Transit Sun Square Mars: Short Fuse, High Tempo

Transit Sun square Mars is a tense but productive two- to three-day period when the Sun forms a 90-degree angle to natal Mars. It recurs twice a year, at nearly the same dates every year. Personal will grinds against outside conditions; energy runs high but can easily tip into irritation.

How long does transit Sun square Mars last?

The effect usually starts to be felt a day before exactness, peaks on the exact day and settles the day after. In other words, this is not a life crisis but a few days of raised blood pressure. Impatience builds on the approach, and on the way out it becomes clearer what the anger was really about.

Typical scenes: snapping back at a manager's instruction, a pointless standoff in traffic, an outburst at home along the lines of "am I supposed to do everything?" Physically, muscles tighten, sleep gets lighter and sitting still feels harder than usual.

Turning anger into fuel

A square means pressure to act, and used well that pressure gets a long-stuck task moving. A hard workout, a heavy clean-up or finally closing a jammed file suits this energy very well.

• Move an important argument to a calm hour and a face-to-face setting
• Double-check anything that has to be done in a hurry
• Ask "what needs to change?" instead of "who is right?"

Suppressing the shadow is no solution either; swallowed anger tends to return as a headache or quiet resentment. Matters of the houses ruled by natal Mars, those with Aries and Scorpio on the cusp, are also prone to friction during these days.