Mars gets a bad rap. Yes yes yes he is related to the Greek Ares god of war, but like so many other Roman gods he is rarely seen as the full nuanced character that he is. You see there is a rather nagging persistent falsity going around that Roman gods are just direct copies of Greek gods with no real differences. No one suffers more from this myth than Mars.
It is important to understand that Mars has a history that has a Roman tradition essentially different, although influenced by the Greek War god Ares. Originally Mars is a Roman god of Fertility. Born a Virgin Birth when Juno the queen of the gods who is set over the idea of Commerce, Marriage, contracts and bureaucracy (think of her in terms of the grand power of negotiations, haggling and social contracts). Juno eats a magical flower and becomes impregnated, giving birth to Mars.
Now Juno herself suffers from a rather unfortunate image. Seen primarily as a rather jealous creature. One might, however keep in mind that perhaps the rational reaction of an intelligent powerful woman to being included in a relationship with Jupiter who was not big on negotiations with his powerful wife (not to mention his questionable lack of relationship to consent in the stories).
What is all this really getting at? Mars represents assertiveness, it is born of a healthy relationship to negotiation and awareness of our own needs. Mars becomes a god of war when we deny him his due, when we get in the way of what are needs, we react. Mars in Cancer is a strange sensitive creature, Squaring his mother Juno in Libra we are called to pay special attention to and re-evaluate the ways in which we negotiate what we want and how we pay attention to the needs of others.
When we do not admit what our desire is we tend to brood, and eventually Mars does not take denial well, and explodes! This should not be such a fearful or surprising thing. Mars is after all our motivation. He is like the giant engine in our belly. When not allowed to go after what it naturally seeks, Mars slowly builds out a heat, and the result is messy to say the least.
Here's a hint, if we pay attention to what gives us pleasure and how we attract (Venus) who is feeling picky but practical, we can use that sense to make sure we are allowing our "mars to chase what we are after. Our Sun is along for the ride, and in Virgo the key here is calm quiet directed specific speech. Clarity and exactness of communication is what its all about after all.
Our emotions (The moon) is longing for the practical no-nonsense and reliable (its in Capricorn), making such negotiations a bit more challenging... but its a good time to come to personal terms with what you need. IE make a personal demands list. Its time to run a personal accounting of what you want and how you need to negotiate for it, and go after it. If anything it is a good time to make plans and to work it out on paper for a long term strategy.
This allows us to indulge our sense of identity and pleasure/attraction (Sun conjunct Venus) which is in a discriminating though patient mood with an eye to the practical. And as luck would have it that point of view sits wonderfully to empower our mars to be patient and that since of discriminating precision may allow mars to plot a better course in what may feel kind of slow going. Mars in Cancer is tricky because the urge to family is not a road with a straight direct path, but if we pay close attention to our emotions, intuition sense of identity and plot an exact course, we can not only thread this needle, but come out the other side feeling far more empowered.
The key is to understand that the heart of where our aggression, our temper, our anger and all those uncomfortable subjects come from, is a natural good mechanism. It is what causes the vine to reach to the sun, and the bee to seek the flower. Mars is at its nature a matter of fertility, it is the chaser in the chase, and he is the part of the dance that leads, not more important and not insensitive by nature (and in fact in need of great sensitivity to do his job well).
It is important to understand that Mars has a history that has a Roman tradition essentially different, although influenced by the Greek War god Ares. Originally Mars is a Roman god of Fertility. Born a Virgin Birth when Juno the queen of the gods who is set over the idea of Commerce, Marriage, contracts and bureaucracy (think of her in terms of the grand power of negotiations, haggling and social contracts). Juno eats a magical flower and becomes impregnated, giving birth to Mars.
Now Juno herself suffers from a rather unfortunate image. Seen primarily as a rather jealous creature. One might, however keep in mind that perhaps the rational reaction of an intelligent powerful woman to being included in a relationship with Jupiter who was not big on negotiations with his powerful wife (not to mention his questionable lack of relationship to consent in the stories).
What is all this really getting at? Mars represents assertiveness, it is born of a healthy relationship to negotiation and awareness of our own needs. Mars becomes a god of war when we deny him his due, when we get in the way of what are needs, we react. Mars in Cancer is a strange sensitive creature, Squaring his mother Juno in Libra we are called to pay special attention to and re-evaluate the ways in which we negotiate what we want and how we pay attention to the needs of others.
When we do not admit what our desire is we tend to brood, and eventually Mars does not take denial well, and explodes! This should not be such a fearful or surprising thing. Mars is after all our motivation. He is like the giant engine in our belly. When not allowed to go after what it naturally seeks, Mars slowly builds out a heat, and the result is messy to say the least.
Here's a hint, if we pay attention to what gives us pleasure and how we attract (Venus) who is feeling picky but practical, we can use that sense to make sure we are allowing our "mars to chase what we are after. Our Sun is along for the ride, and in Virgo the key here is calm quiet directed specific speech. Clarity and exactness of communication is what its all about after all.
Our emotions (The moon) is longing for the practical no-nonsense and reliable (its in Capricorn), making such negotiations a bit more challenging... but its a good time to come to personal terms with what you need. IE make a personal demands list. Its time to run a personal accounting of what you want and how you need to negotiate for it, and go after it. If anything it is a good time to make plans and to work it out on paper for a long term strategy.
This allows us to indulge our sense of identity and pleasure/attraction (Sun conjunct Venus) which is in a discriminating though patient mood with an eye to the practical. And as luck would have it that point of view sits wonderfully to empower our mars to be patient and that since of discriminating precision may allow mars to plot a better course in what may feel kind of slow going. Mars in Cancer is tricky because the urge to family is not a road with a straight direct path, but if we pay close attention to our emotions, intuition sense of identity and plot an exact course, we can not only thread this needle, but come out the other side feeling far more empowered.
The key is to understand that the heart of where our aggression, our temper, our anger and all those uncomfortable subjects come from, is a natural good mechanism. It is what causes the vine to reach to the sun, and the bee to seek the flower. Mars is at its nature a matter of fertility, it is the chaser in the chase, and he is the part of the dance that leads, not more important and not insensitive by nature (and in fact in need of great sensitivity to do his job well).
I want, because I am alive. I honor my desire and use it consciously to move forward to complex goals, that create what I want in a respectful loving way. I can only respect others when I embrace that I have desires and ambitions and can speak them openly and honestly and negotiate them in a forthright way.
More Readings to add perspective:
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