Mars Combust – a Feature of the Holidays & Beyond

By Edith Hathaway © 2025

At a time of year when we have the Turning of the Light at Winter Solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere), and when Christians celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus and Jews celebrate Hanukah, it is especially shocking in December 2025 to also observe so many acts of violence and aggression across the world, some of which are aimed specifically against Christians or Jews.  Meanwhile, this Biblical message of universal peace is a message shared throughout the world:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”   Luke 2:14

Geopolitics along with crimes of passion can be cited in part for this surge in violent acts across the world. But in astrology, we can especially point to the unusually long period during which transiting Mars is combust the Sun.  The normal time span is 2 ½ months.  This current one runs for nearly 5 months: Nov. 7, 2025 to March 27, 2026.  This is when transiting Mars and the Sun are within a 17 degree range of celestial longitude and often much closer.  (See the list of Dates and degree ranges for Sun-Mars combustion further below.)    Only Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be combust the Sun, with different ranges for each planet. Continue reading

The 2021 U.S. Inauguration and Its Aftermath

By Edith Hathaway © 2021

Typically an inauguration or election within a few weeks of a powerful Jupiter-Saturn conjunction elevates a president or presidency to a substantial degree, as we saw in 1941, 1961, and 1981 – with Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, respectively.

However, the 2021 inauguration has several astrological variables that did not occur in those years, including a Mars ranked as by far the strongest planet in the chart, with no afflictions. Continue reading