Yearly Horoscope: Aries – 2020

By Jerre Wroble

For you, Child of Mars, the journey is the reward, as they say. This year, the Red Planet, which takes two years to complete its journey around the sun returns to Aries, the sign it rules, on June 27. As such, you may have a sense of “endings” as 2020 kicks off. Yet, by no means does that mean the quest is over or that the race is run.

For much of the past two years, you’ve may have felt under the thumb of someone who thinks they run your life. In short, you’ve been covering for them and pulling their fat out of the fire on numerous occasions. Plus, your spidey senses tell you this person might be dabbling in the dark arts, with questionable dealings and associations. And you find yourself asking the same question this year as you did last: Should I stay or should I go?

A conjunction between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn on Jan. 12 helps answer that question. It is especially prominent in your solar chart as it takes place in the house that highlights your career or worldly status. The two planets have been gradually converging for almost two years, and the burden of so many secretive and unspoken elements have weighed heavily on your shoulders, almost to a breaking point. At the same time, you’re realizing it’s something your suit of armor is uniquely qualified to deal with.

If you were born from April 11 through April 13 or have other cardinal planets (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) at 22 degrees, this transit could be quite personal. Squaring your Aries Sun, this conjunction is teaching what it means to stand tall and not let bullies and overbearing types force you to sink to their level. And no matter how it all shakes out, you’ll be left with something they can never take from you, be it knowledge, awareness, canniness …  or your soul.

If you stay, your hard work of the past year could pay off quite handsomely, beyond your wildest dreams, in fact. But just as easily, the rewards could bypass you and be siphoned off by the misfiring figurehead you’ve been attempting to rescue for the past year. It’s a gamble, but in your heart, you know just what to do.

Just prior to this transit, a Jan. 10 lunar eclipse touches upon the same sensitive point, sending its own round of shockwaves through the home and careers sectors of your solar chart and creating some temporary “unknowns” that will impact your decision making, at least until you have a better view of the cosmic chaos. Thus, now is not the best time to make career-altering pronouncements.

From Feb. 17 to March 30, after the dust has settled, Mars itself will travel through the sign of Capricorn in your solar 10th house. Not only is Mars exalted in this sign — adopting the Capricorn playbook as it does (e.g., being ambitious, persistent, realistic, practical and disciplined) – but Mars has the good fortune to be escorted through the house by benevolent Jupiter who serves as a professional mentor or teacher to help Mars navigate the serious intensity of Pluto and Saturn and make the most of his time in the 10th house (and by that we mean, money, recognition and accomplishment).

With the Sun in Aries (from March 20 to April 19) and Mars in Aquarius (from March 31 to May 12), you can’t help but be buoyed by the shift in energy, changing from earth elements to that of fire and air. Feels so much lighter! But, sorry to say, you’re not out of the woods just yet. Because at precisely the same time as Mars is changing signs, a shadow rides along on Mars’ coattails. Cue Jerry Seinfeld’s snarl of “Newman!” — only replace it with “Saturn!” It’s true: Saturn changes signs from Capricorn to Aquarius at the same time as your ruling planet. You’d like to be out fighting the good fight for humanity as a bona fide social justice warrior and instead, you feel your creativity and passion blocked or at least tempered by an authority figure — boss, teacher, coach, minister or police officer.

And to make matters more interesting (note, we didn’t say “worse”), both Mars and Saturn (the bad boys of the zodiac) form a square to Uranus in Taurus (the planet of surprises) and co-ruler of Aquarius. You’re likely to feel like the tail end of a chain of ice skaters playing “crack the whip” as regards your career — out of control and possibly jerked around.

In theory, as Mars passes through long-suffering Pisces from May 13 through June 28, you should be preparing for the true climax of your hero’s journey. Everything that happened in the past two years culminates in a crowning test for you, which if you pass, you can return home with a prize won during the journey. Not only that, you return a different person than when you started out.

Yet, when Mars returns home to Aries on June 29, you may feel a bit like the underdog yourself. Yes, you’ve made it “home” and you’re in a position at last to be yourself and do your Aries thing, dashing at windmills if you like. But, you may be experiencing difficulties in putting your best foot forward. You may feel tongue-tied and self-conscious speaking out in a crowd. You may not be sure how to ask for what you need. Welcome to Chiron, a potent asteroid in the early degrees of Aries.

At an earlier point in time, you may have brushed off an emotional or physical injury without realizing its long-term effect. We get it: You’re brave and resilient. As a child of Mars, you enjoy surpassing the doctor’s prognosis and leaving the hospital before you’re healed.

Chiron, while not a planet, is a slow-moving ice body that symbolizes a healing challenge. As long as Chiron is in your sign (which, sorry to say, will be until 2027!), you’ll have opportunities aplenty to tune in and figure out your basic needs such as a healthy diet, movement, physical therapy, rest and relaxation. You’ll also learn to advocate for yourself in way that respects your body for being the armored Humvee that it is for your soul. As you master new coping skills and modalities, you might find it puts you in touch with a tribe of fellow sufferers who can benefit from your experiences and unique perspective.

Thanks to a retrograde — where Mars appears to move backward in the sky — from Sept. 10 to Nov. 14, Mars will remain in Aries, the sign it rules, until the year ends. Normally, this would be excellent news. But, just to be certain you’ve mastered the lessons of the past two years, your friendly neighborhood taskmaster, Saturn, is also moving backward, right back into the sign of Capricorn.

Here, Saturn continues to rub Mars the wrong way, forming an exact square on Aug. 24 and Sept. 30. You’re likely to lose your cool should you feel your ability to call the shots curtailed. Always remember: Count to 10!

The backward tango with Saturn will also dredge up memories that help you look more deeply at your wounds, to seek help for lingering anxieties, to strengthen and prepare for your next journey and to determine what is worth fighting for and who you want to help.

Vets returning from war often feel out of sorts as they attempt to reintegrate into society and chart a new course. That’s because they’ve changed fundamentally. With Saturn dogging your every move, keep in mind, he’s really not trying to annoy you. Or even rain on your parade. Saturn wants you to build your future carefully, with forethought, and one step at a time.  Later in 2021, you will make a friend of Saturn but for now, through the rest of 2020, take heed of the lessons, recharge and get back in the rescue game, where you do your best work.

You’ll want to check back here to find out how the journey unfolds in 2021.