Slow

I don’t know about you, but the energy in my workplace at present certainly leaves a lot to be desired. And from what I am hearing, we aren’t alone. Granted we are heading into the annual close down period and people are trying to get things sorted and in order before they go on holiday, but there seems to be an awful lot of energy being expended for not a lot of reward. Despite best efforts, things just don’t seem to be moving forward as we may want them to. The dominant energy in the air is of frustration and exhaustion. Ladies and Gentlemen- welcome to Mars retrograde.

Mars is all about action and energy. The Mars Warrior archetype in the workplace is one of high energy, high motivation, the motivation to move forward and the courage to take a risk. Our own personal Mars energy comes to work with us every day. It gets us out of bed in the morning, takes us through our day, pushes us to achieve our goals and gives us the right amount of aggression to ensure we are not overlooked.

The natural motion of Mars is to move forward and to do it relatively quickly. A full circuit of the zodiac usually takes Mars around 2 years. But over the last couple of weeks Mars has been slowing down, has become stationary and is about to turn retrograde through until early March 2010. Mars likes to be fast, he likes to be first and his natural range of motion is forward. Slow him down and send him in the opposite direction and all those positive Mars At Work traits become negative. Aggression is no longer a reasonable use of force, adrenal exhaustion has set in and nothing seems to be moving along.

Mars by nature is a hot, dry planet with energy directed outwards. During a retrograde phase the energy of the planet is directed inward as all the “re” words come into play- review, re-do, reconnaissance, remember. Mars likes to do things once and once only, so where the retrograde of an outer planet allows time for messages to be absorbed and lessons learned, Mars just sees this time as a roadblock which needs to be pushed through. Frustration is multiplied.

As this retrograde is happening in the sign of Leo, issues around self expression, ego and confidence will also come into play. Again, because this is about reversal, the more shadowy traits of Leo will become obvious. Self expression may become diva-ish, healthy egos become a little selfish and confidence becomes “look at me”- all of which has the potential to play merry havoc in a meeting situation.

So, who is affected? All of us in some way- energy will be running slower, motivation will seem less. If your Sun, Moon or Ascendant is in a Mars ruled sign (Aries, or Scorpio), you will feel this. If you have planets or chart points in Leo, there will be no escaping the impact- Fire signs in general will notice the slowdown more than other signs. If Mars is currently transiting one of your work houses (especially the 6^th or the 10^th) regardless of the rest of your chart, you will feel the effect of this retrograde at work.

If possible, take things a little easier over Xmas. Tension and frustration threaten to boil over into tantrums- and that is never a great look in the office. In the Southern Hemisphere this has been exacerbated by some extremely and unseasonably hot temperatures- all of which contribute to road rage, queue rage and unprofessional behaviour. So before you melt down completely, consciously try to place things in perspective. Is it really worth getting every email out of your inbox when the world is on holidays? Is it absolutely necessary to the survival of the human race to have a deadline met by Xmas Eve when it could just as easily wait until January?

Take your time, slow it down. If possible, take a break and consciously be a little easier. Pushing yourself to the limit at this point will make you prone to illness, exhaustion and possibly accidents- and all of these are sure-fire ways to ruin your holiday.