The Significance of the Long Stay of Mars in Leo…

One of the more interesting articles in the Astrological Association’s book “An Astrological Anthology” must be Dane Rudhyar’s piece on the long stay of Mars in a particular sign. This recurring 79 year cycle is divided into two periods of 32 and 47 years, so at these intervals we are able to observe the influence of Mars in a particular sign over a longer time span. Mars’ last long time stay in Leo was from October 1962 – until June 1963, the one prior to that was from October 1930 til June 1931. The current long stay of Mars in Leo – will be from 17 October 2009 until June 7th 2010. Now, Mars normally spends roughly 42 days in one sign, so there’s a huge difference between this and the almost eight month stay Mars is now due to make. The reason for this is the retrograde motion of the planet.

While astrologers are keenly aware of the effect that Mercury retrograde has on our daily lives – much less has been written about the influence of Mars retrograde. This while Mercury’s retrograde period is obviously much shorter lived. Mars is the principle of fight or flight, survival at an instinctive level. Mars supports us in expressing our individuality, but his style can be  a somewhat brash or egotistical. Mars is about energy and without it, we could not survive. Mars also imbues us with the desire to go-get. Me Tarzan. The willingness to fight for what we want. Healthy competition. On the other end of the scale we have, violence and war which are also faces of Mars.

When planets are retrograde, they appear from our terrestial standpoint, to be moving backwards. This is however illusory. Planets are unable to change their course. This suggests to me that when planets are retrograde, we are somehow being offered the  opportunity to re-adjust ourselves to the energy of the planet, being challenged in some way to pay conscious attention to it. We need to perhaps reallign and redefine the role this planet plays in our personal chart . An eight month stay of Mars is hugely significant. So, let me give you an example of how I think a long stay Mars works, using my own horoscopeas  starting point.

In my horoscope, Mars is ruler of my ascendant which makes it a key player in my chart. Mars will be spending almost 8 months in my ninth house. The MA in Cultural Astrology and Astronomy at the University of Wales Lampeter  immediately springs to mind. I start the study in January 2010. So obviously I need to spend considerably more time and energy preparing the ground for this study than I originally thought. One of my problems will be to learn to curb and discipline my radix Mars – who is a rather unruly fellow at the best of time. My Mars is in Aries and a focal planet in a t-square. Need I say more? The awareness of the long stay of Mars in my ninth house, is very empowering, because it enables me to focus my energy, my go-getness in an area which has huge potential for my personal future growth.

So…do take some time to look at your radix Mars position. Focus some extra energy on this area of your life. Dont’ forget that Leo rules the Sun… which is at the very core of your own personality. Make very good use of this long stay of Mars in Leo, your entire person will grow as a result.