All About Mars
Mars is the warrior planet, the planet of action. We utilize our Mars energy when we engage in physical activity, when we go after something we want, when we exercise our will, when we are defending something, and when we get angry.
The location of Mars in your chart can tell you things about yourself, such as How do I express my aggressiveness? Where in my life must I learn to be appropriately assertive? What is the nature of the battlefields in my life and where will these battles take place?
When we are expressing our Mars in a healthy way, we are feeling our own power, we feel in control of our actions. We are not avoiding conflict or friction, but the battles we face have a point. Mars is the part of us that needs to face the bears, defend, and conquer.
The power of Mars needs to be directed in a way that allows us to feel empowered, and toward a 'real' enemy, toward a real goal. If we have a situation in front of us that we need to attack but are resisting or ignoring, the Mars energy will find some kind of outlet, for good or ill. Then our actions are uncontrolled. We may express misguided or disproportionate anger. We feel touchy, angry, and cruel. We may act as though we have a chip on our shoulder. We suffer pointless conflict as that frustrated and negative energy comes back to us. We get the stress we asked for, but it's not the kind we need or want. If you find yourself acting out these behaviors, ask yourself, what am I really angry at?
Here's a small and imperfect Mars 'cookbook'. Find your Mars sign and house for a snippet about your natal chart. If you don't know where your Mars is, you can create a free chart here and find out! Remember, anything taken out of context of the entire blend of your natal chart is like an ingredient in a dish without the other ingredients to add nuance and complexity. Digest these ingredients with a grain of salt, so to speak!
Mars in Aries
Your style is a direct attack, no pretense, no hesitation. You are motivated to act by situations that allow you to express courage, and you may like a little friendly competition. You want to be the best, and the best races are the ones you have with yourself. The issue you may struggle with is hastiness. Pointless strife may come about when you act too quickly and allow temper flare-ups to dictate your behavior.
Mars in Taurus
You can be pretty laid back. You don’t see the need to hurry or to get too uptight about things, and you are not the ‘attacking’ sort. You are generally not too quick to take action, but when you do, there is no stopping you. You are doggedly determined in following the path you have been motivated to follow. The issue you may struggle with is stubbornness. Slow to change, sometimes you may refuse altogether, even when it can benefit you.
Mars in Gemini
Your method of attack is through communicative means — talking and thinking quickly. You are always engaged in some kind of activity, and probably have many things going on at once at any given time. The issue you may struggle with is burn out. Gemini is the sign of the twins, but living two lifetimes in one is very tiring! Your energy can seem boundless, but when it runs out, you crash and burn hard.
Mars in Cancer
Your feel like the best offense is a good defense. You may tend to go inside yourself and then be very cautious about who you let in or what you let out. You are motivated to care for and protect those you love, those you consider family. The issue you may struggle with is hiding too much, whether it’s hiding behind the needs of others that you feel obligated to fulfill, or just not wanting to reveal yourself or let others know what you need.
Mars in Leo
Your method of attack is noticeable and expressive. There’s something in you that is a natural performer. You may have a flair for the dramatic and feel that anything worth doing is worth doing with style and heart! You attack a situation through the subtle encouragement of getting others to cooperate with your desires through your charisma. The issue you may struggle with is pride. It may be difficult for you to reach out to others and admit you need their appreciation and their love.
Mars in Virgo
Your style of attack is practical and logical. You usually make a clear plan, and figure what makes the most sense and is most efficient before you act. You are motivated to achieve perfection in any action you take. Too much detail and control are the issues you may struggle with. It may be difficult for you to release the Mars energy unless you have a perfect plan and can do it in a controlled way. If overdone, this can lead to internalizing it too much and never getting any real release.
Mars in Libra
Your method of attack is usually indirect and tactful. You are motivated by keeping the peace. You may sometimes avoid an issue simply to avoid conflict. You are, however, motivated to take a devil’s advocate approach whenever a onesided opinion is expressed. You feel it’s incomplete to just look at something from one angle - you must evaluate both sides of a situation before you feel you can really act. The issue you may struggle with is indecision. You may have trouble making decisions or taking definite action sometimes because you can see benefit in both paths. The way around this is simple and frustrating — you must act anyway.
Mars in Scorpio
Your method of attack is fierce. Sometimes you are direct, stinging quickly, sometimes you are subtle and a bit sneaky, depending on your level of emotional involvement. You are motivated to defend loyalty and truth. You are tenacious at getting to the bottom of something to find out what’s really going on. The issue you may struggle with is holding a grudge and burning your bridges. If you are unable to make peace in yourself, you are likely to suffer far longer than the one you feel wronged you.
Mars in Sagittarius
Your method of attack is enthusiastic. You are motivated by the promise of a great adventure. You like to act spontaneously, shooting from the hip. You pursue any idea or situation where an issue of personal freedom is at stake. You need to be independent, and free to do as you like. The issue you may struggle with is misguided faith, otherwise known as being overly optimistic. You can get yourself into trouble if you avoid the details and facts too much.
Mars in Capricorn
Your style of attack is very controlled and calculated. You are good at seeing the bigger picture and you act more strategically and patiently than from a place of sudden emotion or upheaval. The issue you may struggle with is overdoing it on the control. It’s good to direct your passions, but if you never yourself breathe, you may feel stifled and too self-contained, like you’ve turned to stone — all strategy, no heart.
Mars in Aquarius
You may also have a devil’s advocate approach in your method of attack, like Libra, but your motives are different. Libra wants to keep balance and perspective, but you want to keep your own personal truth in tact. You pursue the right to be yourself. You are motivated to express your individuality, and defend against situations where cultural/social pressures seem to be trying to get you to conform. The issue you may struggle with is alienation. If you try too hard to be different instead of just trying to be yourself, you are needlessly alone.
Mars in Pisces
Your style tends to be gentle and non-confrontational. You are motivated by kindness and peace. You might be even more likely to defend someone else in need before defending yourself in the same situation. You feel for and fight for the underdog. The issue you may struggle with is being too passive, leading to martyring yourself. You may take on too much burden and self-sacrifice, even when it’s not necessary and can even be destructive.
Mars in 1st house
Your battlefield is defending your right to be yourself, your right to take up space in the world. Here you are learning enlightened selfishness — the art of doing what’s right for you, yes, even when it may inconvenience others a little bit. You are learning to be the director of your own life.
Mars in 2nd house
Your battlefield is proving to yourself that you have worth. Here you are learning to view yourself as your best asset. You must prove yourself to yourself. The actions you take in life must have enough of a risk in them that when you succeed, you can be assured that it was due to your own skill.
Mars in 3rd house
Your battlefield is defending your right to speak your mind, to question. You are learning to see ideas fresh, with new eyes, and communicate what you see. The actions you take must be in opening your eyes to the way you have been taught to believe certain truths, and to start to question whether they are really true or not. Learn to see what’s really there, not what you are told to see.
Mars in 4th house
Your battlefield is the realm of your childhood. You are learning who you are, in spite of, and because of your early childhood, your family, where you come from. The actions you take must bring you closer to knowing your own heart, what home really feels like to you, and what you have to de-program about your early life that traps you in familial patterns that you need to outgrow.
Mars in 5th house
Your battlefield is defending your right to party! You are learning the proper role pleasure, joy, and creativity should play in your life. The actions you take must allow you to feel that you are truly expressing your heart, your joy, your happiness. The danger lies in too much of a good thing — knowing the difference between seeking joy and becoming addicted to pleasure.
Mars in 6th house
Your battlefield is the arena of perfection of the self. You are learning humility, to look at yourself humbly and work on what needs improvement. You are learning navigate the busy-ness of life. Your actions need to be directed into uncovering and developing your skills, and then offering them up in meaningful service, in your life, to the world. This is the house where you see what you can really do and take pride in that gift and skill.
Mars in 7th house
Your battlefield lies in between yourself and partners that come into your life. You are learning to navigate conflict with friends and lovers in your life, to achieve a balanced relationship where your will is not stronger or lesser than your partner, where you both understand each other’s views without losing sight of your own.
Mars in 8th house
Your battlefield is the terrain of intimacy. You are learning how to have appropriate intimate conflict, not just equality in partnership like the 7th house, but expressing the psychologically deep, scared, animal part of you that might not be so pretty or sane, so that you can heal what needs to heal. This is work you must do within the context of a very intimate relationship. Your actions need to be directed in such a way that you risk and build trust with your lover, and trust that they will stick around to work it out with you.
Mars in 9th house
Your battlefield lies in defending your right to believe your own truths about life. You are learning to determine for yourself what you believe, what the meaning behind life is, according to you. The actions you take must allow you to experience many different ideas, get some culture shock, see the world - getting out of the narrow views that the experience of only one type of life has taught you.
Mars in 10th house
Your battlefield is destined to be very public. You are discovering the role you will play and the give you have to give to the community (however you define it). Your actions need to direct you to follow your ambition, to turn it into a dream achieved, to give something of worth, something of yourself. This is often known as the terrain of one’s career, but it’s more like one’s cosmic job description — getting paid to be yourself.
Mars in 11th house
Your battlefield is the future. The actions you take need to help you shape that future, and to find those you band together with that can help you along your way. You are learning to build a life strategy, to choose your future consciously, working toward your dreams instead of just letting them stay a fantasy.
Mars in 12th house
Your battlefield is the terrain that is your spirit. You are learning to navigate the spiritual realm inside of you, to transcend the superficial meanings that life feeds you and see the bigger picture. To reach out to others and sense their presence alongside yours, in the fabric of life and greater human consciousness. The actions you take must be in pursuit of spiritual peace, inside and out.