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The Return of the Warrior~Mars retrograde: this week on the Night Sky

This week, like always, there are some really interesting things going on in the sky, but today I want to share how I go about finding the stories that are connected to the stars~though I confess it that this is not always a clear and simple process!

Here’s the set up: The planet Mars begins its retrograde motion this week, which is when it appears to move backward in its path. It takes Mars two years to complete its orbit of the Sun, and the retrograde is the best time to look at the planet, because it’s on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun at retrograde, so it’s in the darkest part of the sky.

Mars is historically associated with war and warriors. And when it goes retrograde, it makes me start thinking about what I’ll call “the return of the warrior.” So, where can I find a story of a warrior returning? It’s an important image, and I want something that can be universally understood.

I’m fortunate to have in my library my grandmother’s old schoolbooks, and by far my favorite is a well-worn, cloth-bound copy of the collection of poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, called “The Idylls of the King”. This is Tennyson’s version of the tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. When my grandmother was reading this, Tennyson’s version of these tales was not yet 100 years old. I love that!

And here’s the pivotal thing: Usually when we look back at what caused the break-up of Arthur’s mighty order of knights, emphasis is laid on the illicit love affair between Guinevere, his queen, and Lancelot, and his champion. But for Tennyson, the ultimate challenge to Arthur’s mighty order of hero warriors was an untimely pledge by each of them to seek the Holy Grail.

As King, Arthur knew that this was not a quest to which all of his knights were suited. But he also knew that having made the vow of such a quest, each of his knights would have to fulfill it, or die trying.

So this week, when Mars turns retrograde, I imagine it as Arthur returning to the mighty hall where his knights are gathered, but now he is faced with the challenge of possibly losing all the wonder that was created by this mighty community of warriors, not out of low behavior, but out of striving for too lofty a goal.

Link to Tennyson's "The Holy Grail" from his "Idylls of the King"
http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/tennyson-the-holy-grail