my image of Lamb’s Ear/ Wood Betony chosen for it’s association with Jupiter, traditional ruler of pisces and fire, the element of Mars. used for protection & purification.
do you know when you need medicine? do you know how to find medicine when you need it? do you know what it tastes like? Mars is on the hunt for it, somewhere in your chart, somewhere in your life. pisces medicine sometimes shows up as: interconnectivity, vulnerability, transparency, inspiration, & spiritual resourcefulness. the ultimate surrender. this can be terrifying. like floating in an ageless ocean, in overlapping seas, waiting for the next wave. grief happens here, but so does resurrection.
Mars is fire, hot like lava sometimes. Mars is desire, assertion, initiative, & willpower. the forage for autonomy. because Mars is in pisces, these functions happen through sensitivity, intuition, & vision. Mars in pisces is the desire for vulnerability & interconnectivity. unhealthy Mars energy wants to dominate, possess, never be still or wait- counterproductive to what pisces wants, counterproductive to interconnectivity. this keeps us from relationship because if the depth & breadth of your capacity for intimacy is only measured by how much you got your shit together or any kind of invincibility, it’s not real.
this Mars transit is getting the disappointments, illusions, & hierarchies out the way. everything keeping us from autonomy & authentic relationship is dissolving. this process is painful, but necessary if we want to be fresh & free when Mars enters aries (December 31) rather than acting out of anger, resentment, or bitterness from not tending to the here & now.
disappointments, illusions, & hierarchies often (not always, but we’re talking pisces here) happen when we’re rationalizing ourselves out of our intuition when it first whispers & then spiral into a “situation”. sometimes they happen when we are so terrified of transparent vulnerability & support that includes accountability that we put ourselves on a pedestal, thinking the rising waters won’t touch us there. or they happen when we have these beautiful, miraculous, transcendent ideals about people/places/things & we place them on individuals rather than saying them as prayers.
they can happen when we’re not real about what we actually desire, aren’t practicing interconnectivity, & we’re too caught up in bitterness to be able to breathe. so we escape through expectations that inevitably disappoint, illusions created by individualism or ignoring intuition, & pedestals that keep us distant or safe. because sometimes we put people on a pedestal so we don’t have to be brave & take up space. often the hierarchy, self-imposed or imposed by others, is more comfortable than the uncharted territory we have to navigate when we reject it.
Mars in pisces is about making medicine with grief. right now, it can feel like all our sensitivities, the places where we need to surrender, & our desires (or fears) of vulnerable communion are the water in a cauldron placed over the blazing fire of Mars. maybe it burns a little, maybe it’s a little dangerous. but we can cook medicine in that cauldron. we can dissolve the bullshit of the past away in that cauldron. we can grieve even while giving birth to the future around this cauldron.
Mars in pisces is a reminder that the undercurrents are as real as what’s tangible & factual. we can’t make medicine if we’re running away, trying to escape how translucent our pain is. we can’t make medicine if we’re skipping from pain to power without grieving. we can’t make medicine in isolation. we can’t make medicine in competition or comparison. don’t come to the cauldron with projections, avoidance, or performative vulnerability. if you are bitter, your medicine will taste bitter too. if you are hiding pain or distancing yourself from it, your medicine will treat symptoms rather than restore roots.
how to make it through?
assert your sensitivity; rather than apologizing for it, be response-able with it. be transparent- like actually tell the whole “I feel/I did/I want” truth. choose truthful vulnerability over the performative or curated kind. it is inspirational, especially right now. take initiative with compassion, for yourself & others. be decisive about your edges, containers, & limits. honor your dreams, moods, & emotions. access the undercurrents of your desire through inspiration, intuition, & vision. be in relationship, not transactions & exchanges. and ultimately, be devoted to your spiritual practices, intentions, & sources. let yourself grieve.