Rules: Aries, Scorpio
Key words and qualities: Desire, energy. The gods did not place desires in our psyche for them to be thwarted or disappointed. Desires are our instructional blueprints of the possible.
Color: Red
Metal: Iron
Physical body affinity: Sexual organs.
Festivals: Vernal equinox, Halloween.
Way of honoring: By honoring desire.
Shadow, when not honored: Anger, violence, heartless sex, war.
Mars is the god of desire; feistiness, aggression, heat, and action. We draw upon Mars for courage, dynamism, passion, and kinship with life. Mars reminds us that spiritual life is not some passive, safe, wimpy, trust-fund tour; it is a bold, active, heroic, and completely engaged adventure. Arousal is necessary if we are to be able to take appropriate action.
Mars needs heroic assignments. Without an inspirational goal, Mars gets frustrated, angry, and attracted to trouble like a bored teenager. It is the questing impulse to protect self and others, but true Mars energy is nonviolent strength. It is compassion delivered with tyranny as its target. Mars vanquishes not through destruction but through transformation, bringing its transformed opponent back to life.
In response to displays of insensitivity to something that deserves protection—a child, a psychotic person, an animal, a tree, a beautiful old building—Mars rises up and roars like a force of nature, even in very mild people. This is a healthy response—the Mars part of us is not meant to be entirely polite.
The single most important question Mars wants us to ask ourselves is “What do I want?”
The answer is the energetic rudder that guides our life’s course. Many of us are rudderless and that makes us passive and vulnerable.
Mars indicates your power, aggressions, and initiative. The warrior planet helps you to achieve your ambitions in the world. On the positive level, you assert yourself to manifest core goals. Negatively, it can be repressed anger, the need to win at any cost, or excessive reliance on the physical (like sex without love). Mars gets you moving towards your goals. The natal house placement of Mars in your chart tells you where you direct your ambition.