What the hell was that! Mars, planet of violence, speaks from the center of the Fire....

Our classic image of Mars is the Roman warrior dressed in the ultimate refinements of the gladiator. The planet Mars accompanies the sharp and momentous events of life. Here is our planet of war, of athletes, of blood, testosterone, iron, machinery, weapons, and violence. As of October of 2009, Mars has moved into Leo--the sign of the leaders, the Sun, the hearth and the light of the world.
From October to mid December Mars is going forth with the tools of Leo, pride, show, expression, and magnanimity. In the sky it appears by 9pm, in the southwest, a ruddy amber glow which will grow in brilliance through the next several months. Because its retrograde is a perceived motion and measurement from our relative motion here on earth, it is an unusual and disturbing phenomena to see a planet hold still in the sky and hover in the same place every night. On the eve of the Winter Solstice, December 21st, Mars will actually travel backward in its orbit, until March 10th when it comes back into forward motion in the early degrees of Leo.
For all Leos and Mars-ruled Aries and Scorpios, this time is dangerous. It carries a warning of change. But not the kind of change that can be controlled, the kind of change that hits you; stops you and requires surrender. Surrender to what? Well, life. Become a listener, a user of the second wave of natural motion. Think before you act, and maybe stall the action for a few months. Be careful around fire, machinery, knives, guns, autos, trucks, and sharp objects. Sex is ruled by Mars, and this is a different kind of sexual energy, stay in the good and true, avoid the twisted and shadowy.
The whole world feels these planetary changes and people and earth creatures are responding to the Mars cycle of backwards motion, in definite but varied ways. Look for sudden reversals of action, of intentions, and of promises. Avoid forcing issues, because they will break--irreparably. Use the Mars retrograde as a time of rest and reconsideration, a time to polish the tools, and catch up with the real work which is the inner work of the truth and of the heart. The test is to take action to a new refinement, and it will require our whole concentration.