (18d58m) of Cancer, it will be exactly 180 degrees away from Saturn at 18d58m of Capricorn on June 14^th at 11:52 am EST.  This 180-degree angle between the two points is called an opposition. The angular relationship between two points is known as an aspect.  The impact of this relationship begins to be felt up to 3 degrees before and 3 degrees after the exact aspect and is known as the orb of influence.  When the faster moving body approaches, the aspect is said to be approaching and is building energy.  Once the exact aspect has passed, the aspect is said to be separating and is losing energy.  The duration of this particular aspect will run from June 10 to June 18.

Mars represents our drive, our passion, and our aggression.  Where Mars resides in your chart reveals the nature of your drive and how you are most likely to express that energy.  My Mars is in Taurus, so I tend to project a “Taurus-like” way of pursuing my passions and I tend to appreciate “Taurus-like” drive from people.  Mars struggles in this sign since it naturally rules Aries and prefers to charge ahead, while Taurus prefers to hold steady and make changes slowly.  With Mars moving through Cancer at this time, and since May 16^th, we should notice more protective behavior with regard to and from the people closest to us (Cancer rules the 4^th House of Family).  Cancer is a water sign, warm healing water specifically, and water signs reflect our emotional energy as humans.

Saturn represents how we structure our energy and the rules we need to follow.  Saturn rules business and commerce; our efforts to achieve by following the “rules of the game”; and our limitations.  Where Saturn resides in your chart reveals the nature of your habits and patterns.  My Saturn is in Aries, so I prefer to set and follow my own rules; I operate best when I am self-disciplined.  With Saturn moving through Capricorn at this time, and since December 20^th, 2017, we are getting a pressure test on the structures that we have set up in our lives and the ones created around us.  Capricorn is an earth sign, cardinal earth specifically, and earth signs reflect the physical world and how we deal with it.

Mars Opposes Saturn: My Tribe in My Society

Opposition aspects seek balance; the points and signs involved need to reconcile and find harmony.  During the period of this opposition, the point involving drive and passion and the point managing “the rules” will be in an opposing alignment just past the midpoint of their journey through their respective signs.  This opposition will be a tense one because Mars wants to do what it wants to do and Saturn wants to make everyone do what the rules say we should do.

Cancer’s nurturing energy opposes Capricorn’s responsibility energy the way feminine energy opposes masculine energy, not to be at odds, but to balance one another.  Cancer and Capricorn are the classic signs of the mother and the father.  Whether we are dealing with our own internal need to balance compassion with the demands of life, or we are looking at a company that is out to make a profit while also taking care of its customers and the society that provides its business opportunity, these two energies can be highly problematic when “out of balance”.

This tension in this opposition is no small matter because of the points involved and the energies of the signs.  Mars in Cancer can very much present as “I have to protect my own and that matters more than anything else” while Saturn in Capricorn claims that the world is larger and more important than any personal issue.  This is very much the issue of tribalism opposing globalism.  When working in harmony, the high expression of this combination is appreciation for individual passion or talent as part of the larger structure of society.  In the shadow, it can express as nasty forms of racism, xenophobia, and narcissism.

Figuring Out How to Be Inclusive Instead of Exclusive

Mars in Cancer can either be the superhero/superheroine or the villain.  What makes for the extreme energy either way is the highly personal and emotional nature of Cancer.  Tremendous energy comes from emotional trauma or passion, and Mars in Cancer is the pinnacle of that focus. Pick any modern action movie where the hero or villain uses the emotional personal moment to assert the righteousness of his or her cause.  Not only is it an issue of circumstance, but more powerfully an issue of emotion.  The current wave of anti-globalism has its roots in the wronged feelings and wronged circumstances of groups of people who feel left behind by the rapid global changes.

Saturn in Capricorn prefers to operate with a top-down, follow the rules, energy.  It shows its power by letting individuals know that the rules are supposed to apply to everyone, equally.  Unfortunately, Saturn’s shadow is corruption, using the rules or breaking the rules for naked ambition.  The end justifies the means.  When Saturn in Capricorn is operating positively, the rules make sense, people respect them and appreciate them, and all of society is lifted up by the positive efforts of business and government.

How these energies will attempt to strike a balance or show the extreme of imbalance will depend on the circumstances of our personal lives and the global zeitgeist. Sadly, one common theme seems to be running up and down the scale of personal and global security, and that is debt.  There is a pervasive feeling of the world in a fragile state due to mismanagement of personal, corporate, and governmental debt.  When the overall structures become unsound, like a bridge about to collapse because too much weight has been allowed onto it, people feel genuine fear.  That fear makes us defensive and worried about how to “take care of ourselves” and our families (Cancer).  And we can become very determined, even aggressive about how we will “do the taking care of” under these current conditions (Mars).

It is very possible that during this transition we will become even more aware of the imbalance of compassion and responsibility. If so, we must do the work personally to make sure that we have our responsibilities in hand (Saturn in Capricorn) and we are not letting fear trigger the Mars in Cancer energy to treat those “not of our family” as others who deserve our scorn, wishing ill on them so we can feel safer.  We need to aim higher and work to be inclusive to move positively through trying times.