Planetary Transits & Cosmic Interplay for the week of July 29–Aug 4
At this time in the sky, we have Mars and Ketu conjunct in the sign of Aquarius. This can bring about a time of deep psychological exploration or inhibited energy resulting in frustration, or even possibly make real estate a focus. To further understand why this is the case, let’s explore the energies of these two planets.
What does Mars represent?
Mars is commonly known as the warrior planet and is related to wars and all sorts of violence. The reason for this is because Mars is the energy that takes ideation and puts it into action. The thing about this process is that it is very narrow minded in its focus and does not consider nor is it concerned with collateral damage. By looking at Mars’ glyph, we see an arrow pointing away from a circle. When taking any sort of action, it can only work in one direction at a time, which this arrow indicates. Also, it indicates a certain boldness, as to initiate any new undertaking one may have in mind, whether it be physically taking one step or in launching a whole new enterprise, one must be ready to do whatever it takes. This is the nature of the martian energy.
Keeping in mind the nature of the energy it represents, we can start to understand why Mars is associated with certain things in the world. Besides violence and war, Mars is also related to strength, muscles, power, courage, and bravery. Whereas those are some of the character traits it can represent which are synonymous with action, some of the less obvious physical things Mars represents are siblings, coworkers, and teammates. Basically, this is the people that you are working in concert with to achieve a shared goal or who you deal with and compete with on an everyday basis. Mars is also related to real estate, land, and houses which represent the things that one would wish to protect and defend.
A Closer Look at Ketu
Let’s turn our attention towards the other planet in this equation, Ketu. Ketu is one of the shadowy planets that causes eclipses. Ketu brings about restriction and inhibition. Ketu is related to liberation and more so to resolution and completion. Ketu is related to the past and to things that have been around before. In this sense, Ketu can represent one’s home or land that they were comfortable in that they were raised in, like a family estate. This is related to Ketu being an inhibiting energy in that one can feel trapped or more so wanting to break free from constraints which were comfortable, but no longer suiting the individual.
Now, with Mars and Ketu together we can see how on one hand this can be a very frustrating energy as Mars is about initiative and Ketu is about inhibition. This can be a time when one feels or is revisiting feeling frustrated about not being able to utilize their energy in some fashion. This can be like a failure to launch type situation or where one was just too inhibited for some reason to take action and is being reminded of some past failure. This is the frustration end of this blend of energy.
Since Ketu is about liberation and resolution, this can actually be a very auspicious time of directing one’s energy inwards in a spiritual sense. This can be where one is less enticed by physical reality and wants to experience their inner reality and begins a path towards this end.
The Energy of this Conjunction
The best way to deal with the energy inherent in this conjunction of Mars and Ketu is to perform concentrated and intentional slow moving physical energetic practices like yoga, tai chi, or even some forms of martial arts—anything that helps to channel one’s energy through physical exertion yet leads to a more grounded and centered feeling. This is also, like mentioned earlier, a time for inner reflection and a wonderful time to explore one’s meditation practices. Applying the physical practice followed by the inner practice is the best way to harness this powerful energy.
This conjunction can also trigger certain physical things coming together in one’s life. Whereas Mars represents land and real estate, Ketu represents one’s familial place where they have a lot of experience. This can be a time of investing in a new family home or of revisiting an old one. It could be about inheriting the family house one was raised in or if buying a new house, one may be more interested not just in making a real estate investment, but in establishing a new territory that they would want to pass on to future generations.
So with all this being said, you may be wondering how this energy could actually be affecting your own personal life and what it may indicate for you. First and foremost, if in your natal chart you have Ketu and Mars together in a sign, then this can be a time of this energy becoming focalized again. The transiting planets in the sky are like a clock and they indicate periods in time when the energies contained within one’s natal chart become active. This can also work if the sign of Aquarius is your first house, also known as the Ascendant or the rising sign. There are other various factors and planets in your natal chart that could be getting activated as well, which is too vast a topic to be discussed just in this article.
One of the things that makes Vedic Astrology unique is its usage of a system of planetary time periods called “dasas.” Each person’s dasa system is related to astrological occurrences at the time of birth, specifically about the placement of the Moon. If one is running the dasas of Mars and Ketu, then these energies can become prevalent because of this as well.
