Mars
The God of War, Fertility, Vegetation and Spring
Rules Aries and 1st House
Keywords:
Accidents
Independence or freedom
Belligerence
Over-stimulation
Passion
Competitive
Drive for power
Violence
Hopelessness
Helplessness
Depression
Vigor
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“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.”
Mars is the fiery planet often considered the lesser malefic in traditional systems of astrology. Modern systems of astrology are straying from that term in favor of other ideas that it helps us learn lessons Mars brings. The idea is to promote empowerment over fear by using Mars energy to overcome obstacles with creativity and innovativeness instead of conflict, anger and destruction. When Mars shows up we can expect experiences that will require us to use leadership, courage, bravery, a sense of initiative, independence, and pioneering. It represents the core self.
The reason Mars encourages these kinds of reactions to experiences is because also what comes with Mars is heated emotions, conflict, chaos, rebelliousness and other types of things that involve strong emotional reactions that can even be war-like or riotous. Mars is the God of War, so whatever it’s touching in your chart, expect that to be where your will and might show up, or conversely, the things challenging you to become more resilient and true to yourself. Sometimes your willpower will be over the top and unchecked, while other times it is areas where you need to get that fire stoked and show the world what you got.
On the other hand, Mars can also show where you might be affected by other people’s chaotic and confrontational emotions. You might get caught up in other people’s issues of recklessness, hot-headed tempers, or aggression. Whenever Mars is around making aspects to key parts of a chart, it’s always good to take a couple steps back and evaluate the situation to make sure you’re reacting in appropriate ways. Appropriate meaning in ways that help you create a win-win situation.
While most of the time Mars is a planet that involves willpower in excess, sometimes placements in certain signs and with some hard aspects, Mars could require you to step up more in life in that area. For example, Mars might struggle more in Pisces and Cancer than it would in another fire sign like Sagittarius. However, Mars is in detriment in its opposite sign, Libra. This is because Mars is more comfortable doing everything on his own and calling all the shots. In Libra, Mars has to think about what others might want and need and that’s not his usual M.O. This doesn’t mean Mars can’t do well there, it just means that it will require a little more effort. Read further for more information on Mars in the signs of the zodiac.
How to Find Your Mars Energy
Everyone has Aries energy in their chart even if the sign of Aries or the 1st house are empty. How you can find your Aries energy is by looking to where Mars is positioned and what it is aspecting. Look for clues in your life pertaining to how you take initiative, how you assert yourself, what things you’re most passionate about for career choices, what motivates you the most when it comes to activism and advocacy. Who do you stand up to protect without even thinking twice about it? Even though Aquarius and Libra are more known for their interests in social justice, Aries plays a big part in that for taking initiative and action. We all have these energies within us to some degree. Aries can represent wars, riots and protesting due to its energy and Mars’ natal and transit positions. Look to where your fire is in life be it anger, passion or taking action. Anger and passion can be channeled very constructively in one’s life to help empower them through challenges and obstacles. This is warrior energy. In the right time and place, it is extremely useful.
If you’re lacking a lot of fire in your life, see which planets, bodies and points are aspecting your natal Mars. See if there aren’t some things you might need to work on to get that spark going or flame the fire hire. Moving your body in any way can help build fire and passion in you. Dancing, exercise, housework, walking meditation, and even yoga can all strengthen your fire element. For more information on the fire element, go to the Fire Element page.
Mars Through the Signs and Houses
When first learning astrology, remember that the planet is who a person is like, the sign is how they are in a particular area of life, and the house shows where that particular area of life is that they are showing up that way. As you read through the descriptions below, be thinking in those terms and try to imagine this or think of someone you know with similar traits, like a friend, family member, character in a movie or TV show. If you would like additional images to help visualize Mars energy, visit the Meditate with Aries page and check out the gallery of images.
How You Take Action, Assert Yourself and How Others See You
Mars in Aries and First House
Mars loves Aries, its home sign. Here he is most in his comfort zone and the energies come naturally and even powerfully. Mars used to rule Scorpio in ancient astrology, so he is also comfortable there. When Mars is in Aries it’s called domicile, which just means a planet is in its home sign. Being assertive, a leader, jumping head first into things, having a fiery temper and a “go for it” attitude all come very natural to a person with Mars in Aries. The energy is stronger when a planet is in a sign it does well in because there is nothing hindering its abilities to do what it does best. People with Mars in Aries will usually be naturally self-confident if there isn’t any aspects or placements hindering Mars.
First house holds much of the same energy as Aries, but instead, the house is where it’s showing up in life vs. how it’s showing up as the sign indicates. But if a chart owner or event has Mars in Aries in the first house, you can bet that this very pure, unadulterated Aries/Mars energy because the first house is all about the self, impressions, and who a person is. You can expect a lot of passion, but possibly also a lot of conflict. First house is also the natal chart owner’s rising sign, which is one of the most important signs of an owner’s chart. The rising sign (also known as the ascendant) is how a person shows up in the world, what they signed up for to be and do in life, and how they’ll do it. They carry this with them throughout the rest of the chart because it is such an innate part of who they are and how other people see them because first house is also about appearances.
Aries is similar to first house energy, but instead of where in our lives it shows up; body, in firsts, births, beginnings, fresh starts, etc., Aries is how this energy is used. In the first house, Aries takes initiative, is interested in self, and has a warrior-like passion about what is to be done. They are innovative and creative with fiery alive energy that can be felt just being around them. They are natural born leaders even if they don’t always feel that way.
When Mars is in Aries, this energy comes in extra-strength. For instance, a person might be full-on depiction of the Aries archetype. They may enjoy things like being a fire fighter, or in the military. But other jobs might be surgeons or iron workers. They could be into body building or martial arts. Extreme activities such as parkour or skydiving might attract a lot of Mars in Aries types. On the other hand, this energy could also be expressed in other ways. Such as being passionate about personal development and leading others in how to move through developing the self into a healthier, freer version.
To learn more about Aries, visit the Aries page. (To be added)
To learn more about First House, go to the First House page. (To be added)
Mars in Taurus and Second House
Mars in the slow and steady sign of Taurus is in detriment. Mars is fast, Taurus is slow. Mars wants to jump up and jump in, whereas Taurus wants to take a step back and plan things out a little more. As an earth sign, Taurus is stable, grounded and loves to be surrounded by beautiful and sensual things. Mars struggles to work with that because he is so opposite. Deliberate action. Careful planning. Calm anger. Patient leaders. Grounded leaders. Great at follow through.
Mars in Gemini and Third House
Curious, inquisitive leaders. Actions are based on information they accumulate from situations and people. Leads with Gemini traits, such as their voice. They use their logic and reasoning in conflicts and solution finding. Great at sales and marketing. Great in writing, publishing, media, etc.
Great in communicating with teams, speaking with their teams and conveying the ideas.
Very influential in getting people to buy ideas, things, or into beliefs.
Have great humor and wit because of their lighthearted energy.
Can become bored quickly, but are thus also aware of how to keep people engaged.
Quick, Sharp, Strong Mind, comedians, good with hands, teaching is great. Witty. Great with ideas, youth, fresh ideas.
TV Show host, Reporters, singing, spoken word.rap,
Have to be able to use their voice, share their opinions.
Need to be engaged and informed.
Can be scattered and unfocused.
Mars in Cancer and Fourth House
Fall. Cancer leadership. Wants to know in advance what it’s getting into. Knows who to work with and who not to work with. They feel people and the energy and can see how to use that energy to their advantage. They may reflect back the energy they’re around. If you’re happy, they’ll be happy. However, they can try to avoid it by leaving a situation that isn’t good for their energy. They’re good at knowing who and what works for them energetically. Very receptive to people’s feelings and emotions. They can easily read the atmosphere of a room. Needs a healthy outlet for anger because they can tend to hold onto it. Needs to learn to assert their energy effectively. Cancer is a passive cardinal sign. A good way to find balance is doing calm but active things such as bathing, drinking water, light exercise, meditation, or listening to calm music. Things that support calm, balanced energy. Indirect leaders. Listen well to their peers and followers. Incorporate feedback. Connective with people and able to help find solutions.
Mars in Leo and Fifth House
Assertive, confident, leadership. Already knows they’re going to win. Behaves as if they already have. No one can take your power, no one can take anything from you. Your life force is yours. So sure of themselves, nothing can shake them. Very loyal. Strong will. Know they’re accountable for their own actions, but this keeps them committed and reliable. Hands on, very involved, and wants to make sure everyone is doing their part. Pride in their position. Great at vocalizing other’s efforts. Is great at building people up through validation. Being in the know. Wants in on the drama and gossip. High, stable, energy. Pays close attention to performance of self and others. Can be great at knowing how to entertain an audience. Doesn’t handle so well things that bruise their egos.
Date a lot of people. Great at giving fun dating and romance advice. Flirty.
Great at leading children. Creative, captivating and other child-like things that kids are drawn to. Great at helping their kids become self reliant. Gain a lot of confidence from the experience of parenting.
Very generous.
Mars in Virgo and Sixth House
Virgo leadership. Wants to know details about situations, people, events. Needs all the information before making decisions. They take things in stages making decisions along the way as they gather information that helps them to organize and decide which path to go. They love to analyze and organize information for best decisions. They try to think of all the different things that might be involved that need to come into consideration. This can sometimes cause procrastination, which can also lead to worry. It can lead to poor time management and disorganization. They can get stuck in all the analyzing. They might feel overwhelmed by all the information they’re gathering. They want everything as perfect as possible which can end up being detrimental to taking action. They are learning priorities and prioritizing things in the right order to take action without getting out of balance. They want it done right the first time. But too much perfectionism can lead to inaction. But they’re still great leaders because they can deal with large amounts of information and details and knowing how to organize it and analyze it. Recruiters, analysts, are examples of great careers for Mars in Virgo. They’re good at knowing how to improve companies and organizations. They’re always trying to improve and are driven to do this. They can learn or be great at practicing and perfecting their chosen skill sets and talents. This leads to being able to create practical ways of using talents, skills and data to make things awesome. They learn from their mistakes and learn to change and tweak things so next time they’ll do it better. They work better behind the scenes. Mars and Virgos can notice small details and find them to be a big deal whereas others will think nothing of these details.
Their nature to notice details and gather large amounts of information can lead to anxiety and overwhelm. Learning to calm the mind and exercise the body can help to calm the mind and give it rest from the exhaustion that overworking the mind can create. It’s super important to pay attention to emotions, body, health overall because they can get so caught up in their minds. And with this focus, they can become leaders in healthy and fitness industries.
They are extremely efficient in whatever they do. Whatever they’re passionate about they can greatly help in improving the data and systems that surround it. They’re very giving of themselves as well.
They can be great at critique in things. Deconstructing systems or functions that don’t work efficiently or properly. This can be in anything they’re passionate about. They have a discerning mind for what works and doesn’t work due to the patterns they can see in the mass amounts of information they digest and organize in their minds.
Great at giving advice in the areas they’re interested in due to these natural gifts they possess. Devoted and selective about the information they digest and gather, giving them the ability to reproduce better practices for the rest of us.
Mars in Libra and Seventh House
Detriment. Libra leadership. Social driven. They want to know who is gonna be there. They will take initiation to find out about the people. They are initiating when it comes to others. They are great at asserting themselves in conversations, even if they don’t start it. They are great at getting others to discuss or get involved. They want to know what everyone thinks not to be nosy but because they like everyone involved and connection. They are great diplomats and can see where others are coming from. They can see the positive and negative of things. They can remove themselves from situations or things in order to be objective about it. They aren’t emotionally driven in things. They don’t want to be involved in other’s emotions but want to see things in a fair and harmonious way. They like people getting along. They are great at helping others do this as well via things like therapy, life coaching, or even human resources. They can help others navigate difficult emotional situations. They help people see more diplomatically and thus help them to communicate more clearly for conflict resolution. Great at conflict negotiations. Great at teaching and presenting and being in charge of social gatherings such as event hosts. Wedding planners or for parties. They’re great at attending to people and wanting people to be comfortable. However, they appreciate justice however. They don’t like injustice whether at a personal level, social or community level. They’re great at law and legal matters. They’re great at developing a case for justice because of their objective perspectives and seeing both sides of a situation. Attorneys, judges, lawyers, are great careers for Mars in Libra. Also, judging contests such as in television shows. But also, beauty, design, art are other areas Mars in Libra would be great in for career. Good at providing advice for others, such as in relationships. However, they need to let people make their own decisions. People may not take their advice and they need to accept that. Need to be able to speak up and be assertive about what they want.
Asserting their aggression in healthy ways. Or they could be passive aggressive. This leads to unhealthy social interactions such as gossiping.
Great at advocating for social causes such as peace, human rights, animal rights and even environmental justice.
Human behavior is a great subject they might really be into. And they’re great at helping others to confront their own behaviors in order to help them and society improve.
When Mars in Libra work with others, they learn a lot about themselves.
Business partnerships. They appreciate the value relationships bring. Great at networking.
Mars in Scorpio Eighth House
Investigative, hides emotions, deliberate action, strategic, one step ahead, researches situation and people for advantage, good at reading people/intentions/motives, can see shady behavior a mile away, can be ruthless, roots out truth – maybe even aggressively, good at seeing holes in stories, not afraid of taboo or sensitive subjects. Lethal. But can also be empathetic, loyal, amazing at giving advice. Psychologists. Spies. Dedicated. Stands ground like no other. Intense, strong willed and passionate. Exposing secrets, what’s hidden.
Mars in Sagittarius and Ninth House
Mars in Sag leadership. Loves to jump in and be the winner. Fire in fire but not as competitive as Mars or confident as Leo. However, they can be arrogant or cocky. They can easily see themselves winning. No matter what, they will come out on top. Even if not in that particular situation, they feel there is always another door open, always another opportunity will come to them. They see opportunities in everything. They’re the type that can really excel once they are offered an opportunity. They are great because of their charisma. They know how to really nail it because they ask questions, are engaging and interactive with others, and can really sell themselves in situations. They are so optimistic and inspiring wherever they go. They feel purpose for themselves and everyone else. They know how to encourage people and empower them to believe in the opportunities and believe in themselves. They have great faith in life. They can tend to feel lead by their choices in such ways that opportunities are always shifting in favor of that faith and belief. They can be so positive it can be annoying to others. They are also comedians, can be sarcastic and tend to do things to get reactions out of people, for good or bad, depending on the type of person they’re rubbing up against. They live in the moment and see endless possibilities. Because of their faith and belief they can jump into situations with their unshakable belief that it will always work out somehow. They can be open minded in these great ways. They can be the type that just says things bluntly.
In relationships and sexual energy they can tend to love engaging in many experiences. They dive all the way in and love with their whole hearts but love variation.
They are fierce lovers of freedom.
Mars in Capricorn and Tenth House
Exaltation. Mars in Cap leadership. They are going to be the type that believes in getting into preparation and training to learn the position well. They will do what it takes to succeed. They are focused on status and reputation and want to do that well. They want to build up enough resilience and strength to go for the long haul. High standards. Driven to excel in authority reputation. They need to feel purpose in what they’re doing or they will redirect their energy to something that does. They will show great initiative in areas where they are being recognized. If they feel they’re not getting acknowledged, they’re going to say something to fix it. They are about control. Controlling their actions towards their mission. They want to know the structure of things and how it’s organized so they can do their best job. These are the breadwinners of the zodiac. Taking care of their families and bringing in the money. Passionate ambition is one of their traits. They could be the workaholics if they don’t learn to channel the energy in a balanced way. They can tend to not pay attention to who they are outside of work. The lack of self understanding can bring out the more controlling side of themselves and towards others. They learn a ton through trial and error though, which actually can become their strength. But they need to learn how to let go and let things play out and see how sometimes beautiful mistakes can happen this way. Can be some of the most recognized people of their time or in their field. Do not give up easily. They can really dig in and climb the mountain so to speak. They know that eventually their efforts will pay off.
Ambitious. Disciplined. Responsible Leaders. Striving and striving. Rigid. Controlling. These can all be for good or bad.
They are driven to climb the mountain of success.
Mars in Aquarius and Eleventh House
Mars in Aqua leadership. Need to create change everywhere they go. Taking action in situations to create change. Innovative. See outside the box. Assert their “radical” opinions. They see the bigger picture and have objective view points. Sees fairness and equality everywhere and will assert that viewpoint or strong opinion.
They can bring changes that help the greater good. They like to make changes for the bigger vision of things working in a way that help humanity, which can be within groups and organizations. They see a vision though, that are way ahead of others and so other people may struggle or not even see the bigger picture and then not understand why a Mars in Aqua leaders is making the decisions that they are. Futuristic. Can see collective patterns and how society will grow and develop over time. They may make changes too quickly for other people and so people will struggle with this in this type of leader.
Might be loner leaders as well. If given the space and freedom to do so. Some work at their best in this mode. But if others are around they will divert their energy into them. Very aware of each individual in their surroundings be it a group or organization.
They see patterns going on between people in groups, which can aid in better leadership and understanding what a group needs. Because of how they’re aware, they can sort of be the solution-finder for a group and help everyone see the needs and wants of the entire group and how to make a plan that suits the group as a whole.
Can find strengths and weaknesses of a team working together and help in improve it for success.
Take action in controversial matters or getting up caught up in it.
Non conforming. Will question the rules and won’t comply if they don’t agree.
Excel in technology, engineering and computing. Charity and volunteering also.
Or will question the integrity of organizations, rules, companies, and pretty much everything they’re involved with.
Speaking your truth. Strong abrupt message about speaking truth no matter what others think. Base their actions on creating change. Especially in systems that aren’t working. Want to create a better future.
Very humanitarian. Really good at observation.
Mars in Pisces and Twelfth House
Leads intuitively. Psychic leadership. The least competitive of the signs. Give unconditionally. Sees many possibilities, outcomes, options. Psychic abilities can be overwhelming like Mars can be. Needs to learn they can take actions and change the outcomes of their premonitions. The future is always changing and because of the actions we do or don’t take. There can be a pull in different directions (think the two fish swimming in opposite directions), due to the different options. But this can always be a creative process which leads them to ultimate success. Can become addicted to being a chameleon and escapism into things like drugs and alcohol. Passionately compassionate. Having courage to listen to their inner voice. Excellent healers. Guidance counselors. Reiki Masters. Encourage other people.
