Mars RX
Speaker at
OPA Conference in
Greece!
Mars
Retrograde
and the
Challenge
of 2016
by
M
Roy Gillett
ars will be in retrograde motion
from Mars Retrograde and the
Challenge of 2016
In his Working with the Planets column
[The Astrological Journal January edi-
tion1] Roy Gillett reported and made
the following comment on a recent find-
ing from the renown mundane astrolo-
ger Andre Barbault.
Roy will be looking deeply into the
astrology of the present world predica-
ment at the upcoming OPA Conference
in Athens – May 27th to 31st.
For everyone’s sake, international talks
have to be genuine, to have gone beyond
recent tendencies to agree to opponents
demands only to do the opposite in prac-
tice. The atmosphere of mistrust created
by such diplomatic behaviour patterns
could be lethal as we move into the late
spring and summer of the year [2016]. In
addition to the ongoing Saturn / Neptune
square pattern, the following important
additional information has been recently
received from André Barbault
......[Mars] is nearest to the Earth
when at opposition to the Sun. When
Mars is at perigee (the point in its orbit
when it is closest to the Earth), at the
same time that it is at perihelian (when
its orbit comes closest to the Sun) this
is a perihelic opposition which usually
happens every fifteen years. This is
The
Career
Astrologer
when Mars is closest to us. We can see
that this is what happened in August
1939 – one of the signs that war would
break out in Europe – then in October
1941 when Japan was planning its
attack on Pearl Harbour which would
globalise the war. A perihelic opposition
of Mars also occurred in the summer of
2001, a few weeks away from the kami-
kaze attack in New York on September
11th of that year.
We are now approaching the next
Martian epicycle: Mars will be at peri-
helion from May 22nd 2016 when the
proximity of the planet from our globe
will be 47 million miles. With a Sun-Mars
opposition which is semi-square and ses-
qui-quadrate to Pluto; followed by the
passage of a Sun-Venus conjunction in
opposition to Saturn in a T-square with
Neptune in the first ten days of June.
There is reason to fear a natural disas-
ter, if not a world catastrophe especially
with the cyclic indicator crossing the sign
of its detriment2.
All experienced students of aspect pat-
terns in natal and mundane charts will
know that we should always see difficult
aspects as opportunities, not harbingers
of doom. Indeed, those that seek aggran-
disement for themselves by forecasting
disaster for others, perform a major dis-
service to astrology, as well as the world
at large. The predicted dramatic chang-
es in 1989 were a catastrophe for the
Soviet Union, but a long awaited chance
of freedom for the millions previously
under its control. Many gained greatly,
because they were ready to embrace the
changes demanded by the times.
A perihelic opposition
of Mars also
occurred in the
summer of 2001, a
few weeks away
from the kamikaze
attack in New York on
September 11th
of that year.
OPA’s Quarterly Magazine
So, when the world’s most experi-
enced mundane astrologer makes such
a clearly explained observation along-
side what we already know about these
astro-events, it would be wise for world
leaders to accept the time has come to
stop playing power games with the lives
of millions of people. ISIL is the outcome
when inexperienced insensitive egos are
allowed the reigns of power.
it would be wise for
world leaders to ac-
cept the time has
come to stop playing
power games with
the lives of millions of
people. ISIL is the
outcome when
inexperienced
insensitive egos are
allowed the reigns
of power.
Let the negativity of the time be
turned inward. May all involved experi-
ence the angst of inner pain that comes
from accepting they have been wrong!
May all think again to accommodate
the position of others, who are also
ready to admit they were wrong! The
predicted traumas of the 2012 transits
were re-directed into highly successful
Olympic Games in Britain. Let 2016 see
the confusion of potential war not call
up its dogs, but instead clear its clouds
to welcome in the illuminated light of
mutual understanding.
References and Notes
1 Visit http://astrologicalassociation.
com/shop/membership.php for annual
subscription.
2 Forwarded by Andre Barbault
in October 2015 to The Astrological
Association for inclusion in its English
translation of his new book Les cycles
planetaires astrologie mondiale [Pub
2014]. English version publication
expected early 2016 R
V25 -01 MARCH EQUINOX 2016
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