March's Patron Saint Mars Asks Us, What Is Worth Fighting For?
There is an innate wildness within all of us. A way of moving, a pulse, that silently draws us forward. An instinctive knowing that seemingly, inexplicably draws us along our path. It knows what it knows. Birds and butterflies migrate thousands of miles using this instinct. The soul’s call will not be tamed and put in an appropriate box simply because our ‘logic’ demands it. When we futilely attempt to cage ourselves it erupts in some version of s soul sickness.
Lately I have found myself in deep contemplation about the role of Mars as to play in terms of our instinctual nature. Our wild creature. And since this is the month officially named in his honor it seems particularly timely. Fundamentally, Mars is about the action of desire. He is about both how we desire and how we fulfill our desire. In other words, Mars is about going after what we want. Because, when it comes down to it, what we desire and how we go about fulfilling those desires is the ultimate trial of the evolution of consciousness.
We can’t have true inspiration without Mars. When we are truly inspired, we are set in motion.
I have an Aries ascendant which makes Mars the ruler of my chart. Sometimes, particularly when I was younger, it truly was a case of ‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread.’ As I have evolved, matured and more and more understand what soulful embodied listening is comprised of, I have learned, for the most part, to pick my battles more carefully.
Representing our inner warrior, Mars both by sign and house placement points us in the direction of where we are developing courage over the course of this lifetime. It illuminates what motivates us on a core level. On a most basic level he describes how we do things.
Mars shows us what we are stimulated by. The things that turn us on. The houses it falls into within our chart indicates the area of life where we can most get in touch with this basic energy. The sign shows us the flavors, both of our own expression and what we find exciting. When we tap into it, we tap into our own life force.
Mars is where we look for a fight. It’s how we challenge ourselves and others. It pushes our knowledge of how and why we conquer. Mars aggression is not aggression for its own sake, but is deeply rooted in the necessity to assess and test strength and power. It’s why our sexual encounters can devolve into war games. Wherever Mars is involved, we must remain conscious of our use of our own power. Mars is how we penetrate in all kinds of ways, and we have to be certain that the intrusion is welcome.
When I think about my own life, or the lives of my students or clients, Mars always reminds me of the search for the Holy Grail. He asks us, What truly is worth fighting for? What is worth expending time and energy on? What battles should we simply walk away from? This is the heart of a true quest. No surprise that the root of the word courage is from the latin ‘cor’ meaning heart. At its core, when we come from our heart we are being courageous.
When Mars’s spiritual side is activated, it becomes a vehicle for higher powers, and allows us to use those higher powers in daily activities.
The difference between a bully or thug and someone on an inspired mission is the awareness and intention being their actions. This can’t be attributed to just one planet or point in a chart but when the desire is clear and a decision is made, Mars is the one that goes out and takes action on behalf of the rest of the chart.
The key to harnessing the power of Mars lies in both knowing what is truly valuable to us and then having the courage to align (make an inner alliance) with those values.
For example, if your Mars is in the sign of Cancer it is developing the courage to let your heart speak and be vulnerable. To openly show its desires and not hide behind a shell disguised as it’s all good. Or look at how I can nourish you! Mars in Cancer feels intensely vulnerable, it never goes directly after something. Think about a crab, It literally walks sideways. But the minute one of its pincers grabs onto something it will fight to the death before letting go. Mars in Virgo’s soul needs to find some sort of work that matters, that makes a difference and to pursue that even though it might seem fool hardy to others.
A healthy, aware Mars knows where to expend its energy and passion vs picking needless outside battles simply as a way to deal with its own sense of divine discontent.
So, as we approach the Vernal Equinox on March 21 and enter into the sign Aries and one of Mars’ official seasons, honesty ask yourself where does it feel authentically important to be fierce in your life? To come from the heart.
That doesn’t mean its not scary or that you won’t feel vulnerable. It just means it is a battle worth fighting. It is worthy of you. It is worthy of your energy. And perhaps most importantly, it is worthy of your time, which for all of us is limited. Our personal time is finite in this lifetime. Period. You can always make more money, but you can never create more time. And time therefore is our most precious commodity.
Even if you don’t personally know where Mars is within your chart, I am willing to bet that the answers that surface are reflected and mirrored back within your natal chart. Recently in one of my classes students were assigned a collage of their Moons. What was truly extraordinary to all of us was that the resulting pieces not only displayed their Moons but their entire charts. And this is an entry level class, most of them know very little about astrology at this point.
Your Natal chart is a map. A soul seeded map, an Alchemical Compass. Your life is the territory. One of the breathtakingly beautiful things to me is that they always profoundly reflect each other.
When we bring conscious awareness to our journey life can be perceived as an experience of endless miracles. Even the challenging parts. I speak from personal experience when I say developing our Mars, our inner heart warrior, is worth the work.
