This week’s question comes from Mary in Pennsylvania:

I’ve read that this Mars retrograde will station direct at 1 degree Leo, a point opposite my natal Chiron. Any thoughts on that particular aspect?

Diane’s response:

Mary, this transit may prove quite helpful to you, because your natal Chiron lies hidden away in your twelfth house and forms no aspects to your personal planets or chart angles. This means you aren’t often able to access those places within where you feel wounded.

From about March 7 to 10, not only will Mars station opposite your Chiron, your Chiron will be trine Saturn in Libra and sextile Venus in Aries (Saturn will oppose Venus), forming a Mystic Rectangle. This dynamic pattern has the potential for triggering insights in a firm but gentle way, promoting healing of old wounds you may not have been previously aware of.

I’m wondering if the recent Chiron-Neptune conjunction in Aquarius right on your Sun was responsible for prompting you to look at your natal Chiron. By the time Mars stations in March, both Chiron and Neptune will have moved past your Sun, allowing for more clarity in general. In my experience, Neptune transits in particular are best understood in retrospect.

Between now and early March, as Mars slows to a standstill in your sixth house, you have a window of opportunity to review your daily routines, how you interact with your co-workers, your health and exercise program, and the details of your daily life in general. Are any of these areas a source of frustration for you? If so, perhaps you can figure out why now.

Good luck on your road to a better place within and without, Mary.

Pat’s response:

Mary, by the time a transiting planet stations direct in aspect to a natal planet, you already have gone through the transit once and sometimes twice, so you should have an idea already of how this transit is affecting you.

Mars opposed your natal Chiron in mid-October, 2009. As he continues on his retrograde path, he will oppose natal Chiron on February 25. After he returns direct, he will make a third pass on March 24. When a transiting planet moves over a natal planet and then turns retrograde, you have an opportunity for review and possible revision. Since the twelfth house is one of the houses concerning the past, you may have gone through a period of revisiting unresolved wounds from early childhood or some other trauma buried in your deep psyche. Mars might have performed a little “surgery” to help find the source of the wound and perhaps even cut it out — figuratively speaking, of course. Re-opening wounds is painful, so if this process happened for you, it likely wasn’t very pleasant.

When Mars returns direct, it’s like sewing the wound back up, minus the “poison” (whatever that symbolizes to you), and that means the wound can heal cleanly.

Because your natal Chiron is in Aquarius in the twelfth house, your particular wound may be something that is deeply ingrained in the collective. In other words, it’s something bigger than just you. If you are able to heal, you put healing energy into the collective unconscious, and that is very powerful.

Wishing you much courage, and thanks for writing.

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