posted November 26, 2010 05:56 PM
This can be a bore and I'm sorry for that but towards the end this author (a female Donna Warner) eludes to hard aspects between pluto and mars and I was impressed by it. The concept of transformation is very fascinating even intriguing but essentially through awareness we should allow our mars to come to terms with pluto in a more harmonious manner (whatever this means when these two are involved right lol) curbing martian rebelliousness against the plutonian manifestation. My layman interpretation but anyway due to the depths that may be involved its all within realms outside of concrete objectivity. From what I am able to discern personally (and I don't know ho strong this effect/affect is on me and since mine is not a square) its more than a little stimulating, very strange raw imagery, rather sexual and I don't know what else or how to describe myself. V and M tightly "orbed" in taurus, maybe my squared SAT appreciates this and again this becomes or feels like a kind of super condensed vibrational aura involved I suppose on the one hand with objective concreteness and on the other through the vibrational aura (my vibe) a dense transmutation. I don't consider myself to be a very encapsulated sort of guy though.Here is what the lady Donna says, its towards the end.
Although men are more closely attuned to Mars and women to Venus, each sex use both planets to express sexuality. Mars is the orgasm, Venus the pleasure we get from it. All of us, female as well as male, therefore go through our Mars when we experience an orgasm or when we react to lust or eroticism. And all of us, male and female alike, draw on our Venus when we merge with our lover, express tenderness, respond to beauty or surrender to pleasure. The man can most naturally express his Mars and stimulate hers, while she can best express her Venus and evoke his. (This is why Venus-Mars ties between two charts are so potent.)
Mars is the planet of arousal, penetration, thrust, orgasm. It is the essence of the male–its very symbol suggests the male penis and testicles. Mars rules testosterone, the male hormone secreted by the testes. Testosterone gives a man his typically masculine appearance: it deepens his voice, broadens his shoulders, develops his heavy muscles, grows body hair, matures the sexual organs at puberty.
The female counterpart of Mars is the clitoris, which sexual studies have pinpointed as the source of female excitement and orgasm. A woman can therefore express her Mars directly through the clitoris. However, because of her closer identification with Venus, orgasm isn’t as automatic for her as it for the male. Lacking the force of ejaculation, she sometimes has to learn to let go and is more sensitive to psychological pressures. (Because orgasm isn’t as draining as ejaculation, she also has greater staying power.)
Mars is the excitement of discovery, in contrast to Venus, who prefers the comfort of knowing. Mars is the stimulation of our own body in masturbation, the first sexual exploration of the adolescent, the excitement inherent in any new relationship. Most relationships start under Mars–exceptions are childhood sweethearts or love affairs that flow out of friendship, but even here the first sexual contact is Mars. Relationships that last move on to Venus and usually on to other levels.
The position of Mars decides the strength of the sex drive; the aspects show how comfortable we will be with it; finally, and most important, its compatibility with the rest of the chart determines how we will use it.
Mars can be true to itself only in Aries and, to a lesser extent in Taurus and Gemini–the sensation trinity. Mars in the signs between Cancer and Pisces calls for an integration that is the antithesis of his own nature. Excitement is no longer its own reason for being but a source of power. Like the fuel that thrusts a rocket into outer space, we must draw on it to scale new levels. If we can’t, if we must rely on an impassive Aquarian Mars to express the lust the rest of the chart demands, if we must transcend through a volatile Aries Mars, we may never come to terms with our sexuality or believe in our own potency.
Our sense of potency lies in our Mars. It arises from our sexuality but extends beyond it; is our sense of effectiveness, the impact we feel we have on the world.
A good strong Mars–one that is well-aspected, direct in motion and prominent by house and sign–gives us a healthy capacity for arousal and the likelihood of a partner with an equally lusty appetite. Unfortunately, a good Mars doesn’t guarantee satisfaction–arousal, after all, is only one facet of our sexuality. But because it is also the most basic, we can count on problems to the extent that Mars is weak, unbalanced and afflicted.
A weak Mars, one that is poorly placed by house and sign, generally equals a weak sex drive. The capacity for arousal is muted and we are likely to have little interest in sex per se. A low-keyed Mars can be a contributing factor to frigidity in women and impotence in men, although it is dangerous to base such a prediction on the state of just one planet. Sexuality is too complex and astrologically too interwoven to single out any particular chart factor as the root of a problem.
Biology is on the side of a woman with a weak Mars. She can go to her Venus, substitute tenderness for excitement and still find some degree satisfaction. A man’s physiology, however, limits his options. He must express his Mars through erection and ejaculation; he cannot rely solely on emotional fulfillment.
The aspects show how comfortable we will be with our desires. When Mars is weak but well-aspected, we may not be easily aroused but will be content with our sexual capacity, however limited. There will be no pressure to be sexier; we can live happily without sex or, if we need a relationship, draw a partner whose coolness matches our own.
A weak but afflicted Mars nearly always feels inadequate. Depending on the rest of the chart, we may react to it by pretending a sexuality we don’t have, by denying sex entirely (and so miss out on an intimate relationship we might otherwise need) or by drawing a partner who demands more than we can deliver. This is the man who needs constant reassurance about his masculinity, the woman who rigidly submits to her “marital duties”, the moralist who condemns the pleasures of the flesh, and the pseudomystic who claims to have evolved beyond physical needs.
A strongly placed but afflicted Mars, on the other hand, bestows a lusty sexual appetite, though its expression can be blocked. Mars always gravitates to challenge; under affliction challenge can turn into conflict. Such a Mars often seeks out situations or people who will pressure him sexually, forcing action and change. This is the person who needs a good fight as a prelude to good sex, who must be the aggressor and set the pace, who draws a partner with incompatible needs. In extreme and rare cases a strong but badly afflicted Mars can even turn to violence or perversion.
A strong Mars needs the counterbalance of a healthy Venus. The major pitfalls of an unbalanced Mars are lack of restraint, premature ejaculation in men and promiscuity or dissatisfaction in both sexes.
With too much emphasis on Mars, sex is synonymous with a good orgasm. It is lusty and exciting but lacks the tenderness and emotion that can give it meaning and take us beyond ourselves. Instead of losing the self in the partner, we are bent on asserting it. Equating sex with self-assertion isolates us from our partner, who becomes just another conquest. Unhampered by emotional ties and putting too high a premium on excitement, we constantly seek new conquests and new thrills. If our values preclude promiscuity or our need for stability overrides our need for satisfaction, we may remain faithful to one partner, but seldom happily.
Undiluted Mars sex is ultimately self-defeating because it can never find emotional fulfillment. This has traditionally been a masculine province, probably because men are more naturally tuned to Mars. I suspect that the sexual revolution of the last decade, with its emphasis on freedom of choice, orgasm and self-satisfaction, is pressuring women to deny their Venus and go straight to Mars. This is fortunate to the extent that women should admit to arousal and integrate Mars passion into their sexuality, just as men should integrate Venus tenderness into theirs. But when we express only Mars, we are denying our basic Venus nature and planting seeds of frustration and dissatisfaction.
Mars is the primary component of male homosexuality. The gay, even when he assumes feminine mannerisms, wants not to be a woman but have sex with a man. (A person who actually wants to be a member of the opposite sex is a transsexual.)
Because the homosexual’s maleness attunes him to Mars, a gay relationship is Mars seeking more Mars. And because neither partner can express Venus as directly as Mars, the relationship can lack continuity, closeness or emotional satisfaction. Because of the paucity of Venus in male-male relationships, gays seem especially likely to stop on the Mars (arousal-orgasm) level of sexuality; hence the frequent instability of their relationships. Certainly the cultural restrictions of the past have precipitated promiscuity–union, which depends on mutual trust and acceptance, can’t grow in an atmosphere dominated by fear of discovery. However, no relationship, be it homosexual or heterosexual, can survive for long without a direct expression of Venus.
Gay couples who have established long-term relationships have been able to go beyond sensation to other levels. They have placed the relationship itself above their own sensations. It is a difficult hurdle because on the next level we are motivated by the male-female polarity of the Sun and Moon and the desire for procreation of Cancer-Leo.
It is impossible to predict homosexuality on the basis of a chart; there are too many variables, both astrologically and psychologically, to say anything with certainty. However, we need some understanding of the astrological reasons for choosing the gay life. I have seen two basic patterns in gay charts–these patterns don’t necessarily point to homosexuality, but they do shed some light on the motivation behind it.
First, Uranus aspecting the sexual planets (especially Mars in a male chart but sometimes Venus) indicates a desire to experiment and break the rules. This can express through bi-sexuality, an erratic sex drive, a willingness to try anything once, unusual stimulation and homosexuality. If homosexuality were the norm, Uranian gays would likely be heterosexual.
Second, a weak Mars coupled with a strong Moon-Venus influence (particularly a mutable Mars along with a Moon-Venus trine or the conjunction in water signs) seems capable of altering the hormonal balance, sometimes just enough to cause a man to seek Mars–just as a woman does–as a counterpoint to his own Venus. However, the gay biology remains Mars and his sexual relationships are going to be Mars-Mars.
Retrograde Mars
Because retrograde planets respond to internal urges more than to outer stimuli, those of us with a retrograde Mars are likely to be sexual self starters. We are sexually stimulated by an inner clock, usually activated by a transit to either Mars, Venus or the Mars-Venus midpoint. Certainly all of us respond when the sexually sensitive points in our charts are triggered, but a sexually stimulating partner or situation is more likely to excite a direct Mars since the impetus for his sexuality doesn’t come from within.
A retrograde Mars is confusing since excitement appears erratic to the partner–the stimulus is neither consistent nor always appropriate. Since a retrograde Mars depends more on the inner self than the partner for stimulation, it can isolate us if it is strong enough by position, sign or aspect to dominate our sexual expression.
Our arousal may turn inward after Mars turns retrograde by direction. However, this will only be an overlay since Mars was direct, although moving slowly, in the natal chart. (It seems to me that a progressed or converse planet turning retrograde affects us strongest in the year it reaches the degree and minute where it turns.)
MARS IN THE SIGNS
Mars in Aries
Mars in Aries is sensation in its purest form. The sex drive is strong, direct and spontaneous–the sense of potency in facts depends on the sense of spontaneity. Mars in Aries isn’t geared to premeditated dalliances or prolonged interludes of foreplay. He–and she–is quickly aroused and quickly satisfied. Even when other chart factors interfere with sexual expression, Mars in Aries promises a healthy capacity for arousal.
Unless Venus is strong or the rest of the chart emphasizes another level, An Aries Mars can dominate sexuality. Such a Mars uses sex for self-assertion, turns it into a battle for conquest and denies union. The partner’s pleasure or satisfaction is secondary to his own sensations. The physical release of orgasm, pretty much automatic for Mars in Aries, becomes the primary goal of sex. On the other hand, when Venus is also strong or when the sexual thrust of the chart is towards union, Mars-in-Aries passion is a tremendous source of power.
Because Mars in Aries by itself has little staying power, relationships are often brief, though exciting while they last. Mars approaches sex aggressively, taking the initiative both in the initial overtures and during the sex act itself. Because sex is most exciting when it includes an element of danger, this Mars will often seek challenging situations.
Mars-in-Aries women are especially sensitive to the clitoris, preferring its manual manipulation to its indirect stimulation in vaginal intercourse.
Mars in Taurus
Taurus steadies Mars passions. The tempo of arousal, so swift in Aries, slows down. But while our excitement mounts gradually, it also lasts. Combining arousal and sensuousness, Mars in Taurus can reach the peak of sensation. This Mars is so sensitive to touch that he translates almost all physical contact into sexuality.
Influenced by Taurean sensuousness, the sense of potency depends on gratification. Unfulfilled desires in non-sexual areas can in fact cause sexual problems. Mars in Taurus only gives the desire for sensual gratification, however; whether we find it still depends on Venus. Mars alone, even in Taurus, cannot guarantee satisfaction.
Coupled with a weak Venus, this very real need for satisfaction often causes us to put our own sexual needs first. However, because it is linked so closely to our sensuality and to our willingness to take the time to explore, the basically self-centered approach to sex often isn’t recognized.
The Mars-in-Taurus man can therefore be a superb lover, keeping pace with his partner and taking her on his own search for sensual gratification. A Mars-in-Taurus woman, while passionate, often needs time. A speedy lover can be disastrous for the woman whose excitement flows from her sensuality.
Mars in Gemini
Because Gemini’s sexual role is to end the sensation cycle, Mars in Gemini begins a shift of emphasis from body to mind. This Mars maintains his quest for excitement–Mars after all is the planet of arousal and Gemini is part of the sensation trinity of the Zodiac–but mental stimulation and communication are now as necessary to arousal as touch. The sense of potency in fact depends on the powers of communication.
Typical of Gemini, communication plays a dual role in sexuality; we use sex as a means of communication and communication as a means of enhancing the arousal. (The symbolic purpose of Gemini communication in our sexual development is to establish contact with another person, preparing us to respond emotionally in Cancer and to love in Leo.)
Mars in Gemini will sometimes channel sexual energy into the realm of ideas; more often, however, he channels mental energy into sex. This Mars thinks about sex much and often, past encounters, present relationships and future possibilities. Only Mercury-Mars is as prone to sexual analysis.
Probably no other combination is as susceptible to nervousness if sexually unsatisfied. The antidote to the irritability and tension common to Mars in Gemini may be more interesting sex–routine is anathema to Mars in Gemini and too much of it may send him elsewhere. Gemini restlessness often leads this Mars to seek a variety of lovers.
Mars in Gemini is an articulate lover. He is aroused by verbal foreplay, indulging in erotic talk before, during and after sex.
Mars in Cancer
We enter a new dimension in Cancer, moving from the physical to the emotional level of sex. Cancer’s symbolic role in our sexual evolution is to infuse our sensations with emotion, preparing us to love in Leo (the next sign), and to fuse in Scorpio (the next water sign). The move beyond self-gratification, which began with Gemini’s emphasis on communication, gathers momentum. We have begun the long and sometimes painful process of integration.
Because Mars can express most naturally on the sensation level (through a sensation sign), our capacity for arousal is no longer pure. Mars in Cancer isn’t designed for sensation-only sex and we are going to be uncomfortable with our sexuality if we stop on the sensation level. Symbolically, our sensations are no longer their own reason for being but a power source.
Emotion not only precipitates our arousal but also colors its expression. We are emotional lovers, reacting to sex instinctively and functioning best in an emotional relationship. Reacting to sex through our feelings attunes us to our vulnerabilities and compels us to seek security. We are most comfortable with the partner who is most reassuring.
The sense of potency depends on the sense of security. Mars in Cancer often reacts to periods of non-sexual stress by losing all interest in sex.
Since Cancer can sensitize us to parental attitudes, Mars in Cancer may be particularly susceptible to childhood training about sex. We must therefore look beyond astrology to psychology to determine the impact of Mars in Cancer on sexuality. A Mars-in-Cancer child from an emotional, volatile family is likely to feel comfortable with his sexuality, while a Mars-in-Cancer child from a rigid, undemonstrative background may question the validity of his natural reactions.
Mars in Leo
Emotional sex, first encountered in Cancer, is fulfilled in Leo. Love is now the driving force behind our sexuality. Because sensation (Mars) and love (the Sun) are in inextricably intertwined when Mars is in Leo, Mars must be examined in the light of the Sun’s capacity for love–the capacity for arousal is in direct proportion to the capacity to open up the self and thus to love. Even a well-aspected Mars can therefore be frustrated by an unloving Sun.
Love enhances the sense of potency. Recognition, no matter how bright it seems to the world, is hollow if we have no one to love and to share it with. Unshared honors may actually engender loneliness and a sense of impotence, leading us to eventually destroy our own successes.
To avoid the feelings of impotence that can overwhelm us when we aren’t in love, we may easily confuse physical attraction with love. Separating arousal from love is dangerous ground for Mars in Leo and ultimately impossible. If he tries, he is likely to undermine his confidence in his sexuality, becoming an apathetic or self-serving lover. Mars in Leo may demand constant reassurance that he is indeed as sexy as he pretends to be, maintain a steady alert for sexual affronts to his pride, create dramatic scenarios in which each person must play his appointed role.
His relish for sexual drama often draws him into relationships that are themselves dramatic or causes him to dramatize an ordinary relationship.
Mars in Virgo
Our physical sensations, given a deeper meaning by Cancer emotion and Leo love, are purified in Virgo. Ideally we don’t purge the self of desire but rather cleanse the desire nature of self centeredness. Mars-in-Virgo sex, already grounded by Leo’s capacity for love and now aware of an obligation to the one we love, thus becomes an instrument of our purification.
Unfortunately, we sometimes misinterpret our desire for purification, trying to purity the sex urge rather than using sex to cleanse the self of self centeredness. According to our training and the sexual thrust of the rest of the chart, we may react to his misconception by choosing celibacy, tolerating sex as a duty or, occasionally, overcompensating. Driven by a sensation-seeking Sun or an unfulfilled Venus, a Virgo Mars has been known to seek sex four or five times a day, sometimes with as many partners. When Mars in Virgo turns sex into a performance and the partner into an object, he is usually trying to separate himself from an act that on some level he regards as impure.
This is an easy trap to fall into because the difference between purification and impurity is subtle. Mars in Virgo, the planet of arousal in the sign of the Virgin, is a paradox at best. It requires an integration that runs counter to the principles of both Mars and Virgo. The sense of potency depends on the ability to unite the two and so purify the lower self of selfishness
We often project our need for psychological and spiritual purity outward and demand physical cleanliness. The spontaneous couplings of Mars in Aries must be preceded by a shower when we reach Virgo.
Mars in a mutable sign is particularly prone to transfer sexual energy into other areas; just as Mars in Gemini will sometimes channel sexual energy into the realm of ideas, so Mars in Virgo will sometimes channel sexual energy into work. A somewhat continent Mars in Virgo may therefore be an exceptionally hard worker.
Mars in Libra
Cleansed of self-centeredness in Virgo, we now complete the shift of emphasis from self to lover. The Leo love object becomes the Libra partner. The sexual identification with the partner has become so complete that we are unable to distinguish between his sexuality and our own.
Because such a close identification demands intimacy, we are sexually complete only when we can break down all the barriers which separate us from the partner. Intimacy then is the essence of Mars-in-Libra sexuality, and the source of the sense of potency.
Unfortunately, the very nature of Mars–self-assertive, aggressive, spontaneous–all but precludes intimacy. We must therefore look to Venus to determine our capacity for it. A cooperative, intimate Venus will enhance the Mars-in-Libra sex drive; as we unite with the partner, Mars becomes a power source.
An independent, suspicious or self-serving Venus can deny intimacy and thus thwart even a well-aspected Mars. The most basic sexual urges blocked, sex actually separates us from the partner instead of bringing us together. Frustrated, we may lose all interest in sex or revert to conquests that have no real relation to Libra needs.
Even a Mars supported by an intimate Venus risks frustration, however. In Libra we stand on the brink of fusion–Libra, a cardinal sign, initiates the urge to fuse through its need to be intimate; however, it remains for Scorpio, the fixed sign, to fulfill it.
The six signs that precede Libra are unaware of even the possibility of fusion; the five that follow can achieve it. Only Libra is both aware of the possibility and unable by itself to experience it. Aware of the possibility of fusion, Libra years for it and seeks it. Even the most intimate Libra Mars cannot consistently reach it, however, without the support of a strong Pluto or a Scorpio Sun, Moon or Venus. The Libran struggle for it, however, increases our natural intimacy since fusion can only be found as we lose the self in the partner.
Mars in Scorpio
The sensations of Aries-Taurus-Gemini, given meaning by the emotions of Cancer, strengthened by love in Leo, purified in Virgo and expressed through the partner in Libra, culminate in Scorpio fusion. Body and soul are fused into one as orgasm occurs simultaneously on both the physical and spiritual levels of our being. We are whole. We are, for an instant, who we were born to be. Fusion is the ultimate letting to, and through letting go, the ultimate release of energy.
Fusion isn’t automatic, even for Mars in Scorpio. Those with a Scorpio Mars square Pluto in Leo in particular have to struggle for it; they must first overcome the rage inherent in this square. The urge to fuse is the driving force behind Mars-in-Scorpio sexuality, however, compelling us to intensify our desires to the point that we can let go of the ego and reach our totality. The very intensity of our desires generates tremendous power. Fusion unleashes this power, and with it an overwhelming sense of potency.
Because of the intensity of our desires and the powers they generate, Mars in Scorpio always calls for careful handling. When the rest of the chart also points to fusion, Mars in Scorpio is the supreme power source, embodying the essence of sexuality. Potent, body and soul fused into one, we become the master of our desires.
Mars in Scorpio will intensify desire and invoke just as much power when the overall sexual thrust of the chart is sensation rather than fusion, but we will use for different ends. Body and soul are at cross purposes, devastatingly so since the intensity of our passions arises from an urge to fuse the two. Because Scorpio energy is released through fusion and because a sensation-seeking Mars cannot fuse, we become enormous storehouses of repressed energy. So much pent-up energy is magnetic, but is also dangerous. Denied their natural outlet, these energies are too easily directed towards destructiveness or self gratification. We can become slaves to our basest desires rather than their master, indulging in perversion or, in extreme cases, succumbing to violence or channeling sexual energy into the black side of the occult. (A positive Mars in Scorpio can also use sexual energy for the occult but is likely to reach higher forces.)
Mars in Sagittarius
In Scorpio we fused body and soul, mastering our desires and healing the wounds we suffered when we split into two parts in Gemini. Finally whole ourselves, we are now able to recognize the oneness of others. The duality of Sagittarius is the recognition of two wholes–for the first time we can see the partner as a separate person with his own needs and desires. This recognition shatters the dependency we adopted in Cancer and prepares us for the self-sufficiency we will encounter in Capricorn. In Sagittarius we declare our independence.
Just as Gemini shifted the sexual emphasis from body to mind to establish contact with another person, so Sagittarius again shifts it back to mind, this time to break that contact.
Mars-in-Sagittarius arousal then is mental. No matter how sensual the rest of the chart, we are stimulated by a mind as much as by a body. A Mars-in-Sagittarius romance can burn with passion even when it is never consummated physically.
Mars in Sagittarius is the sexual daredevil, seeking adventure in his affairs and finding it in unlikely places. We may be attracted to rodeo riders, foreigners or professors of philosophy; even when we fall for the girl or the guy next door we will inject our own brand of excitement into the relationship.
This innate excitability can breed restlessness and sometimes even inconstancy. No longer tied to one partner by our own dependency and not yet attuned to the union of the next level, we have no inner need for stability–and thus for fidelity.
We are likely to remain faithful only as long as can maintain our freedom. Freedom to maneuver, in fact, is vital to the sense of potency. The relationship must be open, both physically and emotionally. Mars in Sagittarius isn’t going to understand demands; if he encounters too many of them he is likely to tip his hat and ride off into the sunset.
Mars in Capricorn
Mars in Capricorn is controlled lust. We combine the physical appetites of earth with the excitement of a cardinal planet in a cardinal sign, yet we are driven by a need to control so strong that it dominates our sense of potency and subsequent arousal.
Capricorn self-sufficiency is a natural outgrowth of Sagittarian independence and it’s a step we all have to master eventually. Control becomes everything–if I have only the self to rely on, if I alone am responsible for my life, then I must control both my actions and the circumstances of my life. Standing alone is frightening, and insecurity therefore lies at the heart of Capricorn control.
Mars in Capricorn may try to extend his control to his partner’s response, to the sex act itself, and sometimes to his own desires. He is a master at sublimating an urge that seems inappropriate or that offends his sometimes exaggerated sense of propriety. When the lusty side of Capricorn propels him into a tawdry affair that exploits the partner, guilt or distaste for the unsavory is eventually going to send him in search of a partner he can respect.
Capricorn may flirt briefly with a grand passion, but when he decides to settle down to one sexual partner–and he usually will, if only because tradition decrees it–he nearly always chooses stability. Even an adventurous Aries Venus may have to learn to live with the Mars-in-Capricorn need for sexual respectability.
A by-product of Mars-in-Capricorn control is boredom. He may dream of spontaneous matings on the kitchen floor, but either his own reserve or circumstances in the guise of a reluctant partner nearly always sends him to the bedroom at the appointed time.
If nature denied spontaneity, she compensated him with reliability. Mars in Capricorn is always ready, controlled perhaps but also lusty. The sex drive is like a pilot light on a gas range, burning steadily, flaring with passion when it is ignited and then returning to its original state. It will continue to burn well into old age, holding its flame long after more spectacular fires have burned themselves out.
Mars in Aquarius
Simplicity gives way to complexity as we near the end of the Zodiac. We are more sensitive to inconsistencies; planets now respond according to their harmony with the thrust of the chart. Mars, volatile and self-assured in Aries, is no longer his own master. He must deny his own nature, taking his cues from the chart as a whole.
Aquarius teaches us the difference between transcendence–experiencing and then going beyond the experience–and detachment–avoiding the experience by separating ourselves from it. It’s not an easy lesson–and few of us master it. For the few who do, the reward is freedom.
When we understand transcendence, Mars in Aquarius is a source of tremendous power. Sex plunges us to the core of the self, where we encounter the power of the universe. Opening up to this power, we infuse not only our own selves with it, but the partner as well. Because the source of Aquarian potency lies in the universe, we are invulnerable.
An Aquarian Mars courts disaster when it must operate through a chart that can’t grasp transcendence. He feels the same urge to transcend but instead of going beyond his own desire, he separates himself from it. Detached from desire but still driven by it, he neither understands it nor knows what to do with it.
At best he will value companionship above excitement, divert sexual energy into humanitarian causes or objectify his arousal. Usually though, he approaches sex through the intellect, diluting its intensity with fantasies, talking instead of doing and, sometimes, going beyond the limits set by society. Mars in Aquarius may turn to pornography, bi-sexuality or group sex, not, as he likes to think, because he is liberated or insatiable, but because he needs their stimulation.
For all his talk and posturing, Mars in Aquarius isn’t as interested in sex as he tells himself he is. Because he has no feeling to bring to it, he doesn’t enjoy it very much. (Even a sensuous Taurus Venus can be subverted into heavy-handedness by a detached Mars in Aquarius. Aquarius is no more tuned to touch than to excitement.
Mars in Pisces
Mars fights an Olympian battle in Pisces, struggling to assert the ego in the sign dedicated to its dissolution. It is a paradoxical battle, one that promises victory only in defeat.
Pisces symbolizes our urge towards union–in Aquarius we opened the self to the universe; in Pisces we become one with it. In Aquarius we tapped its power; in Pisces we are the power. Pisces union culminates in Aries unity; the union Mars resists then is the key to his own nature–a Pisces Mars who can sacrifice self-assertion to union finds the one, and in that one the source of his own strength. He is no longer the source of power, but power itself. This, then, is the meaning of Pisces. Only by losing the self do we find it.
(I am, of course, speaking symbolically. Our actual understanding of these urges is usually vague and our ability to express them tenuous. But even if we can’t always act according to our ideals, our attitudes and subsequent behavior are shaped by them, however faintly.)
Just as Mars in Aquarius depended on our ability to transcend, so Mars in Pisces is bound by our capacity to unite. When we are capable of union, Mars in Pisces can take us to the heights of our sexuality. In Scorpio we reached our own totality and fused the self into one; now in, Pisces, we are capable of touching the totality of the lover and fusing two wholes into one. Pisces sex can be the ultimate joining, a mystical experience that is preparing us for the eventual union with the universe.
In Sagittarius we were aroused by a mind; in Pisces we are aroused by a soul. Mars in Pisces is a tender, empathetic lover, responding to the partner’s desire even before the partner recognizes it.
A Mars in Pisces who can’t unite is trapped by desire he can never satisfy. Unlike Mars in Aquarius, he is interested in sex, but what was meant to be mystical can become just mystery. He sacrifices empathy to image, union to illusion, romance to performance. He seeks the exotic, the glamorous and the sensational. Mars is the sex symbol (Marilyn Monroe, Casanova) and the sex purveyor (more than one pornographer).
The tragedy of a frustrated Mars in Pisces finally is its superficiality. He who was born to touch the soul of his lover instead fences in his own. He can become a cardboard performer, proving his prowess to paper doll lovers and never understanding that the paper dolls may want to be loved as real people.
Mars in Pisces can be seduced by the Playboy philosophy and the Cosmo Girl. His affairs are rich in romantic trappings–wine, soft music, dim lights–but the trappings are mostly empty rituals. He rejects the spontaneous touch that doesn’t match his fantasies.
Planets symbolize urges which motivate us, aspects the interaction of those urges. An unaspected planet therefore symbolizes an unintegrated urge–the energy is there but we can’t easily draw on it or combine it. It usually acts by itself–although occasionally the action is all but imperceptible. When a planet is unaspected the influence of the sign is proportionately stronger since its expression isn’t modified by aspecting planets.
With Mars unaspected our capacity for arousal is uncomplicated. Because we aren’t sensitive to psychological pressures or conflicts, we can freely express the arousal-release facet of sexuality. However strong our passion is, we can’t easily use it as a power source to take us to other levels.
We will thrive on an unaspected Mars if the sexual thrust of the chart is sensation. If, however, other influences urge us to seek other levels, the isolation of our arousal can ultimately frustrate.
Mars-Pluto
With an easy aspect between Mars and Pluto, the sensations stimulated by Mars are intensified and then transformed by Pluto. The trine and sextile can also mean that we recognize only one level of sexual expression and are quite comfortable there. No one is going to try to force us on to an incompatible level (as with the opposition), nor will we try to force ourselves there, as we may with the conjunction or square.
With the hard aspects, Mars still seeks sensation but is now threatened by Pluto’s attempts to transform him. Mars, the planet of self assertion, challenges any Plutonian attempt to transform or obliterate the ego, however briefly.
Thwarted by Mars, the Plutonian urge to transform can become destructiveness. Because Pluto operates through repression–Pluto represses in order to intensify–the conflict goes underground. We can become so immobilized by this unconscious battle that we are unable to find sexual satisfaction on either level–frigidity or impotence. More often we operate on the sensation level, but are still dissatisfied because sex is incomplete. (It is incomplete only if we are aware, however dimly, that it can be something more. Those who have neither Scorpio emphasis nor Mars-Pluto aspects, can operate happily on the sensation level–other influences agreeing–and have full, rich sex lives.
Whether we react to the conflict through impotence and frigidity or through a vague feeling of emptiness, these feelings of dissatisfaction breed sexual frustration. Any kind of frustration is dangerous, but because of the vast amount of energy unleashed in sex, sexual frustration is doubly dangerous. As dissatisfaction breed frustration, frustration breeds a deep and unreasoning anger. It becomes rage. And because the rage is repressed, the explosions, when they come, can be lethal. They have but one aim–to destroy. Anyone–or anything–can be the target. In extreme cases Mars-Pluto frustrations can lead to violence or sex crimes (Mars-Pluto can be either the victim or the perpetrator), but the more common weapons are jealousy and vicious, unreasoning attacks. Exactly how it will express depends on the rest of the chart and on that intangible–our evolutionary level, which is why it is difficult–and dangerous–to try to predict.)
These rages most often focus on the sexual partner, if there is one, possibly because of proximity but more likely because the cycle of explosions so closely parallels the sex act, and, in fact, can substitute for it. There is a build-up of tension, usually over a period of weeks, the explosion itself and then a feeling of peace. During the afterglow we may feel affectionate or even exhilarated. The partner–or victim–stunned by the suddenness and viciousness of the attack, certainly doesn’t feel like reciprocating.
The explosions often occur when transiting Mars and transiting Pluto reach the same relationship they have in the natal chart, e.g., if natal Mars is at 21 Sagittarius and natal Pluto is at 19 Virgo, there could be an explosion when transiting Mars at 25 Aquarius squares transiting Pluto at 23 Scorpio.
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Although men are more closely attuned to Mars and women to Venus, each sex use both planets to express sexuality. Mars is the orgasm, Venus the pleasure we get from it. All of us, female as well as male, therefore go through our Mars when we experience an orgasm or when we react to lust or eroticism. And all of us, male and female alike, draw on our Venus when we merge with our lover, express tenderness, respond to beauty or surrender to pleasure. The man can most naturally express his Mars and stimulate hers, while she can best express her Venus and evoke his. (This is why Venus-Mars ties between two charts are so potent.)
Mars is the planet of arousal, penetration, thrust, orgasm. It is the essence of the male–its very symbol suggests the male penis and testicles. Mars rules testosterone, the male hormone secreted by the testes. Testosterone gives a man his typically masculine appearance: it deepens his voice, broadens his shoulders, develops his heavy muscles, grows body hair, matures the sexual organs at puberty.
The female counterpart of Mars is the clitoris, which sexual studies have pinpointed as the source of female excitement and orgasm. A woman can therefore express her Mars directly through the clitoris. However, because of her closer identification with Venus, orgasm isn’t as automatic for her as it for the male. Lacking the force of ejaculation, she sometimes has to learn to let go and is more sensitive to psychological pressures. (Because orgasm isn’t as draining as ejaculation, she also has greater staying power.)
Mars is the excitement of discovery, in contrast to Venus, who prefers the comfort of knowing. Mars is the stimulation of our own body in masturbation, the first sexual exploration of the adolescent, the excitement inherent in any new relationship. Most relationships start under Mars–exceptions are childhood sweethearts or love affairs that flow out of friendship, but even here the first sexual contact is Mars. Relationships that last move on to Venus and usually on to other levels.
The position of Mars decides the strength of the sex drive; the aspects show how comfortable we will be with it; finally, and most important, its compatibility with the rest of the chart determines how we will use it.
Mars can be true to itself only in Aries and, to a lesser extent in Taurus and Gemini–the sensation trinity. Mars in the signs between Cancer and Pisces calls for an integration that is the antithesis of his own nature. Excitement is no longer its own reason for being but a source of power. Like the fuel that thrusts a rocket into outer space, we must draw on it to scale new levels. If we can’t, if we must rely on an impassive Aquarian Mars to express the lust the rest of the chart demands, if we must transcend through a volatile Aries Mars, we may never come to terms with our sexuality or believe in our own potency.
Our sense of potency lies in our Mars. It arises from our sexuality but extends beyond it; is our sense of effectiveness, the impact we feel we have on the world.
A good strong Mars–one that is well-aspected, direct in motion and prominent by house and sign–gives us a healthy capacity for arousal and the likelihood of a partner with an equally lusty appetite. Unfortunately, a good Mars doesn’t guarantee satisfaction–arousal, after all, is only one facet of our sexuality. But because it is also the most basic, we can count on problems to the extent that Mars is weak, unbalanced and afflicted.
A weak Mars, one that is poorly placed by house and sign, generally equals a weak sex drive. The capacity for arousal is muted and we are likely to have little interest in sex per se. A low-keyed Mars can be a contributing factor to frigidity in women and impotence in men, although it is dangerous to base such a prediction on the state of just one planet. Sexuality is too complex and astrologically too interwoven to single out any particular chart factor as the root of a problem.
Biology is on the side of a woman with a weak Mars. She can go to her Venus, substitute tenderness for excitement and still find some degree satisfaction. A man’s physiology, however, limits his options. He must express his Mars through erection and ejaculation; he cannot rely solely on emotional fulfillment.
The aspects show how comfortable we will be with our desires. When Mars is weak but well-aspected, we may not be easily aroused but will be content with our sexual capacity, however limited. There will be no pressure to be sexier; we can live happily without sex or, if we need a relationship, draw a partner whose coolness matches our own.
A weak but afflicted Mars nearly always feels inadequate. Depending on the rest of the chart, we may react to it by pretending a sexuality we don’t have, by denying sex entirely (and so miss out on an intimate relationship we might otherwise need) or by drawing a partner who demands more than we can deliver. This is the man who needs constant reassurance about his masculinity, the woman who rigidly submits to her “marital duties”, the moralist who condemns the pleasures of the flesh, and the pseudomystic who claims to have evolved beyond physical needs.
A strongly placed but afflicted Mars, on the other hand, bestows a lusty sexual appetite, though its expression can be blocked. Mars always gravitates to challenge; under affliction challenge can turn into conflict. Such a Mars often seeks out situations or people who will pressure him sexually, forcing action and change. This is the person who needs a good fight as a prelude to good sex, who must be the aggressor and set the pace, who draws a partner with incompatible needs. In extreme and rare cases a strong but badly afflicted Mars can even turn to violence or perversion.
A strong Mars needs the counterbalance of a healthy Venus. The major pitfalls of an unbalanced Mars are lack of restraint, premature ejaculation in men and promiscuity or dissatisfaction in both sexes.
With too much emphasis on Mars, sex is synonymous with a good orgasm. It is lusty and exciting but lacks the tenderness and emotion that can give it meaning and take us beyond ourselves. Instead of losing the self in the partner, we are bent on asserting it. Equating sex with self-assertion isolates us from our partner, who becomes just another conquest. Unhampered by emotional ties and putting too high a premium on excitement, we constantly seek new conquests and new thrills. If our values preclude promiscuity or our need for stability overrides our need for satisfaction, we may remain faithful to one partner, but seldom happily.
Undiluted Mars sex is ultimately self-defeating because it can never find emotional fulfillment. This has traditionally been a masculine province, probably because men are more naturally tuned to Mars. I suspect that the sexual revolution of the last decade, with its emphasis on freedom of choice, orgasm and self-satisfaction, is pressuring women to deny their Venus and go straight to Mars. This is fortunate to the extent that women should admit to arousal and integrate Mars passion into their sexuality, just as men should integrate Venus tenderness into theirs. But when we express only Mars, we are denying our basic Venus nature and planting seeds of frustration and dissatisfaction.
Mars is the primary component of male homosexuality. The gay, even when he assumes feminine mannerisms, wants not to be a woman but have sex with a man. (A person who actually wants to be a member of the opposite sex is a transsexual.)
Because the homosexual’s maleness attunes him to Mars, a gay relationship is Mars seeking more Mars. And because neither partner can express Venus as directly as Mars, the relationship can lack continuity, closeness or emotional satisfaction. Because of the paucity of Venus in male-male relationships, gays seem especially likely to stop on the Mars (arousal-orgasm) level of sexuality; hence the frequent instability of their relationships. Certainly the cultural restrictions of the past have precipitated promiscuity–union, which depends on mutual trust and acceptance, can’t grow in an atmosphere dominated by fear of discovery. However, no relationship, be it homosexual or heterosexual, can survive for long without a direct expression of Venus.
Gay couples who have established long-term relationships have been able to go beyond sensation to other levels. They have placed the relationship itself above their own sensations. It is a difficult hurdle because on the next level we are motivated by the male-female polarity of the Sun and Moon and the desire for procreation of Cancer-Leo.
It is impossible to predict homosexuality on the basis of a chart; there are too many variables, both astrologically and psychologically, to say anything with certainty. However, we need some understanding of the astrological reasons for choosing the gay life. I have seen two basic patterns in gay charts–these patterns don’t necessarily point to homosexuality, but they do shed some light on the motivation behind it.
First, Uranus aspecting the sexual planets (especially Mars in a male chart but sometimes Venus) indicates a desire to experiment and break the rules. This can express through bi-sexuality, an erratic sex drive, a willingness to try anything once, unusual stimulation and homosexuality. If homosexuality were the norm, Uranian gays would likely be heterosexual.
Second, a weak Mars coupled with a strong Moon-Venus influence (particularly a mutable Mars along with a Moon-Venus trine or the conjunction in water signs) seems capable of altering the hormonal balance, sometimes just enough to cause a man to seek Mars–just as a woman does–as a counterpoint to his own Venus. However, the gay biology remains Mars and his sexual relationships are going to be Mars-Mars.
Retrograde Mars
Because retrograde planets respond to internal urges more than to outer stimuli, those of us with a retrograde Mars are likely to be sexual self starters. We are sexually stimulated by an inner clock, usually activated by a transit to either Mars, Venus or the Mars-Venus midpoint. Certainly all of us respond when the sexually sensitive points in our charts are triggered, but a sexually stimulating partner or situation is more likely to excite a direct Mars since the impetus for his sexuality doesn’t come from within.
A retrograde Mars is confusing since excitement appears erratic to the partner–the stimulus is neither consistent nor always appropriate. Since a retrograde Mars depends more on the inner self than the partner for stimulation, it can isolate us if it is strong enough by position, sign or aspect to dominate our sexual expression.
Our arousal may turn inward after Mars turns retrograde by direction. However, this will only be an overlay since Mars was direct, although moving slowly, in the natal chart. (It seems to me that a progressed or converse planet turning retrograde affects us strongest in the year it reaches the degree and minute where it turns.)
MARS IN THE SIGNS
Mars in Aries
Mars in Aries is sensation in its purest form. The sex drive is strong, direct and spontaneous–the sense of potency in facts depends on the sense of spontaneity. Mars in Aries isn’t geared to premeditated dalliances or prolonged interludes of foreplay. He–and she–is quickly aroused and quickly satisfied. Even when other chart factors interfere with sexual expression, Mars in Aries promises a healthy capacity for arousal.
Unless Venus is strong or the rest of the chart emphasizes another level, An Aries Mars can dominate sexuality. Such a Mars uses sex for self-assertion, turns it into a battle for conquest and denies union. The partner’s pleasure or satisfaction is secondary to his own sensations. The physical release of orgasm, pretty much automatic for Mars in Aries, becomes the primary goal of sex. On the other hand, when Venus is also strong or when the sexual thrust of the chart is towards union, Mars-in-Aries passion is a tremendous source of power.
Because Mars in Aries by itself has little staying power, relationships are often brief, though exciting while they last. Mars approaches sex aggressively, taking the initiative both in the initial overtures and during the sex act itself. Because sex is most exciting when it includes an element of danger, this Mars will often seek challenging situations.
Mars-in-Aries women are especially sensitive to the clitoris, preferring its manual manipulation to its indirect stimulation in vaginal intercourse.
Mars in Taurus
Taurus steadies Mars passions. The tempo of arousal, so swift in Aries, slows down. But while our excitement mounts gradually, it also lasts. Combining arousal and sensuousness, Mars in Taurus can reach the peak of sensation. This Mars is so sensitive to touch that he translates almost all physical contact into sexuality.
Influenced by Taurean sensuousness, the sense of potency depends on gratification. Unfulfilled desires in non-sexual areas can in fact cause sexual problems. Mars in Taurus only gives the desire for sensual gratification, however; whether we find it still depends on Venus. Mars alone, even in Taurus, cannot guarantee satisfaction.
Coupled with a weak Venus, this very real need for satisfaction often causes us to put our own sexual needs first. However, because it is linked so closely to our sensuality and to our willingness to take the time to explore, the basically self-centered approach to sex often isn’t recognized.
The Mars-in-Taurus man can therefore be a superb lover, keeping pace with his partner and taking her on his own search for sensual gratification. A Mars-in-Taurus woman, while passionate, often needs time. A speedy lover can be disastrous for the woman whose excitement flows from her sensuality.
Mars in Gemini
Because Gemini’s sexual role is to end the sensation cycle, Mars in Gemini begins a shift of emphasis from body to mind. This Mars maintains his quest for excitement–Mars after all is the planet of arousal and Gemini is part of the sensation trinity of the Zodiac–but mental stimulation and communication are now as necessary to arousal as touch. The sense of potency in fact depends on the powers of communication.
Typical of Gemini, communication plays a dual role in sexuality; we use sex as a means of communication and communication as a means of enhancing the arousal. (The symbolic purpose of Gemini communication in our sexual development is to establish contact with another person, preparing us to respond emotionally in Cancer and to love in Leo.)
Mars in Gemini will sometimes channel sexual energy into the realm of ideas; more often, however, he channels mental energy into sex. This Mars thinks about sex much and often, past encounters, present relationships and future possibilities. Only Mercury-Mars is as prone to sexual analysis.
Probably no other combination is as susceptible to nervousness if sexually unsatisfied. The antidote to the irritability and tension common to Mars in Gemini may be more interesting sex–routine is anathema to Mars in Gemini and too much of it may send him elsewhere. Gemini restlessness often leads this Mars to seek a variety of lovers.
Mars in Gemini is an articulate lover. He is aroused by verbal foreplay, indulging in erotic talk before, during and after sex.
Mars in Cancer
We enter a new dimension in Cancer, moving from the physical to the emotional level of sex. Cancer’s symbolic role in our sexual evolution is to infuse our sensations with emotion, preparing us to love in Leo (the next sign), and to fuse in Scorpio (the next water sign). The move beyond self-gratification, which began with Gemini’s emphasis on communication, gathers momentum. We have begun the long and sometimes painful process of integration.
Because Mars can express most naturally on the sensation level (through a sensation sign), our capacity for arousal is no longer pure. Mars in Cancer isn’t designed for sensation-only sex and we are going to be uncomfortable with our sexuality if we stop on the sensation level. Symbolically, our sensations are no longer their own reason for being but a power source.
Emotion not only precipitates our arousal but also colors its expression. We are emotional lovers, reacting to sex instinctively and functioning best in an emotional relationship. Reacting to sex through our feelings attunes us to our vulnerabilities and compels us to seek security. We are most comfortable with the partner who is most reassuring.
The sense of potency depends on the sense of security. Mars in Cancer often reacts to periods of non-sexual stress by losing all interest in sex.
Since Cancer can sensitize us to parental attitudes, Mars in Cancer may be particularly susceptible to childhood training about sex. We must therefore look beyond astrology to psychology to determine the impact of Mars in Cancer on sexuality. A Mars-in-Cancer child from an emotional, volatile family is likely to feel comfortable with his sexuality, while a Mars-in-Cancer child from a rigid, undemonstrative background may question the validity of his natural reactions.
Mars in Leo
Emotional sex, first encountered in Cancer, is fulfilled in Leo. Love is now the driving force behind our sexuality. Because sensation (Mars) and love (the Sun) are in inextricably intertwined when Mars is in Leo, Mars must be examined in the light of the Sun’s capacity for love–the capacity for arousal is in direct proportion to the capacity to open up the self and thus to love. Even a well-aspected Mars can therefore be frustrated by an unloving Sun.
Love enhances the sense of potency. Recognition, no matter how bright it seems to the world, is hollow if we have no one to love and to share it with. Unshared honors may actually engender loneliness and a sense of impotence, leading us to eventually destroy our own successes.
To avoid the feelings of impotence that can overwhelm us when we aren’t in love, we may easily confuse physical attraction with love. Separating arousal from love is dangerous ground for Mars in Leo and ultimately impossible. If he tries, he is likely to undermine his confidence in his sexuality, becoming an apathetic or self-serving lover. Mars in Leo may demand constant reassurance that he is indeed as sexy as he pretends to be, maintain a steady alert for sexual affronts to his pride, create dramatic scenarios in which each person must play his appointed role.
His relish for sexual drama often draws him into relationships that are themselves dramatic or causes him to dramatize an ordinary relationship.
Mars in Virgo
Our physical sensations, given a deeper meaning by Cancer emotion and Leo love, are purified in Virgo. Ideally we don’t purge the self of desire but rather cleanse the desire nature of self centeredness. Mars-in-Virgo sex, already grounded by Leo’s capacity for love and now aware of an obligation to the one we love, thus becomes an instrument of our purification.
Unfortunately, we sometimes misinterpret our desire for purification, trying to purity the sex urge rather than using sex to cleanse the self of self centeredness. According to our training and the sexual thrust of the rest of the chart, we may react to his misconception by choosing celibacy, tolerating sex as a duty or, occasionally, overcompensating. Driven by a sensation-seeking Sun or an unfulfilled Venus, a Virgo Mars has been known to seek sex four or five times a day, sometimes with as many partners. When Mars in Virgo turns sex into a performance and the partner into an object, he is usually trying to separate himself from an act that on some level he regards as impure.
This is an easy trap to fall into because the difference between purification and impurity is subtle. Mars in Virgo, the planet of arousal in the sign of the Virgin, is a paradox at best. It requires an integration that runs counter to the principles of both Mars and Virgo. The sense of potency depends on the ability to unite the two and so purify the lower self of selfishness
We often project our need for psychological and spiritual purity outward and demand physical cleanliness. The spontaneous couplings of Mars in Aries must be preceded by a shower when we reach Virgo.
Mars in a mutable sign is particularly prone to transfer sexual energy into other areas; just as Mars in Gemini will sometimes channel sexual energy into the realm of ideas, so Mars in Virgo will sometimes channel sexual energy into work. A somewhat continent Mars in Virgo may therefore be an exceptionally hard worker.
Mars in Libra
Cleansed of self-centeredness in Virgo, we now complete the shift of emphasis from self to lover. The Leo love object becomes the Libra partner. The sexual identification with the partner has become so complete that we are unable to distinguish between his sexuality and our own.
Because such a close identification demands intimacy, we are sexually complete only when we can break down all the barriers which separate us from the partner. Intimacy then is the essence of Mars-in-Libra sexuality, and the source of the sense of potency.
Unfortunately, the very nature of Mars–self-assertive, aggressive, spontaneous–all but precludes intimacy. We must therefore look to Venus to determine our capacity for it. A cooperative, intimate Venus will enhance the Mars-in-Libra sex drive; as we unite with the partner, Mars becomes a power source.
An independent, suspicious or self-serving Venus can deny intimacy and thus thwart even a well-aspected Mars. The most basic sexual urges blocked, sex actually separates us from the partner instead of bringing us together. Frustrated, we may lose all interest in sex or revert to conquests that have no real relation to Libra needs.
Even a Mars supported by an intimate Venus risks frustration, however. In Libra we stand on the brink of fusion–Libra, a cardinal sign, initiates the urge to fuse through its need to be intimate; however, it remains for Scorpio, the fixed sign, to fulfill it.
The six signs that precede Libra are unaware of even the possibility of fusion; the five that follow can achieve it. Only Libra is both aware of the possibility and unable by itself to experience it. Aware of the possibility of fusion, Libra years for it and seeks it. Even the most intimate Libra Mars cannot consistently reach it, however, without the support of a strong Pluto or a Scorpio Sun, Moon or Venus. The Libran struggle for it, however, increases our natural intimacy since fusion can only be found as we lose the self in the partner.
Mars in Scorpio
The sensations of Aries-Taurus-Gemini, given meaning by the emotions of Cancer, strengthened by love in Leo, purified in Virgo and expressed through the partner in Libra, culminate in Scorpio fusion. Body and soul are fused into one as orgasm occurs simultaneously on both the physical and spiritual levels of our being. We are whole. We are, for an instant, who we were born to be. Fusion is the ultimate letting to, and through letting go, the ultimate release of energy.
Fusion isn’t automatic, even for Mars in Scorpio. Those with a Scorpio Mars square Pluto in Leo in particular have to struggle for it; they must first overcome the rage inherent in this square. The urge to fuse is the driving force behind Mars-in-Scorpio sexuality, however, compelling us to intensify our desires to the point that we can let go of the ego and reach our totality. The very intensity of our desires generates tremendous power. Fusion unleashes this power, and with it an overwhelming sense of potency.
Because of the intensity of our desires and the powers they generate, Mars in Scorpio always calls for careful handling. When the rest of the chart also points to fusion, Mars in Scorpio is the supreme power source, embodying the essence of sexuality. Potent, body and soul fused into one, we become the master of our desires.
Mars in Scorpio will intensify desire and invoke just as much power when the overall sexual thrust of the chart is sensation rather than fusion, but we will use for different ends. Body and soul are at cross purposes, devastatingly so since the intensity of our passions arises from an urge to fuse the two. Because Scorpio energy is released through fusion and because a sensation-seeking Mars cannot fuse, we become enormous storehouses of repressed energy. So much pent-up energy is magnetic, but is also dangerous. Denied their natural outlet, these energies are too easily directed towards destructiveness or self gratification. We can become slaves to our basest desires rather than their master, indulging in perversion or, in extreme cases, succumbing to violence or channeling sexual energy into the black side of the occult. (A positive Mars in Scorpio can also use sexual energy for the occult but is likely to reach higher forces.)
Mars in Sagittarius
In Scorpio we fused body and soul, mastering our desires and healing the wounds we suffered when we split into two parts in Gemini. Finally whole ourselves, we are now able to recognize the oneness of others. The duality of Sagittarius is the recognition of two wholes–for the first time we can see the partner as a separate person with his own needs and desires. This recognition shatters the dependency we adopted in Cancer and prepares us for the self-sufficiency we will encounter in Capricorn. In Sagittarius we declare our independence.
Just as Gemini shifted the sexual emphasis from body to mind to establish contact with another person, so Sagittarius again shifts it back to mind, this time to break that contact.
Mars-in-Sagittarius arousal then is mental. No matter how sensual the rest of the chart, we are stimulated by a mind as much as by a body. A Mars-in-Sagittarius romance can burn with passion even when it is never consummated physically.
Mars in Sagittarius is the sexual daredevil, seeking adventure in his affairs and finding it in unlikely places. We may be attracted to rodeo riders, foreigners or professors of philosophy; even when we fall for the girl or the guy next door we will inject our own brand of excitement into the relationship.
This innate excitability can breed restlessness and sometimes even inconstancy. No longer tied to one partner by our own dependency and not yet attuned to the union of the next level, we have no inner need for stability–and thus for fidelity.
We are likely to remain faithful only as long as can maintain our freedom. Freedom to maneuver, in fact, is vital to the sense of potency. The relationship must be open, both physically and emotionally. Mars in Sagittarius isn’t going to understand demands; if he encounters too many of them he is likely to tip his hat and ride off into the sunset.
Mars in Capricorn
Mars in Capricorn is controlled lust. We combine the physical appetites of earth with the excitement of a cardinal planet in a cardinal sign, yet we are driven by a need to control so strong that it dominates our sense of potency and subsequent arousal.
Capricorn self-sufficiency is a natural outgrowth of Sagittarian independence and it’s a step we all have to master eventually. Control becomes everything–if I have only the self to rely on, if I alone am responsible for my life, then I must control both my actions and the circumstances of my life. Standing alone is frightening, and insecurity therefore lies at the heart of Capricorn control.
Mars in Capricorn may try to extend his control to his partner’s response, to the sex act itself, and sometimes to his own desires. He is a master at sublimating an urge that seems inappropriate or that offends his sometimes exaggerated sense of propriety. When the lusty side of Capricorn propels him into a tawdry affair that exploits the partner, guilt or distaste for the unsavory is eventually going to send him in search of a partner he can respect.
Capricorn may flirt briefly with a grand passion, but when he decides to settle down to one sexual partner–and he usually will, if only because tradition decrees it–he nearly always chooses stability. Even an adventurous Aries Venus may have to learn to live with the Mars-in-Capricorn need for sexual respectability.
A by-product of Mars-in-Capricorn control is boredom. He may dream of spontaneous matings on the kitchen floor, but either his own reserve or circumstances in the guise of a reluctant partner nearly always sends him to the bedroom at the appointed time.
If nature denied spontaneity, she compensated him with reliability. Mars in Capricorn is always ready, controlled perhaps but also lusty. The sex drive is like a pilot light on a gas range, burning steadily, flaring with passion when it is ignited and then returning to its original state. It will continue to burn well into old age, holding its flame long after more spectacular fires have burned themselves out.
Mars in Aquarius
Simplicity gives way to complexity as we near the end of the Zodiac. We are more sensitive to inconsistencies; planets now respond according to their harmony with the thrust of the chart. Mars, volatile and self-assured in Aries, is no longer his own master. He must deny his own nature, taking his cues from the chart as a whole.
Aquarius teaches us the difference between transcendence–experiencing and then going beyond the experience–and detachment–avoiding the experience by separating ourselves from it. It’s not an easy lesson–and few of us master it. For the few who do, the reward is freedom.
When we understand transcendence, Mars in Aquarius is a source of tremendous power. Sex plunges us to the core of the self, where we encounter the power of the universe. Opening up to this power, we infuse not only our own selves with it, but the partner as well. Because the source of Aquarian potency lies in the universe, we are invulnerable.
An Aquarian Mars courts disaster when it must operate through a chart that can’t grasp transcendence. He feels the same urge to transcend but instead of going beyond his own desire, he separates himself from it. Detached from desire but still driven by it, he neither understands it nor knows what to do with it.
At best he will value companionship above excitement, divert sexual energy into humanitarian causes or objectify his arousal. Usually though, he approaches sex through the intellect, diluting its intensity with fantasies, talking instead of doing and, sometimes, going beyond the limits set by society. Mars in Aquarius may turn to pornography, bi-sexuality or group sex, not, as he likes to think, because he is liberated or insatiable, but because he needs their stimulation.
For all his talk and posturing, Mars in Aquarius isn’t as interested in sex as he tells himself he is. Because he has no feeling to bring to it, he doesn’t enjoy it very much. (Even a sensuous Taurus Venus can be subverted into heavy-handedness by a detached Mars in Aquarius. Aquarius is no more tuned to touch than to excitement.
Mars in Pisces
Mars fights an Olympian battle in Pisces, struggling to assert the ego in the sign dedicated to its dissolution. It is a paradoxical battle, one that promises victory only in defeat.
Pisces symbolizes our urge towards union–in Aquarius we opened the self to the universe; in Pisces we become one with it. In Aquarius we tapped its power; in Pisces we are the power. Pisces union culminates in Aries unity; the union Mars resists then is the key to his own nature–a Pisces Mars who can sacrifice self-assertion to union finds the one, and in that one the source of his own strength. He is no longer the source of power, but power itself. This, then, is the meaning of Pisces. Only by losing the self do we find it.
(I am, of course, speaking symbolically. Our actual understanding of these urges is usually vague and our ability to express them tenuous. But even if we can’t always act according to our ideals, our attitudes and subsequent behavior are shaped by them, however faintly.)
Just as Mars in Aquarius depended on our ability to transcend, so Mars in Pisces is bound by our capacity to unite. When we are capable of union, Mars in Pisces can take us to the heights of our sexuality. In Scorpio we reached our own totality and fused the self into one; now in, Pisces, we are capable of touching the totality of the lover and fusing two wholes into one. Pisces sex can be the ultimate joining, a mystical experience that is preparing us for the eventual union with the universe.
In Sagittarius we were aroused by a mind; in Pisces we are aroused by a soul. Mars in Pisces is a tender, empathetic lover, responding to the partner’s desire even before the partner recognizes it.
A Mars in Pisces who can’t unite is trapped by desire he can never satisfy. Unlike Mars in Aquarius, he is interested in sex, but what was meant to be mystical can become just mystery. He sacrifices empathy to image, union to illusion, romance to performance. He seeks the exotic, the glamorous and the sensational. Mars is the sex symbol (Marilyn Monroe, Casanova) and the sex purveyor (more than one pornographer).
The tragedy of a frustrated Mars in Pisces finally is its superficiality. He who was born to touch the soul of his lover instead fences in his own. He can become a cardboard performer, proving his prowess to paper doll lovers and never understanding that the paper dolls may want to be loved as real people.
Mars in Pisces can be seduced by the Playboy philosophy and the Cosmo Girl. His affairs are rich in romantic trappings–wine, soft music, dim lights–but the trappings are mostly empty rituals. He rejects the spontaneous touch that doesn’t match his fantasies.
Planets symbolize urges which motivate us, aspects the interaction of those urges. An unaspected planet therefore symbolizes an unintegrated urge–the energy is there but we can’t easily draw on it or combine it. It usually acts by itself–although occasionally the action is all but imperceptible. When a planet is unaspected the influence of the sign is proportionately stronger since its expression isn’t modified by aspecting planets.
With Mars unaspected our capacity for arousal is uncomplicated. Because we aren’t sensitive to psychological pressures or conflicts, we can freely express the arousal-release facet of sexuality. However strong our passion is, we can’t easily use it as a power source to take us to other levels.
We will thrive on an unaspected Mars if the sexual thrust of the chart is sensation. If, however, other influences urge us to seek other levels, the isolation of our arousal can ultimately frustrate.
Mars-Pluto
With an easy aspect between Mars and Pluto, the sensations stimulated by Mars are intensified and then transformed by Pluto. The trine and sextile can also mean that we recognize only one level of sexual expression and are quite comfortable there. No one is going to try to force us on to an incompatible level (as with the opposition), nor will we try to force ourselves there, as we may with the conjunction or square.
With the hard aspects, Mars still seeks sensation but is now threatened by Pluto’s attempts to transform him. Mars, the planet of self assertion, challenges any Plutonian attempt to transform or obliterate the ego, however briefly.
Thwarted by Mars, the Plutonian urge to transform can become destructiveness. Because Pluto operates through repression–Pluto represses in order to intensify–the conflict goes underground. We can become so immobilized by this unconscious battle that we are unable to find sexual satisfaction on either level–frigidity or impotence. More often we operate on the sensation level, but are still dissatisfied because sex is incomplete. (It is incomplete only if we are aware, however dimly, that it can be something more. Those who have neither Scorpio emphasis nor Mars-Pluto aspects, can operate happily on the sensation level–other influences agreeing–and have full, rich sex lives.
Whether we react to the conflict through impotence and frigidity or through a vague feeling of emptiness, these feelings of dissatisfaction breed sexual frustration. Any kind of frustration is dangerous, but because of the vast amount of energy unleashed in sex, sexual frustration is doubly dangerous. As dissatisfaction breed frustration, frustration breeds a deep and unreasoning anger. It becomes rage. And because the rage is repressed, the explosions, when they come, can be lethal. They have but one aim–to destroy. Anyone–or anything–can be the target. In extreme cases Mars-Pluto frustrations can lead to violence or sex crimes (Mars-Pluto can be either the victim or the perpetrator), but the more common weapons are jealousy and vicious, unreasoning attacks. Exactly how it will express depends on the rest of the chart and on that intangible–our evolutionary level, which is why it is difficult–and dangerous–to try to predict.)
These rages most often focus on the sexual partner, if there is one, possibly because of proximity but more likely because the cycle of explosions so closely parallels the sex act, and, in fact, can substitute for it. There is a build-up of tension, usually over a period of weeks, the explosion itself and then a feeling of peace. During the afterglow we may feel affectionate or even exhilarated. The partner–or victim–stunned by the suddenness and viciousness of the attack, certainly doesn’t feel like reciprocating.
The explosions often occur when transiting Mars and transiting Pluto reach the same relationship they have in the natal chart, e.g., if natal Mars is at 21 Sagittarius and natal Pluto is at 19 Virgo, there could be an explosion when transiting Mars at 25 Aquarius squares transiting Pluto at 23 Scorpio.
Lindaland
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