AstrologerSieghartRohr

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Mars
"I, for one, am very grateful to nature, not just when I view it
in that aspect which is obvious to everybody, but
when I have penetrated its mysteries;"
Seneca Naturales Quaestiones 1.3

Initially Mars, Mavors or Mamers, one of the Dii Consentes, was the Roman god of fertility and vegetation. The god of spring presided over agriculture in general as defender of herds, boundaries, and fields, warding off disease from fields and animals, and only later became associated with battle and war. As God of War he became Mars Gradivus (the Strider), awakened to battle by generals striking his sacred shield and spear with the cry, “Mars viliga!” He is accompanied by Pavor and Pallor who instill fear and confusion in his enemies. Originally, he is a solely feminine creation without a father. Juno, his mother, is said to have used a magical flower instead –a lily. In a sense, Mars is the ideal man in the eyes of a woman; muscular and straight-limbed, potent and protecting (his desired object: damsel Venus). Metaphysically Mars is not seen as the result of a mating, because Mars is not an offspring -he represents spring itself!

Now spring has many meanings. Spring is the first season following winter, when the soil breaks open and the plants spring up. In that sense spring represents the outburst, the big-bang birth of existence -bang, here I am.
Spring starts astronomically when the cross-point of the celestial Equator, which is the terrestrial equator projected out into space, and the ecliptic of the zodiac-belt, which is the plane or pathway on which all planets including sun and moon seem to wander around the earth, (when that cross-point) is on the cusp of Aries at 0 degrees (spring starts). At that time day and night is equally long. The symbol of Aries, the sign Mars rules, illustrates this fountain-like outburst like sparkles of a fire-cracker. The outburst of vegetation is thus not just the beginning of spring but of life itself.
It’s always very revealing to understand the etymology of astrological key-words. Vegetation, for example, derived from Latin vegetare, which means growing, animating, exciting and quicken; vegetation is thus not just plant life; it is an action of growing, and most importantly, it is a quickening. A quickening of what? Mars is -metaphysically speaking- the quickening of this mysterious energy, the essence of existence, which originally has been in a standstill. This stillness is what we call the soul. With Mars the heart of soul starts to beat –life begins to move.
In that context we have to understand Mars’s association to agriculture and fertility, the quality or state of being fertile. To be fertile originally meant to be fruitful, productive, to be able to bear a baby; it derived from Latin ferre, carry, bear. Mars association to fertility indicates the human realisation that the man has the ability to fecundate the woman, which was probably very important at the time as society changed from a maternity to a paternity structure.
In the light of spring we also have to see Mars’ association to potency and sexuality. The out-burst of sperms indicates the start of a journey, the adventure of life -but not everyone makes it. The potency needs to be tested; the quality that Mars indicates is its readiness to battle to survive the challenges of life and grow. It’s an inate quality of existence.
Mars’ original association to fertility and vegetation is less surprising if we see it in context with two other well-known associations, aggression and initiation. Both illustrate a birth of movement –both indicate a burst of energy. Nowadays aggression is understood as a forceful action or procedure, an initiation of bloodshed, or as an unprovoked attack, especially when intended to dominate or master. If you step ahead towards me, uninvited, I might see that as an unprovoked attack. Naturally, every warrior (or athlet) needs a healthy portion of aggression, but literally it only means, the ability to step ahead, unprompted -please note the word unprompted, which means the Mars-activity is self-generated! Initiation is also based on a Latin root, initiare, which means originate, dedicate, inaugurate, initiate. It derived from in-ire, to go into, enter upon, begin. But initiation is not just the spirit of enterprise; it is strength of purpose as well as a participation in secret rites, ceremonies or ordeals.
Astrology, for example, is the initiation of an inner journey towards the heart of the soul, an initiation into the secret ordeals of each zodiac-sign. Mars’ initiation is first of all to anchor into the soul, to turn inwards. If we want to understand Mars, the god of spring, we have to be it from the inside out. You may can see now that fertility, vegetation, aggression and initiative are, in a sense, all spring qualities; that they all have something in common, which we, for simplifying reasons, call Mars, God of spring.
I mentioned already few times Mars in connection with the soul. Mars’ connection to the soul becomes obvious if we consider the other meanings of spring: the source, fount, origin or well. These are actually all different names for the soul. Mars thus represents the fertility of the origin, or the drive of the soul. But what is that? We don’t know our origin; it’s a mystery! That’s a fact. Science will never know the origin of existence for it is unknowable, at least not by the head. The knowing of the heart is something complete different; it has nothing to do with knowledge. Hence, religion calls the origin God, the Creator, an omnipotent figure living above the clouds that most of us never got to know at the dinner table.
Astrology, however, rather refers to the soul as creativity, this mysterious energy that is either in action or in a standstill, because astrology doesn’t want to split the soul into creator and creation. Creator and creation are essentially the same, but this split opposes them. The term Body &Soul doesn’t create such a conflict. That a dead body is without a soul, we probably all agree, even though we might have no idea what the soul actually is, but we all know that a body needs to be animated and this ability to animate, to breath life into a body, we associate to the soul. When a living healthy body appears to be without a soul, soul-less, (or if someone sold his soul to the devil) we probably would understand this body to be callous, mean, insensitive, inhuman, etc.
In astrology we therefore don’t make a differentiation between creator and creation but between being and body; being is humane, the body is animalistic… if this animal is more like a couch-potato we would have to consider it to be a vegetable. However, from a spiritual or metaphysical point of view one can only be the soul, be humane, be original; one can only participate in this mystery, being it, living it, so to speak.
That the origin is found below the horizon indicates that it is in the unknown, in the dark. It is the Darkness of which some ancient Greeks speak in the Myth of Origin. This mysterious Darkness, out of which everything sprang forth, the origin of all, is called the Soul. Christian mythology defines the soul as the inner of a thing. In astrology the thing is the ring of fire, the zodiac circle, representing each body in existence. Every thing is a ring. Thus, in each body is the same soul, the common denominator. Imagine the common denominator to be a blackboard on which you see many circles with each one of them obviously having its own inner space, yet the inside of each circle is the same blackboard. Christian mythology has a point: The inner of a thing is not a thing. If you cut a body into pieces you will not find the soul; it’s insubstantial. Therefore being and body is the cosmic pair of nothing and something.
The Old English word for soul is sawol, meaning spiritual and emotional part of a person, animate existence. In a sense, without a soul the body is just an unemotional, unspirited, inanimated thing. We could also say that this mysterious energy in a standstill is the soul and moving it is the existence. Life is a movement; the soul is stillness. A Soul is often defined as a spirit of a deceased person, with the spirit imagined as a ghost-like figuration of the deceased, or simply used as a synonym for person or individual. That would mean that every body has its own individual soul. Astrologically that is not quite true. The soul is singular, there is only one soul, which is found in everybody.
As Mars belongs to this unconscious Soul let’s sink into it a bit deeper. In astrology the Soul is represented by the water-quarter. The element of a quarter is determined by the three other elements. So, in the water quarter, the soul, we find the first Fire-sign Aries, Earth-sign Taurus and Air-sign Gemini. The Water-quarter is depicted, as a whole, as an ocean or a sea. The sea is not surprisingly etymologically related to the soul: according to old Germanic belief the souls of the dead and unborn were living at the bottom of the sea, or it was supposed to be the stopping place of the soul before birth or after death. Soul thus may mean: she, who is coming from (or belonging to) the sea. Mars thus represents an unconscious or instinctive outburst of the soul, an arbitrary activity; self-generated but not necessarily self-willed if we understand self-willed to be a conscious activity. Being part of a watery unconscious Soul, Mars is as well an unconscious, instinctual quality.
The quality of will is probably the basis of all other associations of Mars, for as they say, without a will there is no way, no spring, no journey; no adventure, no initiative, no aggression. Will is associated to Mars, but it is the will of unconscious nature. Naturally, Mars is a willing quality and as such it will always belong to the Soul. Venus, ruler of the Soul, owns Mars, so to speak, and Mars is willing to follow her. And because he is renowned as the war-Lord I call him the warrior of the soul.

Here I should bring in Ares, his Greek counterpart, for I just mentioned will and war. Will, in the sense of desire, intent, determination, are astrologically associated to both, Mars and Ares. Both names probably derived from the same root are, meaning bane, ruin, probably cognate with Old English yrre, ire and Sanskrit irasya, ill-will! Roman mythology greatly mingled with Greek mythology; both, Mars and Ares, are associated to war and battle. But contrary to Mars, Ares is from the very beginning a fierce warrior. He is initially an offspring, the son of Zeus and Hera, and later seen to have been conceived only by Hera touching a certain flower. They seem to have assimilated each other, or, more likely, the poets have assimilated their stories.
Ovid, for example, lets Flora tell the story of the birth of Mars: “Mars also, you may not know, was formed by my arts. I pray that Jove (Jupiter) stays ignorant of this. Holy Juno, when Minerva [the Greek Athene] sprang unmothered, was hurt that Jove did not need her service. She went to complain to Oceanus of her husband’s deeds. She stopped at our door, tired from the journey. As soon as I saw her, I asked, ‘What’s brought you here, Juno?’ She reports where she’s going, and cites the cause. I consoled her with friendly words: ‘Words,’ she declares, ‘cannot relieve my pain. If Jove became a father without using a spouse and possesses both titles by himself, why should I not expect a spouseless motherhood, chaste parturition, untouched by a man? I’ll try every drug on the broad earth and empty Oceanus and the hollows of Tartarus.’ Her speech was mid-course; my face was hesitant. ‘You look, Nympha, as thou you can help,’ she says. Three times I wanted to help, three times my tongue stuck: Jupiter’s anger caused massive fear. ‘Please help me,’ she said, ‘my source will be concealed;’ and the divine Styx testifies to this. ‘A flower,’ I said, ‘from the fields of Olenus will grant your wish. It’s unique to my gardens. I was told: “Touch a barren cow; she’ll be a mother.” I touched. No delay: she was a mother. I quickly plucked the clinging flower with my thumb. Juno feels its touch and at the touch conceives. She bulges, and enters Thrace and west Propontis, and fulfils her wish: Mars was created.”
While Mars was respected by the Romans, mainly because he was the father of Remus and Romulus, the founders of Rome, Homer, in the Iliad, lets Zeus speak to Ares in a rather annoyed way: “Do not sit beside me and whine, you double-faced liar. To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympos. Forever quarrelling is dear to your heart, wars and battles. Truly the anger of Hera your mother is grown out of all hand nor gives ground; and try as I may I am broken by her arguments, and it is by her impulse, I think, you are suffering all this. And yet I will not long endure to see you in pain, since you are my child, and it was to me that your mother bore you. But were you born of some other god and proved so ruinous long since you would have been dropped beneath the gods of the bright sky.”
If we associate the force to act, the drive, energy or push to get started, with will as the base quality of the astrological Mars then it doesn’t matter if we look at it from the original Roman fertility perspective or the Greek war perspective, the fact remains, will is needed in spring (Mars) and battle (Ares).

In ancient Mesopotamia, the planet Mars was known as Salbatanu and associated with the god Nergal. The attributes of Nergal combined those that we associate with Mars and Pluto today: he was lord of the underworld and also connected with such dangers as infectious disease, fire, and warfare. The Egyptian equivalent was considered by the Greeks to be Anhur. Originally the local god of Abydos, he became the manifestation of the strength of Ra. The imperialist Pharaohs of the New Kingdom worshipped him as a god of war; but he was equally popular with the common people, who called him the Saviour or the Good Warrior and invoked him as a protection against danger.
The Greek god Ares was said to be the son of Hera and Zeus, but his name is not Greek: he probably originated in Thrace. Homer showed that he considered Mars to be a foreigner by making him fight for the Trojans, along with other immigrant gods. Ares, as presented in Greek literature, is really too much a personification of war and lust to be a good image of the planet, but this may be because the authors came from the south and east of Greece, while his cult was best established in the north and west. The Greeks distrusted Ares: the forces of Mars are difficult to express, assertion easily becoming aggression, and bearing in mind the etymological meaning it’s not surprinsing that we call him a malefic. Probably Ares was better liked before the Greeks remade him into a war god, since he was in fact a snake tailed storm god. In Greek myth, Heracles would have been a better choice to represent Mars, but he was not originally a god, only a hero. Of course, even Heracles had problems with the Martian side of his nature: he had his outbursts of uncontrolled rage, as well as his more acceptable monster-slaying achievements.
The Roman Mars was rather similar to Anhur: a god who represented the better side of the planet. Some have called him a god of agriculture, claiming that his association with war could be explained as the Roman farmers appealing to their most-invoked deity before battle, but the agricultural role of Mars was to protect cattle and crops from diseases, bad weather, and evil influences. The rituals observed by the priests of Mars show that he corresponded to the Indian god Indra, a warriors' god who combated the forces of evil.
The Romans considered the Germanic god Tiw (Norse: Tyr) to be the equivalent of their Mars, since he was invoked before battle; thus Tuesday (OE: Tiwesdæg) corresponds to the Italian Marted (Lat: Martis dies). Actually Tiw was so invoked in his capacity as the god of justice, and in name he corresponds to Zeus and Jupiter. The Norse equivalent of Mars was really Thor, but the Romans equated him to Jupiter for no better reason than his use of thunder-bolts: ancient mythographers were often far less informed than modern ones.
We might understand the character of Ares better if we compare it with that of other divinities that are likewise in some way connected with war. Athena represents thoughtfulness and wisdom in the affairs of war, and protects men and their habitations during its ravages. Ares, on the other hand, is nothing but the personification of bold force and strength, and not so much the god of war as of its tumult, confusion, and horrors. His sister Eris calls forth war, Zeus directs its course, but Ares loves war for its own sake, and delights in the din and roar of battles, in the slaughter of men, and the destruction of towns. He is not even influenced by party-spirit, but sometimes assists the one and sometimes the other side, just as his inclination may dictate. He maybe even forgets on which side he is. The destructive hand of this god was even believed to be active in the ravages made by plagues and epidemics. This appears surrounded by the personifications of all the fearful phenomena and effects of war; but in the Odyssey his character is somewhat softened down. When the gods began to take an active part in the war of the mortals, Athena opposed Ares, and threw him on the ground by hurling at him a mighty stone; and when he lay stretched on the earth, his huge body covered the space of seven plethra, which makes him about 2.20m high if my calculations are right.

In classical sculpture Ares was represented as a handsome man, often nude, but wearing a Greek helm, and holding a spear or sword. Later his bronce amor and his shield were added.If we look at the list below we may see that Ares was not just a warrior.

ARES is:

GOD OF WAR & BATTLES & OF THE BATTLEFIELD & WAR AVERTED (PEACE)GOD OF BLOOD-LUST & WEAPONS
GOD OF THE SACK & DEFENCE OF CITIES
GOD OF REBELLION & CIVIL ORDER
GOD OF BRIGANDS & BANDITRY
GOD OF VIOLENCE, RAGE & ANGER CONTROLLED
GOD OF MURDER & MANSLAUGHTER
GOD OF COURAGE & MANLINESS, STRENGTH & ENDURANCE
GOD OF COWARDICE, FEAR & TERROR

If you look closely, you can see that Ares represents complementaries, like war and peace, courage and cowardice, or rebellion and order. We can hear that also in Homer’s Hym to Ares as well in the Orphic hyms.

THE HOMERIC HYMNS TO ARES
“Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defender of Olympus, father of warlike Nike (Victory), ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of the righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere [the star Mars] among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the ether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death.”

THE ORPHIC HYMNS
“To Ares, Fumigation from Frankincense: Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous Ares, in darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars; fierce and untamed, whose mighty power can make the strongest walls from their foundations shake: mortal-destroying king, defiled with gore, pleased with war’s dreadful and tumultuous roar. Thee human blood, and swords, and spears delight, and the dire ruin of mad savage fight. Stay furious contests, and avenging strife, whose works with woe embitter human life; to lovely Aphrodite and to Dionysus yield, for arms exchange the labours of the field; encourage peace, to gentle works inclined, and give abundance, with benignant mind.”

To understand the astrological quality of Mars we have to consider its complete mythological background, the Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian and even Nordic. We have to understand its connection to snakes as well as to change; we have to understand the different connections that were made between Mars and Jupiter, Mars and Pluto as well as between Mars and the Sun. The Babylonian God Marduc, for example, some say is connected to Jupiter or to the Sun, yet it is very obvious that it is not just a creator god, but the one who started it all. He revolted against his insignificant existence in the darkness of the ocean, which kept him and all others in fusion with the collective, represented by his mother Tiamat, and by killing his mother -dividing her into the above and below- he gave everyone the possibility of independent existence. With Marduc the journey of individualisation begins. All this epitomises the function of the astrological Mars.

The fire-gods Mars, Sun and Jupiter indicate the three modalities of the element fire. While Mars and Jupiter co-rule fire and water, the Sun is fixed fire. Only when all these images and key-words are realised in cohesion we can start to grasp its astrological meaning and its relevance to the human psyche.

ARES,                     ARES,                    ARES                  ARES,
RETURN               AS BOAR               ATHENE              APHRODITE,
HEPHAISTOS      ADONIS                EROS

On his journey courage and strength is needed to meet all the challenges of Life. Ares is learning from one experience after the other. In mythology, he wasn’t always victorious; many times he got beaten: knocked down by Apollo and Heracles, wounded by Diomedes and Athena, pushed away by Hephaistos. He got easily seduced by Aphrodite to break his promises to his mother and sister. He killed Adonis in jealous madness disguised as a boar. He disguised him as a fish, the lepidotus, when he fled from the Giant Typhoeus. Very often he came to the rescue, he freed for example Thanatos (Death) from Sisyphos so that mortals could die again. However, the most famous of his tales is of his affair with the goddess Aphrodite, first described by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey, and expanded upon by later writers.

THE ADULTERY OF ARES AND APHRODITE
"Demodokos [the Phaiakian bard] struck his lyre and began a beguiling song about the loves of Ares and Aphrodite, how first the lay together secretly in the dwelling of Hephaistos. Ares had offered many gifts to the garlanded divinity and covered with shame the marriage bed of Lord Hephaistos. But Helios (the sun-god) had seen them in their dalliance and hastened away to tell Hephaistos; to him the news was bitter as gall, and he made his way towards his smithy, brooding revenge. He laid the great anvil on its base and set himself to forge chains that could not be broken or torn asunder, being fashioned to bind lovers fast. Such was the device that he made in his indignation against Ares, and having made it he went to the room where his bed lay; all round the bed-posts he dropped the chains, while others in plenty hung from the roof-beams, gossamer-light and invisible to the blessed gods themselves, so cunning had been the workmanship. When the snare round the bed was complete, he made as if to depart to Lemnos, the pleasant-sited town, which he loved more than any place on earth. Ares, god of the golden reins, was no blind watcher. Once he had seen Hephaistos go, he himself approached the great craftman’s dwelling, pining for love of Kytherea [Aphrodtie]. As for her, she had just returned from the palace of mighty Zeus her father, and was sitting down in the house as Ares entered it. He took her hand and spoke thus to her: ‘Come, my darling; let us go to bed and take our delight together. Hephaistos is no longer here; by now, I think, he has made his way to Lemnos, to visit the uncouth-spoken Sintians.’
So he spoke, and sleep with him was a welcome thought to her. So they went to the bed and there lay down, but the cunning chains of crafty Hephaistos enveloped them, and they could neither raise their limbs nor shift them at all; so they saw the truth when there was no escaping. Meanwhile the lame craftsman god approached; he had turned back short of the land of Lemnos, since watching Helios (the sun-god) had told him everything. Cut to the heart, he neared his house and halted inside the porch; savage anger had hold of him, and he roared out hideously, crying to all the gods: ‘Come, Father Zeus; come, all you blessed immortals with him; see what has happened here - no matter for laughter nor yet forbearance. Aphrodite had Zeus for father; because I am lame she never ceased to do me outrage and give her love to destructive Ares, since he is handsome and sound-footed and I am a cripple from my birth; yet for that my two parents are to blame, no one else at all, and I wish they had never begotten me. You will see the pair of lovers now as they lie embracing in my bed; the sight of them makes me sick at heart. Yet I doubt their desire to rest there longer, fond as they are. They will soon unwish their posture there; but my cunning chains shall hold them both fast till her father Zeus has given me back all the betrothal gifts I bestowed on him for his wanton daughter; beauty she has, but no sense of shame.’
Thus he spoke, and the gods came thronging there in front of the house with its brazen floor. Poseidon the Earth-Sustainer came, and Hermes the Mighty Runner, and Lord Apollon who shoots from afar; but the goddesses, every one of them, kept within doors for very shame. Thus then the bounteous gods stood at the entrance. Laughter they could not quench rose on the lips of these happy beings as they fixed their eyes on the stratagem of Hephaistos, and glancing each at his neighbour said some such words as these: ‘Ill deeds never prosper; swift after all is outrun by slow; here is Hephaistos the slow and crippled, yet by his cunning he has defeated the swiftest of all the Olympian gods, and Ares must pay an adulterer’s penalty.’
For Poseidon there was no laughing; he kept imploring the master smith Hephaistos in hopes that he would let Ares go. He spoke in words of urgent utterance: ‘Let him go; I promise that he shall pay in full such rightful penalty as you ask for - pay in the presence of all the gods.’ But the great lame craftsman answered him: ‘Poseidon, Sustainer of the Earth, do not ask this of me. Pledges for trustless folk are trustless pledges. If Ares should go his way, free of his chains and his debt alike, what then? Could I fetter yourself in the presence of all the gods.’
Poseidon who shakes the earth replies: ‘Hephaistos, if Ares indeed denies his debt and escapes elsewhere, I myself will pay what you ask.’ Then the great lame craftsman answered him: ‘I must no and cannot refuse you now’, and with that he undid the chains, powerful though they had proved. Unshackled thus, the lovers were up and off at once; Ares went on his way to Thrake, and Aphrodite the laughter-lover to Paphos in Kypros." - Homer, Odyssey 8.267

ARES LOSES APHRODITE TO HEPHAISTOS IN MARRIAGE
The story of the Marriage of Hephaistos and Aphrodite can be reconstructed from text fragments and ancient Greek vase paintings: Hephaistos had been cast from heaven by his mother Hera at birth, for she was ashamed at bearing a crippled son. He was rescued by Thetis and Eurynome and raised in a cave on the shores of the River Okeanos where he became a skilled smith. Angry at his mother's treatment, Hephaistos sent various gifts to Olympos including a Golden Throne for Hera. When the goddess sat upon this cursed throne she was bound fast. Zeus sought the assistance of the gods in the freeing his Queen and offered the goddess Aphrodite in marriage to the god who could bring Hephaistos to Olympos. Aphrodite agreed to the arrangment in the belief that her beloved Ares would prevail. Ares stormed the forge of Hephaistos, bearing arms, but was driven back by the Divine Smith with showers of flaming metal. Dionysos next approached the god, and suggested that he might claim Aphrodite for himself if he were to release his mother willingly. Hephaistos was pleased with the plan and ascended to Heaven with Dionysos, released his mother and wed the reluctant Love-Goddess.

"When Vulcanus [Hephaistos] knew that Venus [Aphrodite] was secretly lying with Mars [Ares], and that he could not oppose his strength, he made a chain of adamant and put it around the bed to catch Mars by cleverness. When Mars came to the rendezvous, the together with Venus fell into the snare so that he could not extricate himself. When Sol [Helios the sun] reported this to Vulcanus, he saw them lying there naked, and summoned all the gods who saw. As a result, shame frightened Mars so that he did not do this. From their embrace Harmonia was born, and to her Minerva [Athena] and Vulcanus [Hephaistos] gave a robe ‘dipped in crimes’ as a gift. Because of this, their descendants are clearly marked as ill-fated." - Hyginus, Fabulae 148

"Sol [Helios the Sun] is thought to have been the first to see Venus’ [Aphrodite’s] adultery with Mars [Ares]: Sol is the first to see all things. Shocked at the sight he told the goddess’ husband, Junonigena [Hephaistos], how he was cuckolded where. Then Volcanus’ [Hephaistos’] heart fell, and from his deft blacksmith’s hands fell too the work he held. At once he forged a net, a mesh of thinnest links of bronze, too fine for eye to see, a triumph not surpassed by finest threads of silk or by the web the spider hands below the rafters’ beam. He fashioned it to respond to the least touch or slightest movement; then with subtle skill arranged it round the bed. So when his wife lay down together with her paramour, her husband’s mesh, so cleverly contrived, secured them both ensnared as they embraced. Straightway Lemnius [Hephaistos] flung wide the ivory doors and ushered in the gods. The two lay there, snarled in their shame. The gods were not displeased; one of them prayed for shame like that. They laughed and laughed; the joyful episode was long the choicest tale to go the rounds of heaven." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.170

Another famous tale is that of Kadmos, King of Thebes, and Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Kadmos slew the snake, which guarded the sacred spring of Ares, the fountain of Castalia. Kadmos and Harmonia were turned into snakes by the wrath of Ares.

ARES, DRAKON, KADMOS

Aphrodite’s love affair with Ares lasted for the duration of her marriage to Hephaistos and beyond. She bore him four divine sons and a daughter: Eros, God of Love, Anteros, God of Love Reciprocated (or contrarily of unreciprocted love), Deimos, God of Fear, Phobos, God of Panic and Harmonia, Goddess of Harmony. According to some was NIKE, Goddess of Victory, also a daughter of Ares.
It’s interesting to see what the mating of the God of war and the goddess of love was producing, especially Harmonia, who bore to Ares the first of the Amazones tribe. He was the god-father of the Amazon women who bestowed upon them fighting-spirit. “The Amazones of the Doiantian plain were by no means gentle, well-conducted folk; they were brutal and aggressive, and their main concern in life was war. War, indeed, was in their blood, daughters of Ares as they were and of the Nymphe Harmonia, who lay with the god in the depths of the Akmonion Wood and bore him girls who fell in love with fighting.” - Apollonius
“Amazones have joyed in ruthless fight, in charging steeds, from the beginning: all the toil of men do they endure; and therefore evermore the spirit of the War-god thrills them through. They fall not short of men in anything: their labour-hardened frames make great their hearts for all achievement: never faint their knees nor tremble. Rumour speaks their queen to be a daughter of [Ares] the mighty Lord of War. Therefore no woman may compare with her in prowess - if she be a woman, not a God come down in answer to our prayers.” - Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy

ERIS-ENYO The goddess of strife, hatred and war was sometimes called sister of Ares and was always described as his close companion. She drove his chariot, riding beside him into battle and raging amongst the hosts of the battlefield. Sometimes Eris and Enyo were regarded as distinct goddesses, two female attendants of the god.

ARES,                     ARES                      ARES                   ARES
PHOBOS,               GIANT-WAR        APHRODITE,      GIGANTE MIMON
NIKE                       EROS

ARES had many titels:
Beastly, Brutish, Murderous, Manslaughtering, Blood-stained, He who Rallies, Stormer of Cities, Stormer of Walls, Insatiate of Fighting, Insatiate of War, Brazen Armed, Spear-Wielding, Shield-Piercing, Skin-Piercing, Sharp (like a spear), He who Fights under the Shield's Guard, Swift, Fleet, Violent, Furious, Strong, Terrible, Fearsome, Warlike, Lord of War, Mighty Of the Golden Helm. But one sticks out: Aphneios, the giver of food or plenty, a surname of Ares, under which he had a temple on mount Cnesius, near Tegea in Arcadia. Aerëope, the daughter of Cepheus, became by Ares the mother of a son (Aërropus), but she died at the moment she gave birth to the child, and Ares, wishing to save it, caused the child to derive food from the breast of its dead mother. This wonder gave rise to the surname Aphneios. (Paus. viii. 44. § 6.)
Ares was the god who presided over the emotions that lead to violence: hatred and rage. He was also invoked by those who wished to control their violent impulses. “Violent Ares, that thing of fury; evil-wrought!” - Homer, Iliad 5.699

In the major arcana of the tarot, the Golden Dawn assigned the Thunderbolt (or the Tower) to Mars. This shows the malefic aspect of the planet, a tower being struck down by lightning, and can indicate anything from change to ruin. The card Fortitude (or Strength) is also frequently linked to this planet; in divination it represents both sides of Mars:- courage and action, or anger and pride. The image of a woman holding the head of a lion, used in many packs, probably started as a long-haired Hercules strangling the Nemean lion; the alternative, a woman with a broken column, was most likely the equally long-haired Samson demolishing the temple of the Philistines. In the minor arcana, Mars is assigned on cabbalistic grounds to the fives. These are all unfortunate: Five of Wands, called Conflict; Five of Swords, Defeat; Five of Coins, Worry; Five of Cups, Disappointment.

IIn the Jewish cabbala, Mars is the fifth sphere, Power (Gevurah); it is notable that the Pythagoreans called the number five Nemesis, a word related to retributive justice, an unconquerable enemy or vengeance. The sphere of Mars is also known as Fear (Pachad): that fear of God which is said to be the beginning of wisdom, because it comes from realising our own shortcomings. Gevurah forms the moral triad with Chesed (Jupiter) and Tiphereth (the Sun). Here the benefic Jupiter and malefic Mars symbolize the constructive and destructive principles which are both vital parts of the universe, and which are transcended in the Sun. This contrast between Mars and Jupiter is reflected in the opposition between their exaltations: according to Antiochus of Athens, this is because they are life and death, a comment which takes us back to Babylon where Marduk (Jupiter) was the creator and Nergal the Lord of the Underworld.

In the list below you see few key-words that I extracted from the mythological stories:

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Mars

Marduk       Spring       aggression      will             force
Herakles     begin         assertion         adultery ...instinctual severity
Siegfried     initiation ..competition     potency      sexuality
Thor            outburst   separation      anger          alchemical sulphur
Wolf          (of.feeling)   decision         ..rage            antisocial
Snake     ..rampant      brave             ..selfish    .... inexperienced
promiscuity berserk   impatience      change        victimisation
BigBang    inebriation   tantrum     embodiment straightforward penetrating  survival ...thrust ..........passion   ......desire
masculinity  macho/wimp..bully      protecting     challenges
violence,      thug          adventure       (the boundaries)
The keywords that were distilled from mythological background of the planets, like spring, aggression, will, assertion, initiation, competition, potency, and so on, have to be understood in a cohesive way before we can do any meaningful connection to other planets. Now, to comprehend Mars in its totality we need more than just the keywords. To be able to interpret Mars in the astrological chart these keywords have to become alive; they have to be in a relationship.
The relationship between spring and aggression -if we take the literal meaning- is the ability to step ahead, to get going, to begin the journey, the adventure. Mars symbolises the ability to set into motion unprompted, which is the literal meaning of aggression, and Aries, the sign Mars rules, marks the birth of our existence. In the genesis of Greek mythology some say that Chaos sprang out of Darkness. What it means is that it was not a purposeful, meaningful act with a sense of order; it was simply a happening, an uncoordinated impulse that sprang out of darkness. Bang, here I am. Darkness represents the unknown, or the unknowable, the unconscious. Mars represents instinctual, inexperienced energy -dark energy. That means it is an innate quality of life that is not consciously directed at first. Not consciously directed energy is impulsive and it can be brutal. Mars represents aggression but it is not necessarily aggressive. Mars is not a malefic principle, as it was in medieval astrology, which probably considered aggression only to be vicious and mean.
If we understand the quality of Mars as an innate unconscious drive that is needed to do the first step in the manifestation of life then we do not have to treat it as a malefic principle. Mars is not maleficent, vicious, harmful or bad; it is raw energy and as such it is the potential with which one can do anything, good or bad. Homer pointed out that Ares is impartial, so much so that he even beats up his own army. Learning to work with Mars in a conscious and constructive way may not be an easy task, but it is one we all have to do. One thing is for sure, we cannot and must not deny Mars energy, judging it as aggressive or malicious, for it is an innate energy, the basic or primal life-force. Without Mars, we are impotent and maybe unable to survive the adventure of life. Of course, too much instinctual Mars-energy may be explosively violent, but so was the Big Bang with which everything began. If Mars is too much or too little, may depend on personal perceptions, what is too much for some may be too little for others, however, the human endeavour is to learn to direct Mars, to own it, so that it is not just a happening, but our ability to make something happen. Otherwise rage or depression, too much or too little Mars, just happens by itself. This instinctual drive can and will happen by itself, it can take care for itself. Existence is a happening, which means, this primitive life-force of existence can functions on its own; it does not need to be directed by consciousness. Mars, the driving force of existence is willing -so to speak- to follow the unconscious law of Mother Nature, which is first and foremost: ‘only the strong survive’. Naturally, that can mean fight or flight, whatever is necessary to survive.
A little child throwing its tantrum doesn’t own its Mars energy. Throwing atom-bombs or whatever on other people’s head should be seen by the same token as immature. To become mature is to become human and Mars is not only needed for that journey, Mars gets transformed from an animalistic force into a human might, from beast to man, from sulphur to gold. To own Mars also means to know, or get to know it from the inside out; to be a conductor means to know one’s Mars abilities coherently. For example, what is the connection between separation and decision and what is their relationship to spring?
The key-word separation is included in the list, for one, because the Babylonian god Marduk separated itself from the cosmic undifferentiated existence, from wholeness, in order to have an independent individual existence. Separation comes with the first step; to go onto an adventure you have to leave home. It's a platitude, yes, and that's why it's easily overlooked. The key-word decision is included because of its sense of being resolute, which means a decision is marked by firm determination and thus it is part of the characteristic of the war-god Mars. The most obvious connection would be if you would know the literal meaning of the word decision; to decide literally means ‘to cut off’. ‘To cut off’ is of course a separation but what has that to do with the meaning ‘to make up one's mind’ or ‘to settle a dispute’? This might not be understood at first sight. It is however very obvious that if there is a dispute or conflict between two parties in a sense of who is right and who is wrong, or in the sense of what to do and what not to do, one option has to be left behind, or cut off, in order to resolve the difficulty. The Babylonian god Marduk had to cut itself away from the undifferentiated existence, from unity, to begin the journey of individualisation, like every young person has to separate from mother sooner or later. Leaving something behind always seems to be connected with beginning a journey.
Here the literal meaning of the keyword ‘adventure’ is also interesting. The original meaning was ‘to arrive’ in a sense of ‘a thing is (by chance, fortune or luck) about to happen’, ‘to come about’, and derived from Latin ‘ad’ (to) + ‘venire’ (to come). The sense of ‘risky or perilous undertaking’ derived from the view that this ‘novel or exiting incident’ is ‘a trial of one’s chances’.
If we see departure and arrival or leaving something behind and beginning a journey as the two sides of a coin, as a complementary couple, then this duality is the necessary basis or rule of existence that happens by itself. There are many examples in nature that demonstrate that rule, for example, digestion. The digestive tract of the body separates between useful and useless, what is not needed is excreted; the rest is the nourishment and fused with the whole organism. This is the simple fact of life and not really heroic yet this fact of life became one of the 12 labours of Hercules, who is synonymous with Mars. Hercules fifth labour was to clean the Augean Stables in a limited time. He couldn't use his club to get rid of the old shit nor use his hands for it would take too long, so he flushed it by redirecting two rivers through it. Food and stomach are usually associated with the sign Cancer; however, digestion, seen as a transformative process, where the shit has to be left behind, is the result of a martial act. The whole theme around letting go becomes more obvious to be connected to the martial theme if we consider Mars’s position in the four-coloured lens of astrology.
Mars rules the first and co-rules the eighth house with Pluto. The eighth house is associated to fate and necessities, with Pluto being the ruler of the underground, the Lord of death; the Grim Reaper. Both of these associations are indicators for a let-go situation. We cannot hold onto life, our time is limited; we have to let it go. Death is our fate and a necessity to rejuvenate life. Naturally, the first house borders with the last house, Pisces. The last sign Pisces and its ruler Neptune are also connected to a ‘letting go state’. Neptune and Pisces somewhat indicate a coming home, a reunification, a fusion with the soul, the arrival. It's a letting go of the separate identity that Mars started to manifest; it’s a merging with cosmic wholeness that Mars left behind. Our destination of life is to arrive where we started, with the adventure being the journey in between.
Mars’s connection to water, to the watery 8th and 12th house, has to be seen in the light that Mars itself belongs to the soul, which is symbolized by the first quarter and associated to the element of water. The connection between the first and the last house is the connection between the first and last quarter. The fourth quarter, the human spirit, is associated to fire. The astrological transformation from water into fire is the transformation from darkness into light, from unconsciousness to consciousness or from beast into man. Mars is naturally influenced by water -especially by his feelings for pleasure, beauty and sexual desire, all associations of Venus, his lover. And Neptune rules the ocean and waterways. The images of Mars and Neptune are linked together -beginning and ending, separation and fusion, wanting and letting go, war and peace. The personification of Neptune might be the cosmic drunk, and that of Mars might be a drunken Viking warrior, the Berserker, however, both can be easily in a state of inebriation, indicating the instinctive state of mind; while Neptune is often seen as confused and foggy, as a side-effect of being drunk, Mars is rather agitated or irritated.
Naturally, every student of astrology has to create its own set of keywords and weave its own story. To me the etymological understanding of keywords has been beneficial in that regard, which is what I wanted to show you. The deeper you go with your understanding of one quality, for example Mars, the more you understand its meaning in your chart, and thus, if you want to learn to own Mars, creating your own story helps tremendously. Your chart describes the individual pattern of your talents and your unique way of expressing them. Learning to define Mars into a cohesive story through your individual chart, you will own it.