Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Hello, everyone.

Are you feeling the heat?  Don’t worry, by the end of the week you will be.  This week is all Aries, all the time.  If you’re an adventurous spirit, you’re gonna love it.  If not, you may want to run for cover.

Let me list it out for you:

Monday Sun in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn; Jupiter in Aries opposing Saturn in Libra

Wednesday Mercury in Aries making its station and turning retrograde

Friday Mars entering Aries, becoming very powerful in the sign it rules

Sunday New Moon in Aries; Mars conjuncting Uranus in Aries; Sun in Aries opposing Saturn in Libra

That’s a lot of warrior energy!  And I’d say it might be frustrated warrior energy with the Moon losing energy all week preparing for the New Moon on Sunday and Mercury turning retrograde mid-week.  Both of these indicate an inward-turning, quieting tide, just the opposite of rash, impulsive, put-your-foot-down-and-stomp-around Aries energy.

And that’s just your local environment.  On the wider societal and global stage this week we have that square from Pluto in Capricorn, oppositions from Saturn in Libra, and Uranus joining the fray.  We can call it destruction (Pluto), limitation (Saturn), and revolution (Uranus) at every intersection this week.

The most challenging aspects are the square from Pluto in Capricorn on Monday and the conjunction of Mars with Uranus next Sunday.  I’m not too worried about the oppositions from Saturn in Libra.  Saturn is exalted in Libra and will bring a dose of diplomacy, collaboration, and respect – a needed antidote to the self-referential and fiery Aries energy.

Sun square Pluto

We know the Sun in Aries brings an active, dynamic, aggressive energy to those in leadership.  We are apt to act first and ask questions later.  This is extremely valuable when we have to begin a new endeavor or push projects forward that are lagging or stalled.

But as we take hasty action this week we run smack into Pluto in Capricorn.  Pluto in Capricorn is a change agent, toppling over time the institutions in our lives that have gotten oppressive and tradition-bound.  Upheaval is a keyword for the process, but the attitudes which created these forms in the first place take many, many years to destroy.  No quick fixes here, which is all the Sun in Aries is interested in.  The Sun in Aries is not a long-haul energy; it wants to take action and be quickly rewarded.

As you implement your plans this week you could run into one hurdle after another, seemingly intransigent obstacles that you are probably sick and tired of dealing with.  The energy will ease up after the beginning of the week, but only after you’ve adjusted your expectations about what you can reasonably accomplish.  No side-stepping this week.

This square requires us to actively confront and resolve our problems.  Take definite acts of self-assertion but recognize that there is clean-up work to be done, and there’s no one else to do it but you.  As the leader, direct your attention to burning away anything malicious, destructive, disloyal, or decaying that comes to light.  It’s not the first time you’ve had to do this and it won’t be the last.  But it’s the work to do this week.

Mars conjunct Uranus

Helmeted young warrior, so-called Ares. Roman copy from a Greek original—this is a plaster replica, the original is now stored in the Museum of the Villa. Canope at the Villa Adriana in Tivoli.

With Mars entering Aries on Friday and approaching its conjunction with Uranus on Sunday, you may spend the entire week dealing with one conflict after another.  Mars in Aries incites a competitive fierceness which is great if you can wield it and hard to bear if it’s used against you.  You’ve got to stay on the offense this week as others vie for position and take advantage of any ambivalence.  Even within your staff, your operations and production people may be feisty and geared up, fomenting a full-blown revolution by the end of the week if you’re not careful.  It will take an absolute here and now presence from you, dealing swiftly with each matter as it arises, and there could be many.

You may be called upon to defend others in a righteous cause and if so, you could be surprised at your level of courage and determination.  Or you may finally feel you’ve had enough of excuses for mediocrity, in yourself or others.  You will have the insight to break through entrenched boundaries with this aspect, but you may end up in a place you could not have predicted.

One strong caution for the week is to keep up or even ramp up your exercise regimen.  This Mars/Uranus energy is very physical and stressful; it needs a positive outlet.  But be careful.  Push your limits but don’t exceed them, as this erratic, unpredictable energy can lead to accidents if you take it too far.

Mercury Retrograde

On Wednesday Mercury, the planet that rules all of the communications and information it takes to keep a business running, turns retrograde.  Mercury is retrograde for 18 days three times a year.  From our geocentric point of view, Mercury has gotten way out in front of the Sun, as far ahead as it can go.  Now it begins to regress, apparently moving backwards through the zodiac until it meets the Sun and then falls even farther behind it.  In 18 days Mercury will resume direct motion and begin to catch up with the Sun again.

The Sun represents you, the leader, and Mercury represents all of the tools and people you use to gather the information you need, including assistants, PR people, research teams, accountants, and IT.  These people have pulled ahead of you, so to speak, treading ground you have yet to explore.  You may feel that your company has gotten ahead of itself, or you’ve been too distracted by new information to manage the projects currently on your plate.  Mercury retrograde is the time to pull everyone back, to review what they have been doing, and to plan how to incorporate all the new information.  This also begins a period to evaluate your team’s efforts and be sure everyone is working toward the goals you have established.

New Moon in Aries

Usually I advise people to rest during the couple days before and after the New Moon.  It’s generally a time of inactivity, a seeding time for the new endeavor which will reveal itself just after the New Moon.  But this month, I don’t think we’ll have the luxury.  With all of this Aries activity, and the Sun and Moon in Aries at the New Moon on Sunday, I just don’t think we’ll be able to relax.  We’ll “want to be starting somethin’” in the words of Michael Jackson.  So go for it!  It may be a flash in the pan but if you try to resist the pro-activity of Aries, you risk burning out your circuits.  Aries needs to ACT, so if you feel the urge, indulge it with passion!  That will please Mars, the fiery ruler of this sign.

So that’s the week, a hotbed of powerful push-pull energies.  Don’t forget to sense the childlike quality of the Aries energy and have some fun.

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For an overview of the month, see Astro4Business Month Ahead – March 2011

To get an overview of the year, check out these posts:

Pluto’s Journey through 2011

Neptune Swimming through 2011

Uranus Flashes through 2011

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For more business information on the planets mentioned this week, see these links:

The Sun

The Moon

Mercury

Mars

Saturn

Uranus

Pluto

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