Mars is the god of war. Mars represents force, conflict, and action. Mars is an outwardly expressed force in the psyche. It is said to denote a drive to express and display energy. Mars represents the desire to reach out for experience and things we want.
The symbol for Mars represents spirit held down by matter. It is said that the symbol represents a shield and a spear. The symbol represents male, masculinity and youth. The symbol is used for iron in alchemy.
Mars is known as the red planet, due to its orange almost red appearance in the sky. Red was associated with Mars appetite for conflict and bloodshed.
Mars rules Aries and is the ancient ruler of Scorpio.
Mars is situated between Earth and Jupiter making it the fourth planet from the Sun. It takes approximately two years for Mars to complete an orbit around the Sun. It takes 24.5 hours for Mars to complete a full rotation on its axis.
The diameter of Mars is approximately 6759 kms. Mars atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide with an atmospheric pressure a few thousandths of Earth. The surface gravity is about a third of Earth’s and temperature ranges from -153°C to 20 °C. It is a desert-like planet that has icecaps made up of water ice and dry ice.
Mars has two moons, Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror), both named after the sons of Ares, the Greek mythological figure associated with the Roman god Mars.
Mars fills us with energy. It is through Mars that we reach out for what we desire. If our boundaries are crossed, it is Mars who responds to the violation. He is the energy of the base and sacral chakras manifest through action. He is the urge to be competitive, to propel us into action, & fight for what we want. Mars serves the expression of the Sun, & provides the courage & drive to achieve the personality's goals. Mars is interested in conquest, his actions initiated by desire, his energy fueled by instinct.
Mars is the part of the psyche through which we experience and express energy, excessive force, anger, irritation, war, abrupt change, erratic action, determination, courage, sexual energy, and penetration.
MARS Mood Board
The parts of the body that MARS Rules are the:
Adrenal Glands
Red Blood Cells
Iron in Blood
& Muscular Strength
The Tarot card associated with Mars is The Tower.
In the Tower we meet sudden change and disruption. Like an invading army, we are faced with change which is thrust upon us that may be violent, destructive, and catastrophic. The Tower represents destructive power, external or internal, and excessive force. In the ruin of the Tower, a process of insight and inspiration begins.
Arthur Edward Waite, the author of the Rider-Waite tarot, describes the Tower as misery, distress, poverty, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception, and ruin. The Tower card is said to be reminiscent of the Tower of Babel, where humanity, who at the time spoke a common language, unified to build a structure that would reach the heavens. However, God made humanity multi-lingual, so that the endeavour would fail through the confusion and chaos that would ensue in humanity’s inability to understand each other.
The lightning that strikes the Tower represents the destructive forces that war against what we have built. The lightning creates a fire that the inhabitants of the Tower must flee from, throwing themselves, or being thrown, from the security of the structure they have created. The people falling are also said to represent failure that has been brought about through a hedonistic life. The Crown symbolises a connection to our higher purpose, and how hubris, and over-identification with the spoils of success can impact on our relationship to our soul journey.
The chaos we meet in the card symbolises the dismantling of our illusions, a moment of insight. The realisation that change is upon us may come from forces we meet externally, or it may be the moment we realise we can no longer continue to live the life we are living. Here we see the devastation of our security both internal (protective illusions) and external (material possessions, status, relationships).
The Tower represents a time of personal crisis, in which a new creative approach is born out of need. Whatever the reason, there is nothing passive in what we meet in the Tower card, or our response to its energy. Our stability is threatened, and we must leap into a new course of action. Whilst it is a collapse of what was, it is a new beginning. We see in the card, that the wars we encounter and ruin that may ensue, put us on a path that serves our greater solar journeys, one that is built on truth not illusions.
Mythology
Kartikeya
In India, Mars is associated with the deity Kartikeya. The myth goes that the gods were being tormented by a demon. It was prophesied that this demon could only be slain by a seven-day-old son of Shiva. To bring about the birth of this son, the gods gathered together and created an illusion of a woman that was so beautiful and so enticing, that not even Shiva could help but ejaculate at the sight of her. As he did the wives of the seven Rishis caught his semen and made a womb of earth and water, and after seven days Kartikeya burst forth to slay the demon.
Here we see that Mars is born out of necessity and originates from our most primal self. The image of Mars bursting forth is fitting when we think of how anger can erupt from within us.