Editor's Note: Mark Borax is the author of 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future, and longtime co-author and co-teacher with astrologer Ellias Lonsdale.

February 2012, Putney Vermont
Water Dragon
Since the Dragon took flight at the end of January, as we move one month closer to the June, 2012 entry to the Aquarian Age (See my special 2012 three-part report -- things continue to heat up in the cosmic weather.


The balance we must strike in this Year of the Dragon is the vast stretch between our highest dreams and whatever it takes to bring them down to earth. This stretch is accentuated by Venus opposing Mars on the first day of the month.

When the masculine stands opposite the feminine like this, the stage is set for an intense yet transformative showdown, not only between male and female forces out there in society, but within each of us as well. Our need to serve the Whole and yet be utterly true to ourselves is what's at stake, and the gods have a sense of irony, as increasing challenges with others mirror the need to get clear within ourselves. The underlying unity of all things indicates that even this sharp conflict can lead us back to wholeness, if we use the pressure to summon truth and clarity out of our own ignorance and indecision, rather than fighting the lost cause of false pride and ego, or failing to stand up for what we believe in.

Heightened by Mars opposite Venus, questions of loyalty, betrayal, abandonment, sexual faithfulness, monogamy and yearning for a wild freedom of the soul ripple through our relationships.

As the U.S. presidential elections continue to dominate mass consciousness, the duality enacted is that of personal discrimination versus following the herd. Political distortions and social uprisings intensify, with both Mars and Venus playing out their own distortions. Stubborn male pride disguises its distortions in false words politicians have become accustomed to spewing left and right. To get to the truth, try something radical -- turn off the TV, sit down with others, and talk. It may tune you into a living future that you actually know more about than these so-called experts.

In this clashing of forces, Venus and Mars seek common ground to renew their bonds, but come at it from opposite sides. With Venus in Pisces, the mixed emotions of the feminine can dominate with psychic cross-currents that neither men nor women can deal with until they emerge out of the shadows into plain sight. And Mars in Virgo's need to claim ground, hammer on the specifics rather than go with the flow, can feel relentless and invasive to the Piscean need to surrender. Such cross-currents make it hard for the masculine to understand what the feminine is really saying, and fathom what she needs most from him. The watery approach of Venus in Pisces can feel endless and disorienting to the earthy, specific needs of Mars in Virgo. Are these differences nitpicky aspects that can be surrendered, or more fundamental discord indicating the need to sever the tie and move on?

It's difficult, as well, for the feminine to sort the truth of male claims from their ego. With Mars in Virgo, the masculine in us all is laboring under the increasing strain of a growing list of complex factors that need to be handled each day to simply make life work right. What ought to be our natural birthright - a clear simple existence, where life matters and love counts, has become a remote longing, more relegated to books and movies than real life. Both genders are being hard-put at such a time to push on to the next stage of development.

What's at stake is not just sexual love but your ties with jobs, neighborhoods, careers, spiritual groups, political parties, houses, families, and geographical regions. Everything you belong to is up for grabs, to initiate the deeper truth rising up from the roots of our species, especially as we get closer to the Summer Tunnel of Transformation. The power of opposition is that it can make you more of who you are by aiming a fierce grow light on these inner dialogs. Now is the time to distinguish between your two main kinds of difficulties: the kind you need to face to grow stronger, versus the kind you need to let go of, because at bottom they amount to endless nagging hassles that spin you around the karmic merry-go-round, without ever getting anywhere. You can tell the difference with your heart more than your head.

The gift of duality is that it highlights the truth of how we feel, to both ourselves and others. Opposition casts into sharp relief the hot spotlight of what matters to you, what counts, what's worth fighting for, and what's better to surrender to. The common ground beyond opposition is that we've all been thrown together as souls incarnating into one of the most troublesome and questionable periods of human life on Earth, when there are infinitely more questions than answers. Our grandparents had less to deal with than our parents, who had less to deal with than we do - and our job is to simplify things as much as we can so our children don't have to work so hard.

The increased polarity of Mars and Venus this month intensifies key underlying questions of your life, pulling you back from hyper-extension in a world gone mad, into the things that really matter. Where you stand alone and where you stand together are important distinctions now, because the world is getting ready for the Summer of 2012 the way we once were getting ready for the Summer of Love - many things are going to change, and the Winter and Spring of the Dragon are the Get-Ready days for the great transformation to come. A tug o' war is great for getting you to claim your rightful ground - and also pull your feet out from under you, knocking you on your ass, in order to get you to laugh at yourself and let go of false pride and stubborn ego. The sheer edginess of things heating up now can teach you who you are and who you aren't, what you need to let go of and hang onto.