The snake in the photo is one of the reptiles found amongst over a thousand exotic animals that perished in the recent market fire in Bangkok, Thailand. Many of the snakes were discovered this way, with their own teeth sunk into their bodies. It reminded me of the Ouroboros - a symbol of life, death and rebirth.

In Astrology this theme is embodied by Pluto, ruler of Scorpio - a sign that also includes the snake as one of its symbols.

With Mars squaring Pluto (both rulers of shadowland Scorpio), we have other grisly tales, including the arrival of giant venomous flying spiders on the east coast of the United States.

Many were saddened by the idea of snakes seemingly committing suicide, but an expert chimed in to explain that snakes, when stressed, will often end up biting themselves unwittingly, and are unable to withdraw their hooked teeth.

Either way, the symbol is fitting for these times.

Mars and Pluto energies make formidable foes, but exercise their powers in different, yet lethal, ways. 

Mars is the spark that sets off the starting pistol - and if these were races, Mars would be a sprint; Pluto, the marathon. 

If Mars is the spark that ignites the firework or stick of dynamite, Pluto IS the dynamite.

If Mars is the weapon we wield, be it a knife, gun, pen, or frying pan, Pluto is the premeditated, covert, and potentially Machiavellian agenda to use it. 

Mars in Taurus modifies its usual haste somewhat in that it has more patience here; not its usual ‘act now think later’ we see in Aries, the sign it rules. It can plan and plot, something Pluto is also all about. Mars in Taurus invests the time to gather and stir the ingredients for the promise of the baked cake later. Taurus is all about natural cycles and seasons. The application of effort now brings rich rewards later.

Pluto, as ruler of Scorpio also hangs on, is out of sight and mind - focused on end games. In Aquarius, it will employ the power of the sudden and the surprise, relying on the unexpected to secure its success. 

The battle between these two forces is liable to play out between aggressive attempts and desires to maintain the continuation of what has come before: tradition, the fight for the familiar as well as those habitual habits and creature comforts, patterns that are engrained and perhaps uncomfortable at times, a discomfort we have grown somewhat comfortable with.

Mars in Taurus seeks growth and the value of long-term, steady building. Fighting this is the force to eradicate these stable, and at times outdated or stubbornly unhelpful through major alterations for the sake of progress.

The quest to install a digital currency and abolish physical money would be one such fight. The sweeping reforms seeking to supplant artists with artificial intelligence (AI) would be another. 

There are two fights playing out - the one you see and the one you don’t. The one that’s obvious and the one you had no idea about. 

Both planets are about the pursuing of desire. Mars and Pluto fight for what they want in varying ways. Usually, Mars goes after it head-on, without games or convoluted blueprints, with a singularity of focus and intent. Pluto creeps up, from within blind spots, a master of subtext and subterranean stealthiness, but not necessarily subterfuge. Pluto sets the trap for what it wants, no need to rush or push. That’s too noisy and a waste of energy. 

Pluto would seem to have the upper hand here as it rules the depths of pressure and power, like the dormant volcano suddenly bursting open with explosive force.

It depends on what you want to achieve.

Mars can wage war and battles, campaigns of violence and bloodshed; testosterone-fueled forward thrusting to seize the object of one’s desire. 

Pluto rules the forces we cannot fight, and often cannot see. Sometimes those are within us, demons no earthly weapon can vanquish. 

The best of this combo is to commit to a cause to fight for what is right but not to overstep your mark or sink into underhanded tactics to achieve your ends. Some will, and seemingly succeed for a time. But Pluto rules karmic forces that ultimately reap what is sown. Pluto is the ruler of Death, where each soul is weighed. 

Buried treasure is the reward for handling Pluto's treacherous terrain, and hellfire burns when abused and misused. 

Mars is a ‘trigger happy’ aspect, or a like a bear trap that can set off social detonations within the quietest and most seemingly harmless people you’d never consider a danger to themselves or others (the much-reported “they kept to themselves” psychopath next door”. 

Sometimes we have to stand firm and refuse to give in to forces that threaten our very survival, but often we choose to get embroiled in minor ego battles for dominance, that waste the very vitality of this every and keep us locked into karmic patterns or painful repetition by creating more messes well end up paying for. 

What can you build? Use your passion to keep adding a brick there. What can you grow? Keep fertilizing even if you see no shoots just yet. 

What must be demolished or dismantled? Make efforts to either actively aid in this or allow the process by removing your energy and withdrawing your enabling of it. 

Sometimes the best way to Do anything under this transit is to choose wisely what to Undo and Not Do so that the rich fuel and potent power of our energy reserves can be fully funneled where it’s much needed and matters most. 

In this way, we can perhaps also avoid shootings ourselves in the foot or, like those unfortunate snakes, having our own reactivity bite us in the ass.