All About Mars
Get fired up
All about Mars (in brief): the planet, the mythology of the archetype, and its astrological associations (medical astrology, Aries, 1st house), plus:
Themes of Mars based on current astrology
Journal or reflection prompts
How Mars demonstrates taking action toward a goal through the 12 signs
Mars has been very prominent this year, and remains so. Most recently, Mars moved into Cancer on 9.4.24 after making some key back to back aspects in the weeks prior (to Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune), and will be making an opposition to Pluto from the very last degree of Cancer just prior to moving into Leo on 11.3.24. Then on 12.6.24, Mars will retrograde back through Leo and half of Cancer, before moving forward again in February and out of Leo in April 2025.
Remember that Mars rules the North Node, which will be in Aries through January 2025, and also oversees Chiron while Chiron is in Aries (February 2019 - April 2027). So, we need to pay special attention to the longer term themes raised by the nodal axis and Chiron, as well.
Look at your birth chart to see where the second half of Cancer and early degrees of Leo cover, as well as Aries, to determine where you may have a theme of action that is healing and transformative, and will perhaps require severing (in Mars fashion) ties to that which may be harmful to you.
Summary from my podcast’s Mars episode:
Introduction
As I mentioned in my last episode on Venus, the astrology has been calling us to review and apply discernment to how we relate to self and others. This is largely driven because the nodes of the moon, which focus our attention on evolution through learning soul lessons, have been in Libra, ruled by Venus, and Aries, ruled by Mars, since July 2023 and will be until Jan 2025. The recent lunar eclipse in Libra on 3/24 and total solar eclipse in Aries on 4/8 further highlighted this theme.
In addition, Chiron, the asteroid which signifies where we have a core wound that may not be obvious to us, yet one we need to work on in order to become whole and be of service to others, has been in Aries since March 2019 (it feels like forever, as Chiron has passed over my natal Chiron at 9° Aries four times due to retrograde movements).
Mars was named by the Romans for its god of war because of its reddish hue, which looks like blood. It is red because the iron minerals oxidize. 4th planet to the Sun, if Earth were the size of a nickel, Mars would be the size of a raspberry. Its orbit is 687 Earth days, and its rotation is 24.6 hours. It has an elliptical (egg shaped) orbit around the Sun, so its seasons are much longer than Earth’s and they vary in length.
It is a dusty, cold, desert with a very thin atmosphere. It has seasons, polar ice caps, extinct volcanoes, canyons, and weather. NASA has sent Rover missions to explore it multiple times.
Mars is the Roman name for this god, one of the Olympians, while Ares was the Greek name. Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera. He was the god of war, courage, and battlelust. He is symbolized by the helm, and his sacred animal is the serpent.
Ares/Mars appears to have been quite impulsive, having an affair with Aphrodite. Her husband Hephaistos was not too happy about the affair, and trapped Ares and Aphrodite in a net and shamed them in front of all the other gods. In another myth, Mars changed one of his daughters and her husband into serpents and sent them off to an island.
Of course, Mars had a lot of war shenanigans, too, as he is said to have delighted in war for the sake of war, and reveled in the slaughter.
Astrology
Basic associations
Mars rules Aries (in Hellenistic astrology, also Scorpio). In Hellenistic astrology, Mars is exalted in Capricorn, in its detriment (out of character) in Taurus and Libra, and in its fall (weak) in Cancer.
Corresponds to the 1st house of the Zodiac, a few keywords are: “I am”, awareness of the self, identity, the initiation of action
Element: Fire
Body Functions and associations (from Medical Astrology: A Guide to Planetary Pathology, by Judith Hill): Adrenaline, testosterone, male organs, the sense of smell, the catabolic metabolism (burning of fuel), the release of toxins, the red blood cells, iron, muscle tissue. The entire muscular system, inclusive of tendons and ligaments. Traditionally, Mars rules the left ear and Saturn the right.
Corresponds to Chakra 3, the solar plexus.
Mars represents our drive to take action toward our personal (or ego’s) desire. It is like the first growth of Spring, as it has to aggressively burst out and then survive. Mars also represents the sex drive, basically to implant the seed. Mars doesn’t actually formulate the goal, the Sun does that. The Moon provides the emotional drive, and Mars is the physical action.
Similar to the sign of Aries, it could be considered childlike, because it doesn’t layer on complexity to its survival agenda. It can lend decisiveness, which could also be looked at as impulsiveness, depending on the situation. It can make anything a competition. It is energetic, but not necessarily of the enduring type. More of a sprint or brute strength type. When I was thinking of a song that represents Mars and Aries energy, I thought of the Ramones song Blitzkrieg Bop.
Last week, I raised some questions that the current focus on the Libra- Aries axis is asking us to assess with regard to relationships to people and resources.
This week, I offer some questions for self-reflection related to Aries and where we made need to focus on self.
Am I clear on what it is I desire, and the motivation behind it? Sometimes continuing to ask yourself the question why helps you get down to the good stuff. Sometimes the motivation is not what it seems on the surface.
Do I stand up for myself when it is required, or do I habitually abandon myself, and where does that pattern come from? Is there any healing I can do if this is a wound?
I am leaving it at these two questions because they are big ones. For example, as I started questioning why I kept abandoning myself in the presence of my mother, I initially had some superficial reasons, such as “I am kind” (which is true, but irrelevant in these circumstances), or “She doesn’t have many years left” (which is just a guess on my part, and hey - my years count, too).
After continuing to ask why, I was able to get to the absolute truth that could no longer be denied, and then decide consciously whether I wanted to enable her narcissistic pathology to exist in my space (in large part in order to continue my role as the “good daughter”), and thereby reduce my bandwidth to serve in a larger way. Oof! Not easy stuff. I think my “how” around this decision point exemplifies my Mars placement in Leo in the 10th house, conjunct to my Sun.
Below are key phrases for how you may tend to take action toward a conscious goal when exercising your own Mars’ placement by sign in its most authentic manner:
Aries: Charge forward fearlessly and passionately
Taurus: Take their time, assess impact to resources first
Gemini: Investigate many goals before settling on one to pursue
Cancer: Act from a secure home base, be prepared to retreat
Leo: Act from the most authentic expression of oneself
Virgo: Act with efficiency and logic with perfection in mind
Libra: Ensure consensus, aim for a state of harmony
Scorpio: Understand the underlying context, the deeper Why
Sagittarius: Evaluate whether the goal is broad enough, is more possible
Capricorn: Leverage experience, effort will contribute to mastery
Aquarius: Approach the goal from a unique perspective
Pisces: Surrender to the goal, trust it will all work out
I hope this information empowers you to be consciously curious about Mars!
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