If you’ve been thinking about writing a blog and are looking for a topic, may I make a suggestion?

Astrology is the perfect topic.

Why?

Every day is a new pattern.

Can you say that about the rest of your life?

For the planets to return to the exact position in which they are placed today will take a very long time. I haven’t figured out exactly how long yet, but when I do I will put it here.

And even when today’s exact pattern of solar system planets recurs, our galaxy is still rotating so the backdrop continues to change. And the earth wobbles, too, so while planets may be in the same sign, they will be a different declination (kind of like latitude in the sky).

Yet within this ever-changing spatial reality, the cycles repeat, over and over, endlessly, like the patterns on Mitla in Mexico.

How’s that for a description of life?

The moon is a speedy 28 days while Pluto is a slow 248 years or so. The moon, then, would rule quickly changing events like the weather and your personal, emotional reactions.

Pluto, then, would rule slow changing events like the movement of tectonic plates, the evolution of papyrus scrolls to printing presses to iPhones and budget talks in Washington, DC . . .

Take, for example, the current transit of Mars into Virgo. It seems like just yesterday that Mars was in Virgo, that transit occurring while the Republic presidential candidates were debating each other in mid-2012 prior to the 2012 US presidential election.

Mars takes a little over two years to revolve around the sun and spending a couple months in a sign on average. In 2012, however, Mars went retrograde and spent six months in the picky, detailed, debate ruling sign of Virgo.

And here we are again, Mars in Virgo, on a different canvas than the one we had in 2012, the ever-changing canvas of the universe.

Five fun things to do while Mars is in Virgo

Astrologers are often found reading books because, back in the day, that was the only way to learn astrology unless you were lucky enough to live in some far-out place that promoted the subject, which may have involved moving to another planet.

Those of us on this planet had to trek to the weird bookstore on the end of the odd street in the old house converted to bookstore.

Books are still fun, although I have far fewer than in those old days.

So last night I picked up “The Astrologers Handbook” by Sakoian & Acker to check in on an “official” description of Mars in Virgo. The beginning reads:

Mars in the sign of Virgo gives energy and skill wherever work is concerned. As with Mars in the other earth signs, many skilled craftsmen, such as precision machinists, have Mars in this sign.

Precision machinist – does this trade still exist or has it been replaced by computers?

The description goes on to say that many surgeons also have Mars placed here. We still have surgeons — that’s for sure. With the Pluto/Uranus in Virgo generation hitting mid-life, we have an abundance of health, wellness, medicine and surgeons, all ruled by Virgo.

It’s good to know that Mars in Virgo folk still can find work in healthcare if not precision machinery.

If you find yourself bored in the next month while Mars is in Virgo, here are a few things that might help you tap the mad rush of Virgo energy that is being bestowed upon you:

1. Sharpen knives. I’d wait until mid-next week for this one, though, because Mars is opposing transiting Neptune in Pisces. Don’t want any cuts or scrapes here. Precision is most effective when Neptune is far, far away.
2. Pick apart the details of a political speech. Picking apart and analyzing is a Virgo thing to do. To have even more fun, make categories like: half-truths, half-lies, full-fledged lies, hyperbole, outright nonsense and stuff Mark Twain would love.
3. Make dollhouse furniture. Building is a Taurus thing to do but building in miniature is a Virgo dream. So many details, so little room. How delightful to see intricate details on a tiny object. It brings in a little energy of Virgo’s opposite sign Pisces because looking at your dollhouse, you view your life from above (and what do you notice?).
4. Organize the spice cabinet. Really, organize anything, from the spice cabinet to the tool box. Mars is Virgo is a time when you look forward to sitting atop a pile of “stuff” and separating it into useful and meaningful smaller piles of “stuff.”
5. Look for a new star. Looking for a new star takes long hours and lots of patience. But Virgo can do this. What’s even more fun is that you get to name it! Imagining naming your own star, a name that will appear for millennia in astronomy books, history books and Disney films.

May Mars in Virgo be with you. Now get back to work.