Using Martian energy: Practical Astrology 101

Scorpio, the water sign (and the eighth sign of the zodiac) that's ruled by Mars, talks about how you are reacting to someone else making the first move, whether this is responding to attack or responding to a competitor.

Practical use of Mars or Martian energy comes into play on a personal level when you're looking at your own ambitions and what inspires and motivates you to take action, but also on an interpersonal level when you are responding to other people, reacting to ways that you are triggered by others, and responding to competition and competing with others in contest.

So, any competitive endeavor that you're participating in, you're going to want to look at Mars transits and aspects to Mars, both your natal Mars and the transiting Mars, as a way to kind of gauge how you will be responding to your competition, and how your competition will be responding to you and operating, in order to outsmart them and out-compete them.

If we really want to get into the astrology of it, using occult knowledge and wisdom like astrology in order to outsmart your opponent is a very Palladian thing to do. Pallas is an asteroid named for the Greek goddess Pallas, likened to Athena, the Goddess of Warfare, who did not win her battles with strength. She won her battles with wisdom. She's the goddess of Warfare, but also the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge. She's alikened to Minerva in the Roman mythology. So, Pallas the Goddess of Warfare is associated with Scorpio, the water or feminine sign that is ruled by Mars, the God of War.

Mars is in Aries right now as I'm filming this (April 30 - June 9, 2024), which is a perfect time to tap into your own sense of self and what lights that spark within your soul–that fire that makes you feel alive, that makes you want to chase after something. Now is the time to be making those moves and going after what you want. Mars won't be back in Aries for another two years after this (April 9 - May 18, 2026).

Whereas when Mars is in Scorpio, months down the line (Sep 22 - Nov 4, 2025), that will be the perfect opportunity to assess your vulnerabilities, assess how you are responding to people violating your boundaries and penetrating your defenses… in the emotional sense, the physical sense, the spiritual sense, the mental sense. Even though Scorpio as a water sign talks a lot about our emotions, it does apply to more than just our emotional vulnerabilities.

An example of practical use of Mars could be that every time the moon is in a sextile or a trine with Mars (sextiles and trines being easy or positive aspects associated with Venus and Jupiter, who are both benefits, or bringers of good fortune)--anytime the moon is sextile or trine Mars is a great time to work out, a great time to get your energy flowing and get active. Dedicating those moments in time towards putting energy into your ambitions, whatever those are.

When the moon is in a square with Mars or in opposition to Mars, these are hard aspects because they're associated with Mars and Saturn, which are the malefics or bringers of bad fortune. So these aspects are more difficult. These are the days where it's going to be more difficult to get the energy to actually get up and be motivated to do and take action. But those days where taking the action are the most difficult is when the rewards of that action are the greatest, or the payout is the best. As long as you don't push your boundaries and hurt yourself, because squares to Mars are associated with physical injury.

It gets even more practical than that. Mars rules sharp things that cut. So that includes weapons like knives, but it also includes scissors. All different types of tools are ruled by Mars. So, Mars transits are also a really good time to work with tools. If you're building something and you need to use power tools, squares to Mars aren't really the best transits. A trine to Mars when you're using that power saw is much better astrology.

Let's say you want to turn a shirt into a crop top. You're cutting a piece of clothing. So Mars is the cutting. Venus represents the actual physical belonging. So maybe a time when Mars is conjunct Venus or in a sextile or trine to Venus is a good time to cut your shirt up into a crop top.

That's on a personal level, but this also can be scaled to think about this on a corporate or commercial level. For example, if you're a fashion brand who is releasing a new line of clothing that has a lot of cutouts in the designs, then unveiling that new clothing line while Mars is aspecting Venus in some way could be beneficial towards the reception of that line.

These are just some examples of practical applications of Mars in astrology.