I hate doing stuff like this. It’s almost a sickness with astrologers: something newsworthy happens and we rush to our computers to create the chart of the event. Within hours, social media is abuzz with dozens of astrological commentaries.
It’s not that the astrology isn’t interesting – it is, and especially so in this article – but that we as astrologers tend to skirt over the emotional impact in favor of intellectual analysis. We are so concerned with the why? that we sometimes neglect the events themselves.
The astrology of New Year’s week was dominated by one very tense aspect, an opposition between the planets Mars and Pluto. Mars is the god of war, and that should be enough to give you an idea of the energies we associate with him, although he’s not always such a problematic planet. He does provide us with the energy and drive we need to get things done.
Pluto is the planet of deep transformation, of death and rebirth. He’s kind of like a cosmic bulldozer, plowing things down so that the new can grow. Pluto is evolutionary, and evolution is not a gentle process. In mythology, the god Pluto rules the underworld, and that gives you an idea of his personality.
When these two planets oppose each other, there’s an explosive potential. Action-oriented and sometimes violent Mars is fueled by the volcanic force of Pluto. The results can be no-holds-barred destruction, as Mars unleashes the power of Pluto.
You probably know about Mercury retrograde, but you should know that Mars also retrogrades for about 10 weeks every two years. During this period of time the Martial energy is pulled inward. It’s not considered a great time to begin a new job, or an exercise program, or sporting endeavor, or sexual relationship: energy is lacking. However, the retrograde planet tends to be quite strong even if outward expression is hampered. In the case of Mars, that can lead to frustration building until it finds an outlet.
Because of Mars retrograde in late 2024 and early 2025, Mars opposes Pluto three times. The first was on November 3rd, the second was on January 3rd, and the last will be on April 26th.
The tragedy in New Orleans happened just three days before the second of the three exact oppositions. Now, you might think that a miss is as good as a mile, but aspects build over time, reach a peak, and then fade at various rates. Think of the Christmas holidays: they are anticipated by weeks and even months, with relevant television shows and movies, store displays, and music. Any event has a similar pattern: anticipation, peak, and fading.
What I found key was that the Moon acted as a trigger for the Mars-Pluto opposition. The Moon, along with other celestial bodies, frequently acts to manifest the potential of a powerful astrological aspect.
Because Mars and Pluto both changed signs recently, the position of their oppositions shifted. The one in November took place at 29 degrees of Cancer/Capricorn, while the one on January 3rd took place at 0 degrees of Leo/Aquarius. The first and last degrees of each sign are considered especially powerful.
Astrologers use a technique called astrolocality to find the places where aspects in the sky will be especially powerful. For example, if one of the planets is rising on the horizon in a particular place, or if it is directly overhead. Using astrolocality, I determined that the Mars-Pluto aspect was angular (in this case, directly overhead) just a few miles to the east of New Orleans. That suggested that New Orleans was a potential hot spot for the aspect.
Yet the Moon had not quite made it to 0 degrees Aquarius on the morning of January 1st. It was still back at 29 Capricorn, on the degree of the November 3rd opposition. That made a certain amount of sense, as the Moon would resonate with both the prior and coming aspect.
When I did the astrolocality for the November 3rd aspect, I was surprised to see that the Mars-Pluto line for that opposition was also very near to New Orleans, exact in Houston, Texas.
Thus, in the early hours of January 1st, as the energy of the January 3rd opposition was building, the Moon went over the degree of the November 3rd opposition. The coming aspect “charged up” the Moon as it glided over the position of the prior aspect.
In the old days, astrologers were only concerned with their city or country, and I suppose that narrowed things down enough to make predictions. Today, we deal with the whole world, and it’s tough to say why New Orleans was the focal point for the aspect instead of so many other places on the same line of longitude.
Astrological aspects set the tone. What we do with them is up to us. You can liken these aspects to background music, something that can often be ignored, and occasionally appreciated. Each of us as individuals reacts as the aspects in the sky resonate with our personal charts, and the personal aspects manifest according to the degree of awareness and compassion we can bring to the situation.