I remember being a child at the beach, playing in the waves. I would walk as far into the water as I could while still touching the sandy bottom, which meant when a big wave came it would crest above my head. I could either stand and resist it, trying to keep my footing — or I could duck under and feel it pass over me gently, then come up for air when it had passed. The first game was a daring one, when I felt energetic and defiant. The second game was a peaceful one, when I felt tired of fighting the waves.
As I’m sure you’re aware, we are living in a time of crashing waves. We’ve been out in the choppy sea for a long time, and many of us are just barely keep our heads above water. Some of us have been ducking under and waiting for the waves to pass. Some of us have been resisting them, lungs hoarse with saltwater. Many of us are cycling between resting and resisting and noticing that “rest” isn’t especially restful when you are being buffeted by waves and can’t reach the shore. And yet rest is exceptionally important in exactly these times, because being able to find that still point in your center is what helps you focus and direct your energy where it needs to go.
This year began with a distinct astrological mood when Jupiter was in Pisces, which gave us all a desire to stay underwater and let the waves ripple above us. Since Jupiter moved into Aries the tone has changed, and the rest of the year will be marked by stressful Mars aspects. Now and for the rest of the year, the astrological vibe is one of action and resistance. And the waves keep coming.
Because the world isn’t calming down anytime soon, because we are living in unprecedented times with multiple global crises, because so many of us feel individually powerless and energetically drained — because of all this and whatever personal reasons you’re holding right now, your own illness or heartbreak or mourning, your own crises or transitions — this is a time to learn how to attune to your own internal patterns of rest and resistance. If you are exhausted and overwhelmed all the time these days, give yourself permission to rest more. Resting isn’t giving up. Give yourself permission to do the minimum until you feel energy returning. It might take longer than you expect. And this month, though it brings some challenges along the way, is ultimately asking us to learn how to focus and direct our energy.
Mars is a big player this month, and Mars is innately tied to our drive to make things happen. Mars is the part of us that pursues what we want — creative ambitions, careers, athletic goals, sexual connection, and basically anything that we feel passionate about — and sets boundaries against what we don’t want. Working with Mars means navigating the following questions: How reactive am I? How quickly do I want to take action? What helps me release pent up anger without causing harm to myself or others? How can my pain and frustration pull me toward meaningful activism, collaboration, or shared healing? What have I been stalling on making happen that it’s time to move toward? How can I be in better touch with my sexual desires and boundaries? How do I know when I’ve had enough and need to say no to something?
Many of us have been taught that both anger and sexuality are dangerous, selfish, unreliable impulses. Remember this month that your sexual energy and desires are innately good, and can be aligned with ethical, consensual, respectful actions. Remember that anger is a reasonable, necessary response when our boundaries are crossed or when we witness or experience injustice. Anger can be your friend. The same isn’t true of hate.
Watch out for how easy it is to dehumanize each other right now. Watch out for the desire to feel that you and people like you are good and everyone else is the enemy. Most of the harm caused in this world is from ordinary people who are scared, who trust the wrong sources, who are trying to protect something in their lives they feel is threatened. Hannah Arendt wrote of the banality of evil, and I would add there is a sense of entitlement in it — I should get to have exactly what I want (security, power, my specific religious values as the law of the land) and I don’t have to consider its impact on others. We as queers can resist this tactic (and protect ourselves from it as best we can) while not picking it up as a handy tool for us to dismantle the master’s house, y’know?
Keep yourselves and each other safe, my friends. May you rest when you need to, rage when you need to, and find ways to focus your energy toward healing and transforming what’s broken in this world.
I’m available for readings and for more astro insights you can follow me on Instagram, join me on Patreon, and listen to my New Moon podcast The Hum. If you want to know more about Mars, I’m giving my readers 15% off the digital download of Playing With Fire: Mars Through the Signs. Just use coupon code MARS2022. Good luck out there this month, and remember to keep breathing.
Aries
Focus your energy: Rest as you need to, though you may be more restless than usual. Big changes are happening around you and your goal is to keep touching into a grounding source of stability. What is your home base? What fuels you when you’re drained? Who reminds you to slow down and feed yourself from time to time? As driven as you may feel to make an impact right now and do what needs to be done, remember that you are more powerful when you’re well-resourced. That might mean stop and eat something before going for a run, or that might mean stop and organize with your collective before planning a protest. You can do it alone, but you don’t have to.
Taurus
Focus your energy: Rest as you need to, though it might feel daunting this month. With Mars and Uranus and the North Node moving through your sign, that’s a lot of activity for a sign that prefers some calm stillness. This is a time, though, when you can pull yourself out of whatever ruts you’ve been stuck in. You will have more energy right now for any projects that are aligned with your physical health, your creative ideas, and your longterm goals. Watch out for frustration to boil over though, especially if you’ve been holding anger in for awhile. You may want to plan regular check-ins with your loved ones to air any minor grievances regularly instead of letting them pile up. Be open to learning skills of self-assertion and clarity around conflict that will serve you well for years to come, and remember that you can take a break and rest when you need to.
Gemini
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to, and notice that when you sleep your dreams may be more active right now. Your energy is being called inwards, into your dream life and your fantasy life, into your imagination and deep restorative healing. For an extroverted sign, it can feel counterintuitive to have this much energy and then go off and be alone with it. Yet there’s a lot you can learn about what you’re holding, what needs healing, and what you’re dreaming of for the future. It’s not that you don’t get to socialize right now, but you’ll want to conserve your best times of day for some private reveries. This may mean waking up early to journal or meditate. This may mean going to bed early and watching movies that make you cry. Follow your inclinations and get curious about what they reveal.
Cancer
Focus your energy: Rest as you need to and remember that if you’re committed to social justice, social transformation, or in anyway helping to shape a better future, that to be in it for the long haul means pacing yourself. Notice what causes despair, notice what alleviates it. Take seriously your own wellbeing when you participate in collective projects, and help others take their wellbeing seriously as well. You have a gift of emotional wisdom that is necessary in these times, have the courage to care for yourself well even as you show up for others.
Leo
Focus your energy: Rest as you need to and recognize that you’re capable of a lot this month. You may feel ambitious energy welling up in you to make a big push toward something that will gain you more recognition, and possibly more responsibilities. Follow this thread. It’s time, at the very least, to begin. Recognize your strengths even as you may need to keep adjusting your expectations (of yourself when exhausted or checked out, of the world as it continues to throw curveballs). Keep your focus on what you are trying to create, what you want to make happen and keep finding ways to push that project forward.
Virgo
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to, which in your case means taking intentional time to distract yourself from whatever you’re trying to plan or solve and just playing a game or talking a walk. And when you have the energy, you’d do well this month to direct it toward learning and teaching — you have an opportunity right now to expand how you think and try on new perspectives. You may also find that if you let go of some perfectionism, you’re actually ready to take on the role of teacher or mentor in something you do well. Let yourself be guided by enthusiasm and curiosity this month, not by the sense you “should” be doing anything.
Libra
Focus your energy: Rest as you need to and remember that this month brings you face to face with unsettling truths in the world, and in yourself. If you’re feeling blocked by fear or hopelessness, cultivate a level-headed curiosity about what needs to change and how to change it, focusing on actions within your own sphere of influence. Your romantic life can be especially powerful as a site of transformation right now, which can bring necessary closure or deepening into closeness, depending on the relationship. Imagine this month that you are carrying a flashlight and are fully masked and gloved as you descend into a flooded basement to assess the damage. You are learning a lot right now, and information is power. There will be time to come up with plans, tools, and next steps.
Scorpio
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to and recognize that relationships are high-energy expenditures right now. That may be exciting — you may have a new crush or be ready to connect more deeply with an existing love — or it may be difficult. If you find yourself continually activated in any relationship, give yourself permission to take some space to cool down and sort yourself out. Limits are your friend, especially right now, as you have a tendency to go deep and go hard and this month’s astrology are emphasizing that trait. You don’t have to talk out all the hard things all at once. You don’t have to dive into your deepest trauma on your first day of therapy. You don’t have to go 0-60 in a new relationship. Give yourself the gift of focused, efficient, concentrated doses of all these potentially activating activities, and let yourself deeply rest in between them.
Sagittarius
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to, which for you my dear means let your body lead you where it wants to go. Walking can rest the mind, stretching can rest the body, laughing deeply can reset the nervous system and calm that panicked part of you that’s poised waiting for the waves. And when you have the energy, attune to your body. Whatever level of ability, health, and athleticism you’re currently at, embrace it and revel in what your body can do. Resist comparisons to other bodies, or to your own body at a different time. Your job right now is to love exactly how your body does what it does well. Name it. Do it. Enjoy it. Compliment yourself on it. Feel your strength welling up, feel your power that is both connected to and not at all dependent on your physical form.
Capricorn
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to, and I know you may think you don’t need to, but I invite you to check in now and then to make sure. And when you do have energy, focus it on everything that brings you joy. Buy a damn loom and start weaving. Set aside an hour every day to learn swing dancing, or Yiddish, or to make mix tapes for everyone you’ve ever had a crush on. And if you feel that the world is too serious right now for such self-indulgent shenanigans, remember that if you’re out in the cold with no fire you have to rub your hands together for heat. Keeping this channel open for joy, for play, for romance, is just as important for staying alive.
Aquarius
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to. Seriously! Do you let yourself rest? When you feel activated or exhausted right now, your first thought should be “how can I feel a little safer and calmer?” rather than “how can I push through this?” This month encourages you to take action toward feeling more secure and stable, however you need that to look. Maybe you don’t need to take a big trip just yet. Maybe it’s time to invest in some bedding you really love. Maybe it’s time to save your money if that feels more secure than spending it on some sheets. Let yourself get quiet enough to understand what you can stabilize and protect your energy, then spring into action to make it happen.
Pisces
Focus your energy: Rest when you need to, but resist the urge to isolate. You need friends around you right now, you need to remember that even silly conversations about nothing in particular can regulate your nervous system. Choose what media you consume wisely right now. Limit your time doom scrolling or reading different variations of the same depressing articles for hours at a time. When you read something that makes you scared, overwhelmed, angry, or depressed, talk to someone about it. If no one is around to talk, write a letter about what you’re feeling. Keep a record of these times. Keep track of how your heart is doing. Keep others in the loop. Stay connected.
“Keep yourselves and each other safe, my friends. May you rest when you need to, rage when you need to, and find ways to focus your energy toward healing and transforming what’s broken in this world.”
Amen! Thank you Corina, as always.
Thank you! Your words are appreciated
I look forward to this column every month! Thank you!