Words I associate with refuge: refugee, refuse (to deny), re-fuse, the Fugees, refuse (to throw away, like waste), fuge (to flee, as in fugitive), fugue (dissociation, a fog, or musically, polyphonic).
Mars in Cancer is weighty this go around. It is an extended stay (about seven months, until April 18, due to retrograde) and invokes the Nov 3 opposition with Pluto, just before the planet of collective metamorphosis leaves Capricorn for the last time for two centuries.
Who seeks refuge? Those who have been refused, who may be refugees, or in a fugue state.
What has been “killing you softly” that you will no longer tolerate? What do you need to shore up so you can walk away for good this time?
What does it mean to really rethink the way we operate at a fundamental, foundational level? What does it mean that we refuse to give refuge to refugees, essentially turning them into fugitives?
And what does any of this have to do with Mars in Cancer? Mars wants to fight for you or to fight you; Mars also wants to flee. At its best, Mars protects, Mars separates (think of breaking up a fight), Mars supports, Mars tackles a problem, Mars acts on instinct. Mars can also deny or refuse. Mars is skilled at refusing.
Cancer, on the other hand, is seeking security, and if that means staying small and hidden, then so be it. Cancer’s preserving mechanism is defensive. Mars in Cancer can feel hemmed in, which is a conundrum. If Mars is offered the opportunity to protect that which needs refuge, then the arc changes. Mars has a job to do, and the Cancerian element becomes the sheltering way in which Mars approaches the job, rather than the method of restriction.
What does a defensive Mars look like? Guarded and guarding, perhaps like a guardian?
What needs our guardianship? Those who are having to flee. Those without homes. Those seeking refuge.
What if instead of “killing me softly" this Mars in Cancer was re-fusing us? Even reinfusing us? Perhaps kindling us kindly, providing enough warmth for us to feel safe enough and even, potentially, luminous.
*photo by nobutz, courtesy of Pixabay
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