There are often horrific events during Mars retrogrades. The Mars impulse–always in danger of getting dicey–comes more easily unhinged during these weeks. Events in Orlando just last week are a heartbreaking testament: Christina Grimmie’s murder, the Pulse nightclub massacre, and the alligator who grabbed the little boy on a Disneyworld vacation. Bad things happen all the time, but unusual patterns of events turn our eyes skyward. Mars retrograde (since April 17) brought us the massive fire in Canada; there was the Egyptian plane disappearing, and the mystery of that, unraveling oh so slowly; a boy jumped into a gorilla pit, and a rapist got a sentence fit for a prince. There is a lot that has captured our attention and outrage.
But perhaps nothing is more horrific than the fact that here mass murders aren’t so unusual. In the United States, they’ve become commonplace. Almost anyone can get their hands on an assault rifle. This truth goes beyond politics, global terrorism, mental disability, homophobia. It takes us straight into Terror with a capital “T.” Assault rifles are objects of Terror. War is their only purpose. Why do we need to preserve people’s right to purchase weapons designed solely for the mass shooting of people? Why do we need these at all? Like others, I am tired of our politicians’ “moments of silence.”
The Feminine is rising. Alongside the heartbreaking events of recent weeks, there have been many equally powerful Mars retrograde stories that inspire hope and awe. I think of the outcry against the Stanford rapist’s light sentence. If you have not yet read the powerful letter written by Brock’s victim, you’re missing an important document. Not only does she set the facts straight, she speaks from strength and with boundaries. We can learn from her. As VP Joe Biden acknowledged in his also powerful response, this “victim” is actually “a warrior–with a solid steel spine.” I also think of the people lined up for miles to donate blood after the Pulse shooting, and Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tony poignant acceptance sonnet, honoring the Orlando tragedy, his wife, and the divine feminine, with his heartbreaking insistence that “love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love. It cannot be killed or swept aside.”
Comedian Hasan Minhaj, speaking before a roomful of pundits and congressional workers noted, that since 1998, special interests like the NRA have funneled $3.7 million to Congress. He asks the congresspeople–who each earn over $200,000 a year–“If we raise four million dollars, would you guys take that to save lives?” What will it take for our leaders to serve the Great Mother and truly make our world a safer place?
Mars goes direct on June 29.
Thank you for posting the link to the Stanford rapist’s victim’s letter (and I don’t like those names – they depersonalize/humanize each of those persons, but they’re convention). I am a rape survivor who usually doesn’t think anything about my experience, because it was 35 years ago, and in the relative dark ages, when the detective in the urban area where it happened spoke to me similarly to the defendant’s attorney (“you must have liked it – usually rape victims in this city end up dead, beaten or shot to death – he must have felt like he was your boyfriend”). The stupidity of how many people in these situations speak – the attorneys, formerly the police, some members of the public, just reveal how insensitive we are to the loss of sovereignty over our own bodies in this culture. We treat people’s bodies the way we’ve treated our land – without sufficient respect. Perhaps this letter will help bring change.