Mars in Aquarius Cools the Fiery Creative Passions. No Overheating.

Mars is currently transiting Aquarius, marking the halfway point of our current two-year Mars cycle, which began during the Mars in Leo retrograde December 20, 2009 - March 10, 2010.

Mars in Aquarius is opposing the degrees of the previous Mars retrograde (0 to 19), bringing us to a 'Full Moon' culmination point in the ongoing process of fully reclaiming our personal primal creative force and then directing ourselves with and through it.

Mars retrogrades relate to a discharge of previous goals and ways we have directed our energy, especially physical energy, to meet those goals. They also kick off a new cycle with an infusion of new goals, new drives, new directions. There is a redirection of primal personal force and a shift in how we go about getting things done in our lives. A shift in how we battle our way through, surviving and (sometimes) thriving under the conditions in which we find ourselves as human beings on Planet Earth.

During the most recent Mars retrograde in Leo, we energetically recalibrated and reclaimed this primal creative force amidst rapidly changing conditions. We accepted redirection of our creative drives and a new shaping of goals and basically held on with all our might as we were zipped through a very rocky 2010.

From my Mars in Leo post at the official close of the previous two-year Mars cycle:

"With Mars in Leo, we are deeply desiring joy and fun in our lives and in our creations now, however that may come. We need to know, and to experience, that life can still be exciting, inspiring and loving. That it and we are still meaningful. That we're still loved. We need to take comfort and solace in the things that bring us and those around us delight and will need to throughout the next years. This is the balance to the glut of Aquarius energy.

We're living in times that are often bizarre, frightening and traumatic, aware as never before of possibilities for the future of humanity that are difficult, often impossible, to accept...

So we've filled our brains with information through the Aquarian technological mediums and now, in light of all that, Mars in Leo asks: Knowing all that you have come to know, what do you desire to create? And do you have the courage to follow the direction of the love in your heart? What will bring joy and love not only to you personally but to your fellow human beings and to your communities? How can you direct your personal creative power and energy in the ways most relevant within the context of the times in which we are living?"

At this halfway point, Leo's ruling planet, the Sun, is conjunct Mars in Aquarius (exact February 4) and our progress is lit up. We get a cool, detached status report and gain some perspective, an objective view of where this creative redirection has moved us from the winter of 2010 to now. How close we are to finding our place with it.

At this point in the cycle, with Mars in Aquarius, the focus turns to the broader community and how we take our places within that community as individuals, especially through what we create. This theme has been with us for a while now and is ongoing as Jupiter and soon Uranus in Aries spur increasing levels of individuation. Successfully meeting our goals means fully claiming and taking responsibility for our identities and individuality, harnessing and directing that energy, our personal instincts, as we buck the stream attempting to force us into robotic, manufactured, homogenized Human-Type Beings (TM).

Our success lies in being ourselves for the community, bringing the flavour only we, as individuals, can bring to friend and comrade groups, shaping every rough edge into a vehicle that serves our forward movement.

And at the same time, Saturn goes retrograde in Libra just after midnight tonight. It will be retrograde until mid-June, moving back over the degrees we have been in since late October 2010. There is some yielding necessary as well as some self-exertion. A delicate balance.

As much as our raw talents and individuality are drivers, we do have to be willing to take our place within larger groups, to work together when necessary, determining how to be part of the crowd without compromising ourselves heart and soul. We can't go it alone, but we have to stay true to ourselves and as Aquarian self-contained as possible. The Piscean leaning and energy propping is over.

Luckily, in the airy sign of the Aquarian water-bearer and trine Saturn in Libra, there is a tempering of the raw aggression (and anger) of Mars that will make it easier to take our places socially and community-wise over the next month. Just don't let anyone force your head under.

Aries New Moon: A New Two-Year Creative Cycle Gets a Strong - Yet Gradual - Push Forward

 

We're heading to a New Moon at 24 degrees Aries (6:29 a.m. on Wednesday, April 14), and this is the official Grand Opening kick-off for both spring in the Northern Hemisphere and for the new two-year Mars cycle we've just entered.

Mars is the planet that rules the sign Aries, so we say that Mars, currently just up to full speed direct in Leo, is the dispositor of this New Moon, adding a crucial layer of influence to whatever is initiated here.

Mars in Leo is squaring Mercury in Taurus, slowing to go retrograde April 17, so the creative cycle getting off the ground at this New Moon is being tempered by the influence of slow-and-steady Mercury in Taurus. Our steps have to be sure and solid and real as we head forward from here, and we're really digging in in the typically Taurean way.

There is also a necessity to let things unfold in natural timing to secure a solid foundation for our creative output. A little slower than both Mercury and Mars would like, but this is a good thing. In the physical realm, things take their sweet time to grow, and that makes them even better - as is the case with the unfoldment of this Mars cycle.

Mars retrograded in Leo from December 20, 2009 to March 10, 2010 and is just now back up to full speed direct. Mars retrogrades once every two years, marking a new cycle related to all things Martian - especially the setting of new personal goals, the realization of desires and the use of our will and action to achieve those goals and desires.

In Leo, the goals we've set are related to what we desire to initiate and create purely from the love in our hearts - both in our personal lives and in our communities - over the next two years and beyond. The things that will bring heartfelt joy and delight to us and to those around us, sustaining us and our communities through the rough patches ahead.

Love in action (Mars in Leo) is the driving creative force here. Love as the most raw, vital force in our lives, propelling our actions and fuelling our motivations.

This placement also has a bit of an edge to it as we have to fight (Mars) for love to prevail as the force motivating action and direction over the next two years - a crucial tipping point period in many ways.

This Aries New Moon brings themes related to the struggle for survival of the self and our personal identities, exactly as they are. Going forward, we will have to draw battle lines at times for independence, autonomy and the right to self-direction as the Aquarian paradigm begins, ensuring the exact right creative direction for us as individuals. We will have to put some effort (Mars) into it, loving ourselves and each other through even the tough stuff, and we will have to fight for those we love, at times. The fierce, fierce power of Leonine love. Cross it at your own risk.

Mars in Leo also provides a means to increasing the strength and vitality of this love in our lives by keeping it moving and flowing. Mars loves action/motion.

In Leo, the flavour of our Martian goals relates to the application of personal artistry, self-expression and personality, fun, glamour, romance and playfulness. As an offshoot of the romance, children could be involved - either goals to make new ones or goals related to the kids already here.

Here are a couple background posts on the Mars retrograde period in Leo:

Mars Retrograde in Leo: Reclaiming Our Primal Creative Force in the Face of Shifting Structures and Changing Paradigms

Full Moon in Leo and a Sun-Mars Opposition Mark the Official End of the Previous Two-Year Mars Cycle

During the Mars retrograde, we reclaimed our primal creative force and brought it back to our hearts, strong and pure. We slowed our creative processes and our creative output as we were redirected, slightly or completely, and were moved forward again in stronger, more heartfelt directions as Mars went direct.

Our hearts have to be in it now 100%, or really, why bother?

Post-retrograde, we now take charge of the autonomous use of our creative force to achieve goals related to living a life we love to live and seeing the people we love doing the same.

The Full Moon in Leo at the end of January marked the official close of the previous two-year Mars cycle, which had a Cancerian theme.

Now this Aries New Moon, disposited by Mars in Leo, creates an initiating push into this new creative cycle. We officially begin here after the overlapping period of the Mars retrograde and station.

There is a lot of fire energy involved here - passion, joy, creativity, inspiration. Zing! So focus on the new directions and initiatives beginning here that will stoke these qualities in you. We're leaving the past two years behind and moving on.

We're currently in the Dark of the Moon in Pisces, getting still and doing the preparatory wrap-up related to final-sign-of-the-zodiac Pisces themes. I'm excruciatingly happy to let the last bits of Pisces drip to a conclusion here because, for me, that was one wack-ass Pisces season we just went through.

The closer we get to the finale of the Piscean Era, the more overwhelming and draining the Pisces work can be - and we're very, very close to the end here.

Uranus and Neptune (in mutual reception) semi-sextile each other exactly at 28 degrees Pisces/Aquarius on Tuesday, April 13, as the Moon heads to newness in Aries, and you can see the work we've completed here related to the overlap between Piscean and Aquarian eras. We've hit a mark, heading into this fresh, new Aries New Moon, and that is truly something to celebrate.

The Moon enters Aries at 7:31 a.m. tomorrow morning (MDT).

Full Moon in Leo and a Sun-Mars Opposition Mark the Official End of the Previous Two-Year Mars Cycle

And a cheer goes up across the land! Or it would if we weren't so exhausted and/or emotionally wrecked from the past two years of life on Earth.

I will attempt a post here to mark the astro events of January 29. I'm still having Cipro issues, but I'll give it my best...

The Sun in Aquarius and Mars retrograde in Leo oppose each other just after noon (MT) tomorrow at 10 degrees of the signs. This marks the point in the Mars retrograde process when we have officially discharged the remnants of the previous Mars cycle (December 2007 - January 29, 2010) which began when Mars retrograded in Cancer.

The Moon enters Leo Friday morning and moves all day to a conjunction with Mars Rx at 10:20 p.m. and then to an opposition to the Sun in Aquarius an hour later at 11:18 p.m. This is the yearly Leo Full Moon and, conjunct Mars retrograde just as it opposes the Sun, is an indicator of the emotional culmination of the previous Mars cycle.

This Full Moon is also an indicator that we are ready to let our hearts be our guides as we move forward now. We're ready to fully commit in this way, ready to fight (where we have to) for the right to be self-directed, following our heart's lead. Opposite the Sun in Aquarius, this infusion of heart-level Leonine direction and action is a shift from the very intellectual Aquarius energy we've been used to over the past while.

The difficulty of the past two years, especially, has left us stripped down and desiring to connect at a purely loving level with the people who share the same love we have inside. Horrific difficulty and devastation will do that to ya. At this point, love is all that matters.

Whatever goals we have been working on since the end of 2007, especially related to gaining emotional strength and independence, moving on from old family patterns and connecting our efforts and wills fully to our emotional and soul-level guidance have come to a point of completion, and I hope we have fully achieved our goals on this front.

Last summer's double New Moons in Cancer combined with the triple eclipse season (in Capricorn, Cancer and Aquarius) really intensified our efforts and challenges to find new emotional anchors in light of shifting consciousness about the way forward from here. That eclipse season was a very emotional time full of (for me, at least) intense homesickness and a feeling that I didn't know where (if anywhere) I belonged. I've still got those feelings to a certain extent, although they are not as desperate now as they were then.

The events of the most recent eclipses (in Cancer on December 31, 2009 and Capricorn January 15, 2010) were also emotionally devastating for me and many, many others around the world.

My grandmother (who was overdosed horribly with morphine in the hospital around this time) was talking about how she felt absolutely flattened, and I felt the same way. The past two months have left many feeling extremely vulnerable, helpless and at the mercy of the events and energies swirling around. On a grand scale, the people of Haiti are experiencing this with the horrific devastation of the earthquake and the loss of, some reports say, 500,000+ people. Half a million souls leaving the Earth in such a sudden and unexpected way and the grief and desperation of those who survived has an effect on us all, especially those who are very energetically sensitive.

Tomorrow, we find ourselves at the official discharge point of the previous two-year Mars cycle. The directions we initiated two years ago have garnered their results. We've gotten our emotional sea legs under us as best we can (although it certainly doesn't feel like it a lot of the time), and we now shift the focus of our personal desires and exertion of wills from inner goals (Cancer) to outer ones (Leo). We now move into a cycle related to our creative goals and desires, finding new direction in light of what we now understand to be the situation on this little planet. Mars in Leo Retrograde: Reclaiming Our Primal Creative Force in the Face of Shifting Structures and Changing Paradigms

The shifting structures and changing paradigms pick up speed now making it even more crucial that we are connected to love and to our true heart's direction. 2010 will see two more Saturn-Pluto squares and the final two (of five) Saturn-Uranus oppositions. Dates here. Lots of challenging movement and shake-ups. We're going to need all the love (especially self-love) we can find to guide us through.

And just as we release the old Mars cycle and enter a new one, Saturn Rx in Libra makes its second of three squares to Pluto in Capricorn, exact January 31 at 2:27 p.m. More shifting and morphing of power structures within business and personal relationships, done a bit more on the down low with Saturn retrograde.

With Mars in Leo, we are deeply desiring joy and fun in our lives and in our creations now, however that may come. We need to know, and to experience, that life can still be exciting, inspiring and loving. That it and we are still meaningful. That we're still loved. We need to take comfort and solace in the things that bring us and those around us delight and will need to throughout the next years. This is the balance to the glut of Aquarius energy.

We're living in times that are often bizarre, frightening and traumatic, aware as never before of possibilities for the future of humanity that are difficult, often impossible, to accept.

Pluto in Capricorn has begun to rip the mask off the sociopathic corporate oligarchy masquerading as elected public officials. The collusion between and merger of government and Big Business are attempting to enter the final stages, and real public will has never been further from the minds and decision-making processes of the people at the top of the pyramid-scheme hierarchies.

With Chiron, Neptune and Jupiter in Aquarius, we saw the rise of technology as God and Atlantean throwbacks hell-bent on forcing history to repeat - bringing about the destruction of humans and human societies through the arrogant misuse and abuse of science and technology. Trying to control something as fundamental as nature - imagine the arrogance! The dark side of Aquarius. Yes, it exists.

Many intuitives have been honing in on the HAARP's activities and the use of technology designed to manipulate weather since the horrific earthquake in Haiti. The misuse of energy itself - the symbol for Aquarius being two energy currents.

The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has spoken out accusing the United States of launching an earthquake-inducing weapon off the coast of Haiti and triggering the earthquake. Chavez says the weapon was designed with Iran in mind. Whether you think this is hogwash, world leaders (and he's not the only one) are bringing the misuses of technology to the public's attention. What was once science fiction is now reality.

The destructive hidden agendas so often attached to foreign aid and assistance these days are also (finally) coming to collective awareness (IMF and World Bank shenanigans included). We're reminded of the fact that Haiti is sitting on a reserve of oil, a substance the United States is willing to do anything to gain control over. Here is an article by journalist John Pilger about just that called "The Kidnapping of Haiti."

So we've filled our brains with information through the Aquarian technological mediums and now, in light of all that, Mars in Leo asks: Knowing all that you have come to know, what do you desire to create? And do you have the courage to follow the direction of the love in your heart? What will bring joy and love not only to you personally but to your fellow human beings and to your communities? How can you direct your personal creative power and energy in the ways most relevant within the context of the times in which we are living?

We'll be keeping the new directions of our creative endeavours close to our chests until Mars gets back up to speed direct and the Sun transits Aries in March-April. Listen closely until then as Mars retrogrades and slowly re-directs us in certain ways.

Jupiter has now left Aquarius and entered Pisces, and we have an infusion of spiritual faith, love and truth to guide us in this process of determining new creative direction - just in the nick of time! I must say, all that Aquarius energy without the benefit of Piscean integration was wearing on my last nerve. All those excessively masculine Atlantean throwback versions of reality and of the future were really getting me down.

But thankfully Jupiter is now in the feminine water sign of spiritual understanding and communion, Pisces, to show us the ultimate truth of our energetic connection. To show us that what's good and right and loving and compassionate can never be destroyed or defeated. And that we can never be truly disconnected from that force so long as we live it ourselves as our primary guidance.

I don't think we have an easy road ahead of us with this whole Aquarius shift thing. As I've written before, there are far too many people trying to bulldoze full speed ahead into Aquarius without first learning, understanding and integrating the necessary Piscean lessons and wisdom. Far too much arrogance and detachment from the suffering of fellow human beings (especially among the imbalanced masculine) and far too little understanding of the real, authentic spiritual nature of our existences.

Jesus Christ is probably the most well-known Piscean figure, and we're still playing out that story in many respects - people being murdered, tortured, ostracized and abused because their spiritual natures and ideas about peace, kindness, cooperation, love and compassion threaten the status quo.

Chiron, the wounded healer, ingresses into Pisces in May of this year and will be there for the next seven-ish years - just as the "official" Aquarian Era gets underway. I think this is an indication of the difficulty and pain that will come about as those who hold true Piscean wisdom and understanding watch arrogant and destructive people continue to wreak their havoc and sacrifice (Pisces) human lives for increased power and control.

However, Neptune will also be at home in Pisces (the sign of its rulership) during this time (April 2011 - January 2026), so spiritual reinforcements will be flooding onto the planet full force to get us over the hump. We'll be supported through any great trials with this influx of loving spiritual energy and guidance, and the Chiron in Pisces wounds will experience healing. Our spiritual connections will be very immediate and easily accessed during Neptune in Pisces. We'll need all the help we can get, but tip the scales we will.

One of the most beautiful and comforting lessons Pisces teaches us is that we never struggle alone, no matter how isolated and desolate we may feel. So many good people before us (and with us now) have carried the burden and shared the effort, and we're in it together, come what may. Always have been, always will be. We can take comfort in and find great strength through the good people in our lives. And know that the truth - what we know in our hearts and souls - can never be stamped out (though they sure try). And for those of us traipsing through physical lives on this planet at this point in human history, there is assistance when we need it. There is unconditional love. There are reinforcements aiding us at every turn. Spirit whispers its love for us every day in so many different ways and tells us which way to go when we find ourselves at dark forks in the road.

The loving spirit of the billions of people who have shared and continue to share the struggle to uphold what is right and good is with us always, guiding us, assisting us and cheering us on. And that force is not to be messed with. I pity the fool who tries.

Mars Retrograde in Leo: Reclaiming Our Primal Creative Force in the Face of Shifting Structures and Changing Paradigms

(December 20, 2009 - March 10, 2010)

Mars entered Leo October 16, 2009 and will be transiting the sign of passionate, creative self-expression for almost eight months, until June 7, 2010. This period includes a retrograde beginning at 19 degrees Leo on December 20, 2009 and ending all the way back at the 0 degree, stationing direct on March 10, 2010.

As we enter the month of December, Mars is slowing to station retrograde, and we start to get a flavour for what this retro is going to mean in our personal lives.

Mars in Leo relates, very basically, to a desire to create. The motivation to create something that didn't exist before, something only we personally could create, and something we love enough that we are willing to pour our hearts - our blood, sweat and tears - into bringing it into existence, often with no guarantee of the result.

The zodiac sign Leo relates, in part, to children - children being (arguably) the most wondrous use of Leonine creative potential. It's a sign related to personal artistry and self-expression, traditionally associated with the performing arts like acting, dance and music.

But those are just some forms the energy of the sign takes...

The force of Leo as a sign relates to something broader (and possibly sappier): the creative power of the love in our hearts.

In basic terms, Leo refers to the artistry in each and every one of us and the realization of personal creative potential, whatever form the expression should take.

Creative self-actualization. Creating a life that is a pleasing and satisfying extension of who we truly are, from the heart. Using our particular talents, our particular self-expression, our particular personalities and shining the big, bold light of who we are in the world. Being the stars that we are.

Mars is the action planet, related to physical energy, will, goals, direction, motivation and desire, as well as sexuality. It's basically what gets us going, what excites a passion and desire within us.

As Mars transits and retrogrades in Leo, we're setting a new cycle of creative goals for ourselves and releasing previous ones. We're determining how to direct our physical energy and what actions we need to take to achieve the sexy, new creative goals that have us excited at the moment.

But more importantly, I think, in the face of shifting structures and the burgeoning Aquarian paradigm, this Mars retrograde in Leo coincides with us reclaiming and harnessing our personal, primal creative force.

We're reconnecting with our deepest heart's desires for love, joy, fun, excitement and the freedom to express whatever is in our hearts to express. We're reclaiming the right to be self-directed in these ways, to use our creative power only as we see fit.

Mars goes retrograde at 19 degrees Leo - just shy of an opposition to the triple conjunction in Aquarius. (Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune will be at 22-24 degrees of the sign.)

And this is purposeful. Because we need this time with ourselves and with our creative pursuits to get clear on where we go from here. There has been so much focus on Aquarius, so much detachment that has been required of us as we speed through these changing times. We've had to keep our eyes on the prize, and it was so far off in the distance at times that the immediacy of Leo, the joy of creating and being ourselves in the present moment, took a back seat as we worked on bringing about our visions for the collective future.

And now we need this retrograde time to draw our creative energy back inside us, to reconnect with our deep, primal creative force and bring it back to our hearts, energizing and fortifying ourselves for what's to come.

This will ensure that what we do and what we involve ourselves in from here, as the paradigm continues to rapidly shift, is from our deepest heart's desire.

We're fighting to get our mojo back with this retrograde in the midst of what are proving to be often quite unsexy times.

And we thaw the cool, Aquarian detachment here with a Mars in Leo furnace of passion, creativity and desire. Stoking the fire. Slowly, though, all through the transit and retrograde.

And this could be the frustrating part. Both Mars and Leo are masculine, outer-oriented. Both are in their element with external action and expression. But with a retrograde, the energy is drawn in. It's a time of disengagement from what has run its course and a recalibration and readying for what is up ahead. Retrogrades require patience and an inner focus, and that could feel quite thwarting to the Mars in Leo energy.

Mars retrograde is a time of (often) lower physical energy when it is not as easy as usual to exert your will and get things done. There is a deliberate timing related to retrogrades that, again, could be frustrating with this combination of planet and sign.

Although, those who have a somewhat thwarted natal Mars (through retrograde, detriment or aspects) could find things are easier than usual in those respects since they are accustomed to these types of conditions and deal with them better than most.

The level of frustration experienced will coincide greatly with how readily an individual allows any necessary creative re-direction. Leo is a fixed sign, and changes in course are not so comfortable. (Think of a mother being told that her child needs a correction or change in behaviour, for example. Not so comfortable.) But any changes in direction initiated now are for the best and have the future situation in mind.

This Mars in Leo retrograde will also be a time of strengthening self-love because loving ourselves fully and truly, through it all, is so crucial as we navigate the bumps and obstacles of these sometimes intimidating and frightening times. We can reclaim love and self-love as our prime motivators here in a world that seems to cultivate self-loathing as a marketing technique. The revolutionary act of loving yourself no matter what!

This Mars in Leo retrograde will allow us to get clear on the specific talents we hold inside that we simply must share with the world and also on the most powerful creative avenues to take with those talents.

We'll make sure here that our creative force is not being co-opted or siphoned off in ways that are not true to us.

There is a voracious appetite with Aquarius for "the next new thing," "something different," "something unique." And there are many people still playing in the same old structures who are looking to latch onto real, independent creative expression and artistry and milk it for all its worth to reinforce the same old bullshit.

We can ensure here that the goals for our creative energy are purely our own, connected to our own visions for the future, and that we are not unwittingly fuelling nefarious people or agendas.

With this Mars in Leo retrograde, we can reclaim our creative forces completely and stake our claim for their independent expressions. We can ensure that our personal creative energy is working to bring about real, meaningful change, not a phony Hollywood-ized, Obama-fied, commodified version of "the future." Creative self-expression that is relevant both personally and for these times, a force for freedom, both personal and collective. Here, we make sure that what we are creating comes from our own hearts and that we are not just following a formula that has been set out for us. There is no pattern to follow here. Just the raw, powerful direction of our own creative desire.

I hope we can finally slough off hollow, Hollywood versions of art and pseudo-artists once and for all and embrace our own artistry and the artistry of others who have something real to offer.

After this retrograde, we will be ready to head in new creative directions where necessary.

There are ways we've been exerting ourselves, ways we've been using our personalities and forms of creative self-expression that need to be re-directed, and that is what this retrograde process will do. (*cough!* Pluto in Leos *cough!*)

Reconnecting with our primal creative force is a big part of finding our true places within the developing Aquarian communities. We're creating the networks and communities as we go. Instead of trying to fit into crumbling, outdated constructs, we're creating new situations that have not previously existed.

Moving to artisan-quality lives with the personal, human touches that don't exist with corporate cookie-cutter products or roles. Taking pride in who we are and in what we do, in what we produce.

It's been done before, many times, as a reaction to industrialization and depersonalized corporatization.

And here we're making another attempt at it because really, it's all we can do. At the point of Pluto transiting Capricorn, the corporate structures and the factory production lines have gotten so out of control, so insane, so inhumane that going back to direction from the heart and soul is the only way.

Another interesting point to this retrograde is that Mars retrogrades back to 0 degrees Leo and stations direct there - the first degree of the sign - but it doesn't dip back into Cancer.

This is good news for anyone who has found the last two years (since the previous Mars retrograde) quite difficult. Mars takes just a hair under two years to go through the zodiac, and the last retrograde was in Cancer from November 2007 to January 2008.

Because Mars in Leo does not re-enter Cancer during this retrograde, it tells us that the goals we set then for achieving emotional independence, strength and vitality have been completed. We fought hard to break out of detrimental emotional habits, especially related to co-dependence and old familial patterns, and our hard work has gotten results.

At the point of this Mars retrograde in Leo, we are on a new emotional foundation (also kicked into gear by last summer's eclipse season) and can use it now as an anchoring point as we paint a new reality for this little planet...