Mars
Mars is the planet of action, desire and self-assertion in Western astrology. Its place in the birth chart, its sign and house, describes how a person goes after what they want, defends their ground, and handles anger or conflict. Tradition tied it to courage and war; psychological astrology reads it as the instinct to assert oneself and the drive to act.
What Mars lights up
Where Mars sits in your chart is where you spend energy without thinking: how you start things, how you say yes, how you say no. Its sign colors the style, quick and direct in Aries, patient and stubborn in Taurus, and its house shows the area of life where that drive plays out most strongly.
In the tradition
Classical astrologers counted Mars among the two malefics, tied to wounds and fevers. The modern reading is gentler: Mars is not violence, it is the energy that moves you forward, and it only weighs on you when it is smothered or left to spill over.
Sources
- , Christian Astrology (1647)
- , The Gods of Change (1989)