So I’m in Jamaica for my tenth anniversary and the day I left, Saturn made an exact square to Mars in my chart.  If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you may remember that over the past couple of years Pluto has been transiting my Mars, and that’s been quite an interesting ride.

Astrologers like to say that a challenging transit of Saturn (restriction, limitation, confinement) to Mars in the birthchart (drive, desires, action) is like driving with the brakes on.  We want to go, we make plans to go, but we can’t go.  Those brakes are on, and the car won’t budge.

For the past week or two it has been extremely difficult to move.  There I was, just days from a bathing suit vacation, with no energy to go to the gym.  Very challenging.  

If Saturn has to square your Mars, it might as well be on vacation when you don’t really have to do anything.  If you can’t drive with the brakes on, you might as well stop trying to go anywhere.  Wash the car, detail it, maybe change the upholstery.  But give up the idea of going anywhere until the brakes start working again and can be released. 

We are spending the week at a resort with a great gym, so Rich and I have been working out every day.  My goal, with my Capricorn Mars, is to go home in better shape than the one I came with.  Rich’s goal, with his double Pisces, is to be able to eat more. 🙂  

Working out has been difficult – it’s hot and humid, and yesterday I developed heat exhaustion (Saturn’s putting the brakes on).  So today, I decided it would be better to be the tortoise than my usual hare.  I took my time and didn’t push myself, and ended up doing 45 minutes on the cardio eqiupment rather than my usual 30, with the added bonus of noticing that the usual pain in my foot was missing.  I felt GREAT, and exhilarated.  Finally I listened to Saturn and slowed down.

Under Saturn’s pressure we often find it tempting to just give up.  It can be just too hard.  But if we persist and keep pressing through, we are rewarded with progress and wisdom.