An Invitation To Follow The Path of Desire: Mars Direct and a Scorpio New Moon
It is finally time to move forward!“Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul.
- Homeric Hymn to Ares (Greek version of Mars)
It has been a year of planetary retrogradation and in many ways it has reverberated across our lives. To me it has felt almost as though time stood still. I was walking close to sunset the other evening and was struck by the Christmas lights that were up and twinkling at the resort near my home. Inside myself in many ways energetically it felt as though I was still in March and so those lights were startling to me. How had this year passed so quickly?
The astrological events this weekend in many ways symbolize an energetic turning point for 2020 as we head towards the Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Aquarius at the Winter Equinox. (This is happening in an air sign for the first time in 400 years but more on that in December) Yesterday Mars the planet of action turned direct after having been retrograde in Aries since September and today we are graced with the annual New Moon in Scorpio. These two events share the archetypal energy of Mars. It is finally time to move forward!
Mars is the guardian of two signs astrologically: Aries, the sign it is currently moving through and in traditional astrology, Scorpio the sign of this potent New Moon.
Both faces of Mars have to do with initiation and desire: Aries is the beginning point, the first sign of the zodiac, that calls the world into being and asks us to take our rightful place. In Egypt Aries the Ram was associated with the God Amun who was said to be the force behind the invisible wind who initiated, fertilized and then maintained the continuity of life. Scorpio is connected to the underworld, to death and rebirth. Full of passion, Scorpio calls us us to be willing to make a commitment to something deeper within ourselves. Scorpio asks what we are willing to fight and die for and is associated with the elimination of what is no longer nourishing. Visions of Inanna, the ancient Sumerian Goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, and also of war, spring to mind; her journey through seven gates of the underworld, each representing an initiation where she had to literally remove one of her royal garments at each gate until she finally entered the underworld naked and vulnerable.
Wherever Scorpio lies in our chart, and all of us have all of the signs contained within, a profound invitation is being offered into the mystery of life itself. In order to enter the underworld within ourselves, the deep subconscious from which our soul’s secret yearnings often spring, we have to dig beneath our safe and familiar ideas and be willing to feel our way through unfamiliar territory contemplating both the things we hold onto and the things we need to eliminate.
In the Qabalistic tradition, the Path of Desire, it is taught that our desires are the voice of our soul speaking to us and therefore they are sacred. That desire magnetically draws us toward our destiny.
This New Moon offers an invitation to connect with your heart’s desire and to begin to eliminate what is no longer serving you.
Where are you been battling yourself, your dreams, your desires? What parts of yourself do you reject or deny because they aren’t convenient or safe? Where in your life do you long to be bold, to take risks? Now is the time to take the first steps towards any inner desire that has been waiting to be born.
Tonight during this powerful and empowering Scorpio New Moon I invite you to create a conscious ritual to initiate and bring into being what is waiting to be born. Light a candle, put on some inspiring music and journal exploring what your Mars, your desire, craves. He’s our inner hero after all, he needs an inspiring quest. And it’s easy to get busy with life, the practicalities of adult life and forget about this part of ourselves. What would set your soul on fire?
Harness the New Moon’s energy by allowing yourself the time to explore this and create an intention around what you have discovered. Write it down and then take one tiny step a day in the direction of your heart’s desire.
