Past Articles

AR 71 Lilith; Goddess, Demon or Earth's Dark Moon

AR 70 Sign Language, Exploring the Enduring Archetypes of the Zodiac

AR 69 Venus The Mysterious Magic of the Morning Star

AR 68 Astrology and the Fixed Stars

AR 67 Jupiter in Capricorn

AR 66 Lord of the Rings Enters the Realm of the Celestial Virgin

AR 65 The Asteroids

AR 64 Chiron, Wise Centaur or Rogue Comet?

AR 63 Astrology and the Hero's Journey

AR 62 Aquarius Ascending

AR 61 Dwarfing Pluto

AR 60 Jupiter in Sagittarius

AR 59 Neptune in Aquarius

AR 58 Mercury, Messenger of the Gods

AR 57 Moon Signs

AR 56 Chinese Astrology

AR 55 Circular Logic

AR 54 Jupiter in Scorpio

AR 53 The Lion in Winter

AR 52 As Above, So Below

AR 51 The Ancient Quest

AR 50 Astrology and Alchemy

AR 49 Star of Wonder

AR 48 Jupiter in Libra

AR 47 Once in a Blue Moon

AR 46 Sedna Enters the Arena

AR 45 Royal Stars of Persia

AR 44 Ancient Formulas for Immortality

AR 43 Twelve Gates of Heaven

AR 42 Jupiter in Virgo

AR 41 Geometry of the Spheres

AR 40 Saturn in Cancer, June, 2003 to July, 2005

AR 39 The Poles of the Zodiac

AR 38
Uranus In
Pisces
2003-2011

AR 37
Twelfth Planet, Plutinos or
Planet X

AR 36
Eclipses – Promise or Peril?

AR35
Solar Fire

AR34
The Lunar Mansions of Vedic Astrology

AR 33
Children of the Gods

AR 32
Wheels Within Wheels

AR 31
Horoscopes of Destiny

AR 30
Zodicac of Dendera

AR 29
A Star Is Born

AR 28
Age of Aquarius

AR 27
Persia's Royal Stars of Ancients

AR 23
The Lore of a Shaman

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for it swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only what they defend.” J.R.R. Tolkein

Mars, the red planet, is fourth in order from the Sun and second closest to Earth after Venus. Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years on August 27, 2003, bringing its telescopic presence into sharp focus. Mars orbits the Sun in 687 Earth days, but one rotation on its axis is 24 hours and 37 minutes, remarkably close to one Earth day. Mars has approximately half the radius of Earth and only one-tenth the mass, but its surface area is only slightly less than the total area of Earth's dry land. The gravity on Mars is roughly one-third of Earth’s. Mars boasts the tallest mountain and volcano in the solar system named

Valles Marineris. Mars

Mars has two irregularly shaped moons, which are probably captured asteroids. They are not large enough to become spherical, and their synchronous orbits result in the same side always facing their parent planet. They were discovered by Aspah Hall in 1877 and were named Phobos, “fear” and Deimos, “panic.” In myth they were the twin children of Ares, the Greek predecessor of the Roman Mars, and Aphrodite (Venus). They were the constant battlefield companions of their father, along with his sister Eris “discord,” and her son “strife.” The war goddess Enyo, Bellona in Latin, also accompanied this dire group into battle.

Mars’s dramatic role in fiction has been inspired by its color and by early scientific speculations that surface conditions might be capable of supporting life. The best known science fiction story is The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells, where Martians seek to escape their dying planet by invading Earth. A radio version of The War of the Worlds was presented as a live broadcast in October, 1938, and many listeners thought it was reality. Other stories include Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, in which human explorers accidentally destroyed a Martian civilization, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, and a number of Robert A. Heinlein stories. Jonathan Swift made reference to the moons of Mars in Gulliver’s Travels, about 150 years before their actual discovery, giving fairly accurate descriptions of their orbits.

The so called Face on Mars, thought to be pure fancy by some, and tangible evidence of earlier habitation by others, stirred up a red dust of controversy beginning in 1976. Thirty years later the search for life on Mars received a boost when NASA announced that newer photographs taken by the Mars Global Surveyor revealed bright deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggested water carried sediment through them sometime during the past seven years. In May 2008 NASA photographed and collected ice near the Martian North Pole. Liquid water is considered necessary for life.

Mythology

Mars is named for the Roman god of war, and he has a long list of epithets ranging from lightning to agriculture, which linked him with other “foreign” gods. His name was likely derived from the earlier Etruscan god Maris. The month of March is named for Mars, and his sacred day was Tuesday: Martis in Latin, Martes in Spanish and Mardi in French. Mars, portrayed in full armor, wearing a crested helmet and carrying a shield, was a familiar Roman omen, a symbol for war and aggression.

In ancient times the archetype of Mars was a sacrificial god of spring, born of a celestial virgin without the aid of a sky god. In Babylon the month of atonement for this yearly sacrifice was Marcheshvan. The Roman poet Ovid wrote that Hera conceived Ares (Mars), without Zeus by virtue of a special flower, probably a lily, a gift from the goddess Flora.

In Greek mythology Ares was unpopular; even his parents disliked him. His sister, Athene, called him "a thing of rage, made of evil, a two-faced liar." Unlike Athene, a cool-headed and clever strategist, Ares lost his temper easily and rushed into battle. But the Romans who came after held Mars in high esteem. He was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions. Mars was also the tutelary god of the city of Rome. As he was regarded as the legendary father of Rome's founder, Romulus, Romans believed they were descendants of Mars.

Diverse cultures have seen Mars as fiery and usually warlike. He is the red blood of battle while ancient goddesses ruled over the red blood of birth. In Babylonian myth Mars was called Nergal and was the god of war, the scorching noonday sun, plagues, epidemics and disasters. When the Greeks equated the Babylonian Nergal with their god of war, Ares, they named the planet Areos Aster, "star of Ares.” Then, following the identification of Ares and Mars, it was translated into Latin as Stella Martis, or "star of Mars,” or simply Mars. The Greeks also called the planet Pyroeis meaning "fiery.”

Mars was Heru-khuti, in Egypt, and the planet was known "Horus the Red.” It’s believed the name of Cairo originated from Al Qahira, an ancient Arabic name for Mars. His Persian name was Pahlavanu Siphr, and in Norse myth he was Tiu. His Scandinavian name was Tyr and in Olde English, Tiw. The Hindus called Mars Kartikeya. In Vedic astrology Mars is called Angaraka in Sanskrit, after the celibate god of war, who “possesses the signs of Aries and Scorpio, and teaches the occult sciences.” The Hebrews named the planet Ma'adim "one who blushes." Mars is known as Al Mirrikh in Arabic, and Merih in Turkish. In Urdu and Persian it is known as Merikh. The Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures call Mars the fire star.

Astrology

Mars is energy in action, and he embodies the principles of projection, heat and activation. Symbolically Mars thrusts himself into the world, and when this happens constructively, there is vigor and positive expression of energy. When Mars expresses in a less than constructive way there is aggression and even violence. Mars 1.8 year orbit causes the red planet to spend about two months in each zodiac sign as he circles the Sun.

The older symbol for Mars showed the circle of spirit with the cross of matter directly above, an exact reversal of the symbol of Venus which is a circle above a cross. Earth, poised between these two planets in the solar system, is symbolized by a cross inside a circle. Earthly incarnation is consciousness embodied in matter. Ultimately, our lessons are about choice, will and discernment.

Mar’s symbol is now the circle with an arrow projecting outward to the right, acting to pierce through whatever barrier seems to block the way and being ready to do battle if necessary. Some envision this as a shield and spear. This is also the biological symbol for a male and the alchemical symbol for iron, connected to Mars. While Venus holds a mirror and represents the principle of attraction, Mars wields a sword and embodies the idea of separation and cleaving apart. Venus magnetically draws things to her while Mars sets out to capture and conquer.

Mars is the energy of initiation, aggression, willfulness and combativeness and reveals how we go after what we want. Mars in a horoscope shows how we focus energy and turn our desires into action for accomplishment. If Venus is our sister planet then Mars is our brother. Earth’s path is between Venus and Mars, pulled inward on the one hand, longing to merge and return to the source, and outward on the other, forging a quest to conquer the physical world.

As the energy of Mars is channeled into a horoscope this archetype drives certain qualities and behaviors. He embodies directed power. If Mars is strong in a horoscope he engenders the ability to risk and gives us the courage to move forward with our ideals. Exertion, and the force of will, is required to make our way in the world. Mars is a potential leader but needs to learn tact, diplomacy and cooperation. Mars energy can be pioneering, blazing a new trail and leading the way. His action is initiating and incisive, forceful and inclined to be impulsive and quick acting, boldly rushing in where angels fear to tread.

Making peace with Mars

The nature of Mars has been seen in a similar light around the world. It’s speculation or intuition on my part, but I believe the planetary archetypes took on their nature at the beginnings of the solar system. Current theory about star and planet formation holds that our solar system began as a nebula which began to spin as the result of gravity from other sources in the galaxy and its own mass. Eventually enough heat built up at the center, creating fusion, and our sun caught fire. The planets coalesced and moved into orbits around our star.

In a Quantum sense our solar system can be seen as a unit of which we are a part, and the character of the planets might be seen like frequencies, or colors in the spectrum of visible light. As above, so below. In Hindu teaching our spiritual anatomy includes chakras, “wheels” in Sanskrit. In alchemy the chakras are called “interior stars” and are correlated with the planets.

We all have the capacity for war or peace, cowardice or heroism, and we are ultimately defined by our choices. In The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the author quoted at the beginning of this article, the hero who is destined to become king is reluctant and feels unworthy to claim his destiny. His quest is to claim and reforge the sword on behalf of Middle Earth. We might ask ourselves, when does a war lord become a valiant hero? What defines a Gengis Khan, a King Arthur or a Queen Boadica, who launched the most fierce rebellion against the Romans?

The archetypal story of the hero’s journey is found in cultures around the world. If this tale encodes our own spiritual quest, then Mars is the energy which drives us into the unknown and gives us the courage to face the inherent tests, trials and dragons. Mars teaches us the nature of heroism and the consequences of wielding power. Without conscious choice and focused will we remain only observers, never setting foot on the Path or reaching our goal. The archetype of Mars takes us out of our narrow concerns and teaches what us would we would be willing to die for.

Julie Loar
Queen of Cups, LLC
PO Box 1679 Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World
http://www.queenofcups.com
970-264-7474