Mangal in Karkata

Now that Mangala has almost finished his extended stay in Karkata, I wanted to capture a few thoughts on the transit. Hindsight being 20/20, it is definitely more convenient to capture the events which I believe were caused by this transit.

First of course, a brief analysis of Mangala in this sign. It is the sign of his debilitation and so the transit cannot be entirely beneficial for anyone - not even those that count on Mangala to be a rajayogakaraka in lagna (Cancer not Leo ascendants), leave alone those for whom he is a malefic. And if we remember, when Mars first transited into the sign, he was conjunct ketu. Ketu is supposed to act like Mars, and so the conjunction compounded the effects of Mangala going in for this 236 day stay in Cancer. Mercifully though, there was the mutual aspect of Mars and Jupiter for about 10-12 weeks which mitigated the debilitation of both somewhat. Apart from that Mars in Cancer causes misplaced agression and a certain degree of futility in actions.

Cancer is this motherly, emotional sign and Mars being a fiery, action oriented planet is distinctly uncomfortable in that environment. Cancer contains within its realm parts of Punarvasu, and the entirety of Pushya and Ashlesha nakshatras. Pushya is supposed to be the epitome of a soft nourishing nakshatra, Ashlesha tending a bit more towards emotional manipulation. Pushya - extending from 3 deg 20 mins - 16 deg 40 mins of Cancer contains within its orb the cluster of stars that contribute the archetypical energies represented by Cancer. So while Mars transits Pushya, it is focusing energy antithetical to its nature, and is getting deeper into debilitation. Its point of extreme debilitation is the 28th degree of Cancer in Aslesha. This is also a part of the zodiac which does not have any particularly powerful stars and the warrior is completey spent and clueless in a watery emotional abyss. Moving beyond the extreme debilitation of the 28th degree of Cancer, Mars will start approaching Regulus, the main star in Magha nakshatra, approximately at 10 degrees in Leo. Regulus is one of the most powerful stars along the zodiac and it channels the kind of showy, regal energy that Mars has a better affinity for. So Mars will be much happier moving past Regulus at less than full speed since he is just emerging from retrogression. That being said, the super long stay in Cancer would result in neecha bhanga at some point for those whom Mars is both a rajayogakaraka and has other mitigating factors. For the rest, well, its moving out on the 26th May anyways.

However our intent here was to provide some retrospective analysis - so let's look at the overlap between the portfolios of mars and of cancer - also representing the 4th house of the kalpurusha. Mars represents the military, land (also a 4th house signification), Mars is bhumiputra - so he affects the earth in general and also the oceans, especially during the transit in Cancer. Mars also represents athletes, young men, testosterone and sexuality. It represents engineering and machinery, again in a marine environment since its in cancer. Mars also rules the Manipur chakra and the digestive fire.

So lets start with the military and defense forces. Mars had just moved into cancer when the shootings happened at the Fort Hood military base - the most populous base in the US. Misplaced agression from a psycho-emotionally disturbed soldier. It has also been under Mars in Cancer that US has expanded its presence in Afghanistan. The Marja offensive was timed around the same time that Mars was approaching stationary to turn direct. I hope things go well for our forces. Mars in Cancer doesnt start wars. It just makes them harder to win. Because now we have to win hearts and minds, besides just killing the enemy. Since the "hearts and minds" component is central to the US initiative, it certainly improves our chances for success. The battle of Stalingrad was launched by the Germans when Mars was in the 28th degree of Cancer. Their objective was just to kill the enemy and they failed.

Is it just me or does anyone else also feel that we've had an awful lot of earthquakes in the last 7 odd months? Lets start with the Earthquake in Haiti - On a Tuesday, with Mars retrograde in Cancer and Chandra in Mula nakshatra. Earthquake in Chile - 27th Feb - with Mars getting close to retrograde stationary and conjunct with Chandra in Karakata. And this is not counting aftershocks and smaller magnitude earthquakes in California and Asia. Hmmm.

Well, its not just about earthquakes - Its also about land deals. Mars had just turned retrograde when someone I know with Mesha lagna had the good fortune of buying land overseas in the course of a short visit. Everyone acknowledged that the deal had gone through with unusually remarkable speed. Though I suspect it was a combination of Mars transiting the 4th, Guru in the 11th and Rahu in the 9th which expedited the process. But nonetheless Mars was aspecting Guru from the 4th - and forced the investment to be in real estate. Rahu in the 9th caused the overseas trip in the first place.

Mars rules Aries and Scorpio - so this transit cant have been entirely smooth for people with their moon in either sign. However Scorpio seems more circumspect being the debilitation sign of the moon. So do we know of any archetypical Martian personality with a moon in Scorpio? Lets just take Tiger Woods. Mars was deep in debiltation and careening forward when the scandal erupted. Mars went retrograde and Woods disappeared from the golf scene for rehab. Mars turned direct again in early March and Woods was back at Augusta!! Classic timing through the initial deep debilitation, retrogression and possible neecha bhanga (some would say the jury is still out), and the eventual restitution and return to competition. It is interesting to note that his Scorpio moon is conjoined with Venus and aspected by Mars. Eliot spitzer has a Cancer moon conjoined with Mars and Venus. Conclusion: Beware the sexual appetites of the moon under the simultaneous influence of Venus and Mars (especially if one of the 3 is debilitated). Through this whole process, it is interesting to note that Woods' Sagittarius surya is under Rahu's shadow. For that matter Rahu in Sagittarius (Philosophy/Religion/ Church) and Mars in Cancer have also dogged the Catholic church with the child abuse scandal.

So we mentioned that Mars rules the digestive fire and the Manipur chakra. Someone I know with Cancer lagna and 3 fiery planets in lagna + budha had to be hospitalized and luckily escaped without damage to the kidney - a clear case of too much mars during the extended stay in cancer.

Mars debilitated produced some hyper-activity when surya was in Mesha. On Tuesday 20th April, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill started. Malfunctioning machinery in the ocean. Karka mangal all over again. With Surya in Mesha, the government has also been indulging in its fair share of futile actions. US started its investigation of Goldman, Arizona passed its controversial immigration law. Karkata Mangal has been causing blocked progress and false starts for the houses it owns and aspects. Now it has moved out of the shadow of its retrogression and is approaching Regulus. So hang in there - things are about to pick up speed again!!