Blog — declination

by Tony Howard

This month the declination of Mars gets so high that it is beyond the limit set by the Sun, so we say that Mars is "out of bounds." During this time, Mars will have more freedom than usual to accomplish Marsy types of endeavors. On the high end, this could be a great time for groundbreaking work, pushing forward an innovative agenda at work or in your creative endeavors.

At the low end, when a planet is out of bounds in a natal chart, it can relate to the person being seemingly unable or unwilling to question their own desires. Mars is the planet of "I want." So when transiting Mars is out of bounds, it might be that we are less likely to question what we want, and to take actions we might regret later, when Mars comes back into "normal" range.

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by Tony Howard

Next month I’ll give my first public conference lecture on out of bounds planets at the ISAR conference in Costa Mesa, CA. Since transiting Mars is currently out of bounds (through October 30), I thought I’d share some Mars out of bounds charts with you as well as a calendar of important aspects during this transit (you’ll find that below).

While doing research for my lecture, several patterns emerged as I pondered the names of well-known people with Mars out of bounds. Perhaps my favorite is that Mars out of bounds is strongly associated with innovation, trendsetting and originality in one’s art or societal contribution. I love it that this positive expression of Mars out of bounds is prominent. Because honestly, I was expecting to mainly see the violence, conflict and aggression side of Mars.

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When Steven asked me to write this month’s newsletter, the first idea that popped into my head was “Venus Out of Bounds.” I’d spent the last month editing and preparing his Moon Out of Bounds video and audio programs, so the subject was fresh on my mind. I thought, “If the out of bounds Moon is so dramatic in people’s charts, what about the other planets?” How would Mercury, Venus or Mars express when outside the “normal influence” of the sun?

If the out of bounds concept is new to you, start by reading Steven’s Out of Bounds Moon article, originally published in The Mountain Astrologer, which will lay out both the technical and theoretical framework. After that, if you’re hungry for more, you might revisit the Out of Bounds section in Chapter 3 of The Book of the Moon, or check out the newly released video or audio programs on the subject.

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