Planets in Astrology: Mars
I'm going to dive into the meaning of the five visible planets and two luminaries (the Sun and the Moon), also known as the seven "classical" or "traditional" planets. I will share various significations for the planets from texts written between the 2nd century AD and the 20th century AD, and conclude with some of my own thoughts about interpreting that planet in astrology.
Tuesday is the day of Mars, so today I will be writing about the "Lesser Malefic".
Content Warning: Mars is a very intense planet with extreme significations. It is, after all, the planet associated with war. While there is nothing graphic in this article, it does mention violence, suffering, and oppression, including my own experiences of being bullied as a queer person.
The Anthology of Vettius Valens (150 - 175 AD) doesn't have much of anything nice to say about Mars. The significations he lists are nothing short of nightmare fuel, with the common themes being violence, loss, pain, separation, injury, destruction, and disease. But there are a few neutral or potentially positive significations listed by Valens: those who work with fire or iron, those who work with their hands, masons, and high-ranking military leaders. There is no mention of Mars representing motivation or drive, as one might find in modern astrology. Nor does Mars appear to stand for sexuality, although Valens does use Mars as a significator of marriage for women in his chart interpretation. Given that marriage was very much an oppressive, patriarchal institution at this point in history, I don't know how positive the marriages represented by Mars actually were for the women involved.
Although Mars continues to signify violence, theft, and general immorality in the writings of Abu Ma'shar and Al Biruni in the Medieval period, it also has connotations of liveliness, youthfulness, and courage. Abu Ma'shar writes that Mars signifies "every matter occurring suddenly", which fits with my understanding of Mars as representing swift and at times unexpected events. Abu Ma'shar connects Mars with sexuality, but the kind of sexuality represented by Mars in his list of significations is "ugly" and immoral. Perhaps my favourite signification for Mars from his writing is "regarding forbidden things as permissible"—another connection between Mars and the taboo.
The Hellenistic astrologers associated Mars with heat, and this has remained consistent throughout the history of its symbolism. Al Biruni connects Mars with buildings and structures that contain fire: hearths, fire temples, and potter's vessels. Among the professions Al Biruni associates with Mars are blacksmiths, shepherds, butchers, surgeons, robbers, and sellers of hounds. There are themes of working with heat, animals, or sharp tools. Interestingly, Mars is connected to the sixth house in ancient astrology, which is associated with the keeping of small animals or livestock.
William Ramesey's book Astrologie Restored, written in 1653, has a similar list of professions for Mars which mostly involve medicine, working with iron or cutting tools, serving in the military, or manufacturing weapons and armour. He explicitly mentions cooks—a profession I've often thought to be very Martial because it uses intense heat and sharp, metal tools.
For Alan Leo, writing in 1904, Mars represents the "animal nature" in human beings, which must be tamed and controlled. He writes "All the animal propensities, sensations, passions, desires, and appetites come under the vibration of Mars." Many of the significations given to Mars by Leo, in the event that a person's spiritual nature does not conquer their "animal" nature, are identical to those from our older, traditional sources: misfortune, disaster, accident, fever, rashness. Leo describes Mars as fundamentally the planet of force, which can be used for either selfish or heroic ends.
In The Inner Sky (1984), Steven Forrest writes of the cruel destructiveness of Mars if it is not harnessed appropriately. But he acknowledges the necessary, even constructive nature of this archetype. He writes that "It is the planet of freedom. Of independence. Of self-determination," and that "Above all else, Mars symbolizes the power of the human will. This is the planet that gives us the steam to do what we please. To shape our own lives, and to crush anything that stands in our way."
Mars has a unique meaning to me as a queer person—as someone who has often felt monstrous, rejected, and aligned with what is taboo. I was told that I was "opinionated" and "rebellious" for disagreeing with the hate being levelled at me. In my own chart, Mars is found in the seventh house of relationships. One of the functions of Mars in astrology is to separate. I was outed against my will as an adolescent. The nature of my relationships (seventh house) alienated me, separated me from my peers, turned me into a scapegoat. I felt like Mars—angry, condemned, and shamed.
In my practice, Mars is an indication of challenge and a call to courage. It can represent the ways in which we feel like outsiders, enemies, or villains. Mars can highlight how prevailing views of morality might exclude innocent people, forcing us to question, re-evaluate, or reject social taboos. In a birth chart, it can signify areas of life where we must slay our personal dragons before we can move forward. It can represent areas of life where we experience what feels like intense heat or pressure.
Mars is conflict and anger, the drivers of social change. Mars refuses to comply with what is expected of it. While the gentler planets bend and yield in the face of adversity, Mars picks up a weapon.
Mars stands for the reality that existence is a continuous fight for survival. 99% of all species that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct. While the Moon or Venus or Jupiter revel in the miracle that is life, Mars is more like a Neil DeGrasse Tyson rant about how the universe is trying to kill us and the Earth is actually a very bad place for living things. Both perspectives—the understanding that the Earth is nurturing and the understanding that it is dangerous—are necessary.
Ptolemy remarked that the malefic planets (Mars and Saturn) tend towards extremes, while the benefic planets (Venus and Jupiter) tend towards moderation. Like a rollercoaster, Mars sends us over great heights and into great depths in rapid succession—it is the planet of adrenaline. Mars is the crash after a high, but also the ecstasy that only comes after intense discomfort and effort. Mars is the runner's high, the sense of bliss that comes from grinding away at a difficult and unpleasant activity.
The placement of Mars in your birth chart can help you think about how you respond to crisis, and where you expect crisis to come from. While Mars symbolizes danger, injury, and illness, it also represents the response to those things. Mars has a long history of being associated with doctors, pharmacists, surgeons, and veterinarians. Those with Mars prominent in their charts might consider the ways they are not only warriors, but also healers. Like the sixth house where it rejoices, Mars is about service. We refer to a career in the military as "service", and I think this points to an important, but overlooked, characteristic of Mars.
In keeping with the urgent, extreme nature of the red planet, I have bitten off far more than I can chew with this planet project. Originally, I wanted to write something brief about the planets for each day of the week in connection with a week-long event I'm participating in. But when I started writing about the Moon, things got out of hand. Not only did I end up writing an entire article, but I publicly declared that I would do the same for every other planet this week.
I am normally a perfectionist with my writing. I will spend days working on a piece, meticulously researching and editing it, but never actually sharing it anywhere. This project is forcing me to work quickly and share pieces before I feel ready. For Mars, the time to do something is always right now. These pieces may not be researched with scholarly rigor or carefully edited. They will be raw, unfiltered, imperfect, and perhaps—to use one of Al Biruni's descriptions for the Martial character -- a little shameless.
Pay close attention to Mars in your birth chart if you have Aries or Scorpio rising, if you have Mars in Aries, Scorpio, or Capricorn, if Mars is in one of the angular houses in your birth chart (the first, fourth, seventh, or tenth), or if you have multiple planets in Aries or Scorpio. Mars may have a message for you about being courageous, refusing to let fear control you, rebelling against injustice, and choosing the hard thing over the easy thing.
