Beginner Guide to Mars — Astrology

In astrology, Mars represents drive, desire, anger, courage, competition, conflict, physical energy, sexy-times, and the instinct to go after what you want.

Mars in Your Birth Chart

When you were born, Mars was traveling through one of the twelve zodiac signs. That sign is your Mars sign.

Your Mars sign describes what happens when wanting turns into doing.

It shows up when you decide you want the job and send the application. The way you react when someone cuts in front of you after you’ve been waiting 20 minutes. When the hotel says they’ve lost your reservation. When you’re attracted to someone. When you’re competing. When you’ve had enough. When there’s a problem and everyone looks around to see who is going to deal with it.

Mars is the part that deals with friction.

An Aries Mars may confront a problem immediately because spending three days “seeing how things develop” sounds considerably worse than the problem itself. A Libra Mars may prefer negotiation, strategy, and getting everyone to agree on a solution, right up until they’ve accommodated everyone for six months and produce a surprisingly detailed list of grievances. A Capricorn Mars may decide what it wants, make a plan, and keep going long after everyone else has become distracted by snacks.

Anger belongs to Mars too.

Your Mars sign can describe what gets under your skin and what you tend to do once you’re pissed off. Some people raise their voice. Some get extremely quiet. Some need 20 minutes or 2 days alone. Some begin calmly presenting evidence from an incident you had no idea was still under investigation.

Mars also rules competition and assertion. It’s the part of you that can say “I want this,” “I’m doing this,” “move,” or the considerably more socially acceptable “I’m going to go ahead and take care of it.”

Sexual desire is another Mars topic, particularly pursuit, physical chemistry, libido, and what creates that sense of wanting someone rather urgently.

The house containing Mars shows where all this drive, friction, effort, and desire tends to concentrate.

Mars in the 3rd House can put a lot of energy into communication, ideas, learning, errands, and debate. This person may have strong opinions, quick responses, and an impressive ability to turn “Which route should we take?” into something requiring supporting documentation.

Mars in the 6th House can pour energy into work, routines, exercise, chores, and fixing whatever currently needs fixing. Give them a free Saturday and they may somehow end it sweaty, surrounded by labeled storage bins, and halfway through replacing a faucet.

Mars in the 10th House can bring a lot of drive to ambition, achievement, leadership, and career. This is someone who sees the next rung on the ladder as a personal invitation to go big or go home.

Aspects to Mars add another layer.

Mars conjunct Jupiter can turn up enthusiasm, confidence, competitiveness, and appetite for risk. The original plan was a 5K. Somehow you are now researching half marathons.

Mars square Saturn can create a recurring encounter between urgency and limitation. Mars wants to move. Saturn wants proof of insurance, three signatures, and a permit. This can produce frustration, although it can also build serious endurance.

Mars opposite Pluto can bring tremendous intensity to questions of power, desire, competition, and control. A disagreement about where to park the car can acquire stakes wildly disproportionate to the available parking spaces.

Mars tells you a lot about who you become when something needs to happen.

Especially when that something needed to happen 20 minutes ago.

Mars in the Sky Right Now

Mars takes roughly two years to travel through the zodiac, usually spending several weeks in each sign and considerably longer during a retrograde.

When astrologers say “Mars enters Cancer,” they mean Mars is currently moving through Cancer. Mars topics like drive, anger, desire, conflict, competition, and physical energy start operating with some Cancer flavor.

People may become more protective, emotionally motivated, or inclined to act on behalf of home and family. Anger can become more personal. Someone criticizing your cooking may suddenly find themselves facing a comprehensive defense of your grandmother’s entire bloodline.

Mars also moves through the houses of your birth chart.

When Mars travels through your 2nd House, you may put more energy into money, earning, possessions, or financial security. Maybe you negotiate your salary. Maybe you finally sell the exercise bike currently serving as a very expensive coat rack. Maybe every surprise expense feels like it has personally challenged you to combat.

Mars moving through your 7th House can energize close relationships and partnerships. This can mean more passion, more initiative, more conflict, or finally having the conversation both of you have been politely walking around for three weeks.

Mars moving through your 10th House can bring extra energy to career, ambition, achievement, and leadership. You may become more competitive, more willing to take charge, or increasingly unable to understand why this project requires another meeting.

Mars also makes aspects as it moves.

Mars conjunct Jupiter can create a burst of confidence, enthusiasm, physical energy, or risk-taking. This is useful energy for doing something bold and occasionally the energy behind agreeing to something that seemed significantly easier while you were agreeing to it.

Mars square Uranus can bring impatience, disruption, impulsiveness, and a powerful desire to break free from whatever currently feels restrictive. The phrase “screw it” may experience unusually high usage.

Mars opposite Saturn can feel like driving with one foot on the gas while someone else has control of the brake. Delays, restrictions, responsibilities, or another person’s firm “no” can become especially irritating.

And then there’s Mars retrograde.

About every two years, Mars appears to move backward through the zodiac. Astrologers associate these periods with reconsidering how and where you’re spending your energy, what you’re pursuing, what you’re angry about, and whether the battle you’ve been fighting still deserves this much of your Tuesday.

Motivation can change direction. Frustrations can resurface. Old conflicts may require another round. Something you’ve been aggressively pursuing may suddenly inspire the deeply inconvenient question, “Wait, do I even want this?!”

Mars is interested in movement.

(Oh, and Retrograde Mars occasionally wants to know why you’re running and who told you this was the finish line.)

Mars Cheat Sheet

Rules: drive, desire, anger, courage, competition, conflict, physical energy, sex, assertion

Changes signs: usually every several weeks

Travels through the zodiac: roughly two years

Retrograde: about every two years

Rules: Aries and, traditionally, Scorpio

Associated with: the 1st House and, traditionally, the 8th House

Symbol: ♂

When you’re looking at your birth chart: Find Mars to understand what happens when you want something, encounter resistance, get angry, compete, pursue, or decide something needs to be done.

When you’re looking at current astrology: Follow Mars to see where effort, desire, conflict, ambition, physical energy, and the urge to make something happen are getting louder.