In a Fiery State

In Vedic astrology or Jyotish, both signs and planets are classified by their elemental types. The fiery planets are Sun and Mars. The fiery signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.

Mars entered Leo at the end of October and turned retrograde in late January. Mars connotes battles, ambition, and aggression.  Mars normally inhabits a sign of the zodiac for six weeks. However, Mars is making Leo its battle ground for eight months this time. Leo is ruled by the Sun. The Sun entered Aries, its sign of exaltation, or greatest strength on April 13.  Aries is ruled by Mars.  With the two fiery planets inhabiting each other’s fiery signs, this turns the heat up pretty high.  Sun and Mars are friendly to each other in Vedic astrology, so they are comfortable acting according to their true assertive nature.

Mars has just come of its long retrogression cycle.  In Vedic astrology, retrogression is seen as a sign of increased strength. What is most problematic is when a planet goes from being direct (forward motion) to retrograde or from being retrograde to being direct.  For any planet to change direction, it first has to slow down considerably.  A planet stops moving for a period of time and then has to slowly gain momentum. For Mars, it’s like a stalled car overheating on the highway.

Mars is currently moving at 3% of its normal speed. For the planet of action, this is very stifling. The warrior is unable to wage battle or the athlete is unable to exercise. A simmering pot creates a lot of heat and sets off the smoke alarm. This creates more anger and aggression due to its circumstances.  Mars will return to 50% its normal speed in one month.

Aries rules the head and the way that a person relates to society.  Leo signifies the intellect. With all this heat, there can be heated arguments, or passive-aggressive behavior.  Sun in Aries can give a person a very strong self of self.

In Ayurvedic terms, Sun and Mars are the two Pitta planets. Pitta is the energy of digestion, transformation and assimilation.  Watch for skin irritations, inflammatory conditions, infections, high blood pressure, and mental agitation. When Pitta is high, people tend to become very judgmental, critical, angry and argumentative.

Those in a Mars or Sun cycle need to be particularly mindful of accidents, injuries and any accidents relating to fire and heat. The Sun moves into Taurus on May 14 and Mars leaves Leo on June 21.