Mercury Square Mars...

This aspect begins on September 2, and will be exact in Kilmore on September 4 at 2.19am, and will leave on September 6. The aspect is exact when Mercury is at 5 degrees and 38 minutes of Libra, and Mars is at 5 degrees and 38 minutes of Cancer.

(First entered on August 23 (using a 1 degree orb), exact in Kilmore on August 26 at midnight (freaky!), and left on the same day. Mercury at 29 degrees and 46 minutes of Virgo, Mars at 29 degrees and 46 minutes of Gemini.)

With Mercury slowing down now getting ready to go retrograde, Mars has caught up with this planet and will again be in a square relationship with it. This is unusual, because it means that Mars will actually be squaring the usually fast moving Mercury, instead of the other way around. This is important when looking at the symbolic meaning of the return of this Mercury/Mars square because instead of Mercury bringing something or someone to Mars, it is likely that Mars is the one that will be doing this... as usual look to your birth chart to get an idea of what, or who this may be.

I couldn't find an image that caught the mood of Mercury and Mars together... so the one to the left represents Mars preparing to 'negotiate'!

Mercury represents our thinking and communication style and while this planet travels through Virgo we may have a tendency to 'nit-pick'... Mars is about how we assert ourselves and express passion and while it is travelling through Gemini we be more verbal in how we do this. It is important to note that both planets are at an anaretic degree which suggests a sense of instability as these planets prepare to change signs. Mercury is also beginning to slow down in preparation for going retrograde early next month, so the people and situations represented by this planet may be 'sluggish' over the next couple of weeks.

The square relationship between the two simply suggests that people and situations represented by Mercury and Mars will tend to aggravate each other or get on each other's nerves (imagine Mercury in Virgo nitpicking and Mars going off verbally in annoyance!). On a more serious note, however, this energy pattern gives the opportunity to clear the air and to make the changes necessary to reach a turning point in the relationships and areas of life represented by your birth chart.

As usual, look to which houses this transit falls in and the houses ruled by the planets as well: Mercury = Gemini and Virgo; Mars = Aries and Scorpio.