How to deal with the Cosmic Chaos of Mars Retrograde…
As if chaos was lacking from our lives at the moment, Mars entered retrograde on the 9th September and will stay there until 13th November. Entering into retrograde only once every two years, it tends to feel like a disturbance to our day-to-day lives. Mars makes us want more! We are typically more powerful, daring, forceful, and assured during it’s presence. However, this is a retrograde we are talking about. The power of Mars clashes against the torpor of a retrograde. These two contradictory forces face up against one another to leave us feeling discombobulated, out of our element, and almost at odds with the world. However frustrating the slow pace of the retrograde, the depleting power of it is unfortunately only amplified by the current waning stage of the moon. During the moons waning phase, it is common to feel our ambition and creativity waning with some of our projects grinding to a temporary halt. You will wonder, ‘What is happening to me?’ Or ‘Why do I feel like this?’. That’s okay. Take it in for a moment. Experience it in full, allow the discombobulation to roll over you like a savage green wave and emerge from the other side settled in the acknowledgement that the confusion is out of your control. In an ideal world, the perfect advice for this phase would be to move with it and not work against it. The surrender to the things we cannot control often leads to the most inner peace. However, understandably not everyone can afford to ride out the halt. Some of us will be in the position to have to find motivation. Below are a few ideas on how to muster up that motivation and some crystal recommendations to work with to bring you power and focus.
1: Starting big, clarify your vision.
So often we are set back by lack of clarity, and particularly with Mars in retrograde this unstable time can lead to confusion of goals. People tend to think that to find the perfect goal for yourself, it needs to be natural and effortless. While that is wonderful if it does happen, it’s okay for a goal to feel like work and yet still be the perfect one for you. The perfect goal is the one that achieves your purpose for action. It’s not enough to just know what you don’t want, find a purpose for what you’re doing. Are you proving something? Achieving something? Providing for someone else? The goal for what you want to achieve out of something can often be more important than the goal itself, so clarify that vision first.
Crystal: Citrine. Natural Citrine is a stone of manifestation, imagination, and personal will. It sparks the imaginative process and gets the creative mind going. Use it’s influence to turn the dreams you create for yourself into a reality.
2: If going big makes you feel like you really do just want to go home, try going small. Small steps lead to big journeys.
Make a cup of tea, cacao, or hot water with lemon, (or any hot drink you fancy) sit down and look at the list of tasks you’ve still got to accomplish. Think about how to do this effectively. Rather than thinking of them as an overwhelming mass to finish at some point, assign each a time slot. This will break them down into small and easily manageable accomplishments. Knowing that you can give attention to each task and clarifying precisely when each will get ticked off in the day will bring peace of mind.
Crystal: Tiger’s Eye. This stone will aid in keeping your thoughts flowing and focused. By assisting to eliminate a scattered brain, Tiger’s Eye can fill us with confidence and as it works from the power centre in the third chakra, the Solar Plexus.
3: Borrow from our Scandinavian friends and follow the principles of Hygge: find happiness in the simple things.
Hygge is used to acknowledge a feeling or moment, wherever it might be, no matter how ordinary or extraordinary as cosy, charming. Find the joy in each task you have to complete. We can acknowledge, this isn’t always easy. Rather than allowing the dread of something you don’t want to do put you off doing it, focus on the joy that can only be achieved from finishing it. Flip the negativity on it’s head and through that lack of motivation you will find the motivation necessary to rid yourself of the apprehensive feeling.
Crystal: The sunstone or sólarsteinn. Interesting new research has lead to the discovering that Vikings used sunstones for navigation when sailing. Use them to guide you into finding your way.
4: Truly ask yourself, are you being challenged?
There is a sweet-spot somewhere in the middle for us all; too difficult and we become frustrated, wanting to give up, too easy and we feel lazy and unmotivated. A long to-do list can be deceiving. You may look at it and think of it as a challenge because the list seems numerous, but in reality the mundane nature of day to day tasks makes them appear more challenging than they actually are. It is very possible that you are feeling flat and unmotivated purely because your brain is simply being under stimulated.
Crystal: Carnelian. The stone of courage, motivation and endurance. With it’s fiery orange tones, Carnelian element is fire. Channel that blistering strength and energy to throw yourself into the challenge ahead. Be strong. Be bold. You can rise to any challenge and Carnelian will show you that.
5: Find the goal setting technique that suits your personality best.
We all learn in different ways, visually, audibly, orally, etc. We know what learning style is best for us, apply this same mindset to acquiring motivation. For example, if you are a visual person, it can be as simple as seeing it written in front of you. Something as simple as changing your phone screensaver to a visual of your goal would do the trick. Perhaps your strength is found through collaboration, tell friends and family what you’re hoping to accomplish knowing that they will likely ask you and hold you to those goals. Alternatively, positive affirmations might be the way forward for you. Make use of your phones voice memo app and record the sentences you need to hear to get the creativity flowing, listen back to these in the moments you need them most.
Crystal: Amethyst Cluster. The purple colour of Amethyst resonates with the Third Eye Chakra, and works on a high vibrational plane. This allows us to see things objectively so we don’t get so wrapped up in emotions.
Mars is in Retrograde and the Moon is waning over these next few days, along with our motivation, but ride the cosmic chaos, it’s going to be ok . If you can, reframe this time and use it for reflection and re-imagination. Take stock of the current positive forces you have in your life, the goals you have already achieved, be present and enjoy the world you have already created for yourself. If you’re not able to have a little time out and project deadline is looming, do not fret. Motivation can be found through looking inwards and using some of the tools you already have within you. You’ve got this!
Words: Cosmic Contributor Holly Westwood