♂Mars
Drive · anger · desire · the warrior
Rules: Aries · Co-rules Scorpio · Detriment in Libra & Taurus
How you fight for what you want. And what you do with anger.
Mythology
Ares / Mars — god of war. The Roman version was respected; the Greek version was kind of a brute. Astrologically Mars is the raw will — drive, sex, anger, ambition. Necessary force, easily destructive.
What it means in a chart
Mars is the engine. Where Mars sits in your chart is where you push, what you push toward, and how you push (subtle Libra-Mars vs blunt Aries-Mars). It's also the part of you that gets angry — and an unintegrated Mars is the source of most chart-readings that go 'why am I always furious?'
Retrograde
**Mars retrogrades every ~2 years for about 70 days.** The longest retrograde of the personal planets. The energy stalls. Ambition feels foggy. You redo what you rushed. People say things they meant to keep quiet. Famously the period when you discover the project you were excited about needed a complete rewrite.
How to read it in your chart
Mars sign = your fighting style. Mars house = the life area you're most ambitious in. Mars aspects to Sun/Moon are the most emotionally consequential — Mars-Saturn squares are textbook 'driven but blocked'.
Want to see where the planets fall in your chart?
View your birth chart