If you follow either or both western sidereal or Vedic astrology, you may have already heard about one of the most significant astrological events happening this year in which Mars will transit through its own constellation of Scorpio (sidereal zodiac, not tropical). Saturn has already been transiting in Scorpio since November 2014, and Mars joins in the same sign transit from February 20, 2016 until September 17, 2016. During this period, Mars will have a brief transit back into Libra, from June 17 to July 12.

Usually Mars only transits in a sign for about two months, but when it retrogrades (~every two years for ~10 weeks), it remains in a sign for a much longer period, as in this case. This makes the transit quite important, strong, and influential by virtue of its grinding down in one relatively small part of the zodiac slowly and for a long time. Mars and Saturn come together in conjunction every ~two years, but usually only for a few months, which is long enough, believe me, since this is not an easy pairing and especially because it falls in intensely passionate and fiery Scorpio. Yet this time, because of the Mars retrograde cycle, their little dance is going to go on for around seven months.

Mars is an enemy to Saturn, and when they are together in the same sign and especially when close within 10 degrees of each other, the result can at times be explosive, overheated, oppressive, aggressive, or at least quite frustrating because they can tend to work at odds with each other when acting through their less favorable expressions. This is because Mars is pitta (hot) and tends to push forward quickly and assertively, but Saturn is vata (cold) and tends to resist and constrict. Continue reading →