Mars-Saturn squares occur at intervals of just under a year on average. The aspect is occasionally repeated three times over the space of a few months, due to a Mars retrograde during the alignment. The last such "three-peat" occurred in 1939 (the start of World War II). While the 1939 triple was the only one of the 20th Century, there are lots of them in the 21st: 2005, 2020-2021, 2039-2040, 2054-2055, 2073-2074, 2075-2076, 2088-2089, 2090-2091, and 2093. Except for such retrograde repeat performances, the aspect alternates between waxing (90 degree arc, e.g. the Mars-Saturn Sagittarius-Gemini square at the Battle of Hastings) and waning (270 degrees, e.g. the Aries-Cancer Mars-Saturn square at Germany's World War II surrender) phases. In either case, the alignment accompanies forceful, usually well-planned action to achieve an objective which, typically, has long been desired. It's often an aspect of retribution and overwhelming force: no subtleties here, no velvet glove, just the iron fist. Desire, planning and forceful, well-timed execution: that's the nature of the Mars-Saturn square . . . discipline, hard work, self-denial in order to prepare for a perfect performance, an eye for opportunity and a readiness to capitalize on it.

The waning Aquarius-Taurus Mars square to Saturn of December 1999 - the same sign and phase combination as the middle one in the 1939 triple series - is the first to occur in this sign combination since November 1969. (The only other 20th Century waning Mars-Saturn square in these signs, apart from the 1939 triple, occurred in 1911.) Not until 2030 will there be another waning square between these two planets in this particular combination of signs. The 1999 square is the second and last from Mars to Saturn in its 1998-2001 Taurus transit. It was preceded by the waxing square of August 1998.

The waxing Mars-Saturn square from Virgo to Gemini in the year 2000 was last seen in September 1972. Its only other 20th Century appearances came in 1912, 1914 and 1942. This particular combination of planets, signs and aspects does not recur until 2030.

Examples of the Mars-Saturn square in the birth charts of the famous and infamous include actresses Ann-Margaret, Theda Bara, Roseanne Barr, Cloris Leachman and Jayne Mansfield; actors Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, James Cagney, Charlie Chaplin and Mickey Rooney; US Secretary of the Interior (as well as former Arizona Governor and erstwhile Presidential contender) Bruce Babbit, composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Mancini and Igor Stravinsky; singers Pat Boone and Judy Collins; tennis great Bjorn Borg, astrologers Paul Clancy, Doris Chase Doane, Elsbeth Ebertin, Isabel Hickey, Johannes Kepler, Ralph Kraum and Carl Payne Tobey; artists Salvador Dali and Rockwell Kent; the Roman Emperor Nero, the Marquis de Sade, writers Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and Ken Kesey; Adolf Hitler and his henchman Albert Speer; the showy pianist Liberace, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II of England, sculptor Auguste Rodin; feminist organizer Eleanor Smeal, historian Arnold Toynbee and auto racer Al Unser.

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer phone or fax 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA on the World Wide Web at http://www.astropro.com