Mars on the Ascendant and Anger

 

May 13, 2005 (with chart)

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/may13.html

 

Dear Eric:

 

Could you please talk a bit about Mars transits and the way they can affect people with Mars prominent in their charts? I have Mars conjunct my Ascendant as well as an Aries moon and it just dawned on me that I have spent most of my life being angry at one thing or another. The past few years I’ve pushed so many people out of my life through anger that it seems I’ve barely got a handful of friends left. I’ve suffered consistent insomnia as a result of waking up angry and not being able to stop thinking about whatever the issue is this time, as well as having several years dealing with clinical depression (anger turned inward). I am exhausted and want to live again, no matter how many things there have been to be mad at in my life and the world. Please help me learn to work with this energy.

 

Thank you for all you do,

Mars-City

 

 

Dear Mars-City:

 

Once upon a time, astrologers named Francoise and Michel Gauquelin of France, came closer than anyone to scientifically proving the validity of astrology using thousands of charts in careful statistical studies. They discovered that Mars on the ascendant or meridian is present in statistically significant ways in the charts of writers, sports heroes and military leaders. It is one of the distinctions of fame through achievement.

 

These people have learned to channel their Mars. The ones we hear about have done so through their creative process and careers. The ones we don't hear about have learned to address their personal issues in a deep way. Great achievements are NOT necessary for happiness -- but what is necessary is that we learn to be in the flow of life.

 

Mars is creative energy. It can take any form, from passion to rage to selling used cars. If you are not an intensely 'creative type', sports and exercise are among the best methods for dissipating anger (and better advised than the various forms of warfare). However, I get the feeling that you need both. You are obviously someone with an abundance of energy, and if you don't use it for yourself, and for the benefit of others, you will use it against yourself and to the detriment of others. The energy is there; the choice is how you handle it.

 

If that Mars says nothing else, it speaks to your high level of individualism. What we do need to remember is that in our allegedly 'do your thing' culture, there are constant impediments to self-expression, and relatively few ways to express oneself in new ways and be socially acceptable (at least, as is so often the case, among our current friends or partners). So quite often, we either experience pressure to not express ourselves (frustration), or the need to do so and face the fear of rejection or not fitting in. I suggest you look at this particular theme closely -- you are likely to be quite different than the people around you; you speak a different language; you understand things that are not commonly understood. And you need to express them.

 

Your Mars is prominent, but it's quite well aspected by other planets. For example, it's conjunct the galactic core, which is also rising. This casts a whole different hue over Mars than all the usual stuff -- it potentially puts Mars on what you might call the highest possible level of awareness. Your Mars also makes sextiles to Uranus, the Sun and Mercury. So the real issue, from an astrological standpoint, is that your Mars has a lot of energy and support -- and you can get the full use of that if you direct your energy consciously and clearly.

 

However, we can also look at Aries. You have a Moon-Chiron conjunction in the 3rd house. This is rather impetuous, and it can verge on tactless -- but the deeper subject is a sense of physical and emotional overwhelm. (It's opposite Pluto, and this can turn a strong desire to relate into a sense of isolation or give you the idea that you're a lone wolf.) You experience desire strongly. Powerfully. The question is, do you really feel that, or do you kind of set the feeling aside, where it turns to something else?

 

Mars in Sagittarius rising is the astrology of a great quest. I suggest you ask yourself honestly what you want your quest to be, or what your quest is. Really be honest. If I had this placement and did not go on my real quest in life, I would be angry too.

 

Mars transits give us the chance to experience Mars in different ways than we do in our natal chart. You are about to experience Mars square Mars, which you may experience as anything from frustrating to a major breakthrough. Often, the breakthrough can follow the frustration.

 

A great book about healing anger from a Buddhist perspective is, "Anger" by Thich Nhat Hanh, which is widely regarded as one of the best books ever written on the subject. In it Hanh, a Vietnamese monk, says that we do not conquer anger by keeping it all in or letting it all out, but through the Buddhist concept of mindfulness. For when we express anger at others, we are really angry at ourselves, and causing our own suffering.

 

From the astro-diet kitchen, Mars in Sagg. suggests cutting out toxic, artificial foods and reducing sodium as much as possible. But what it's really saying is do what you need to do. It’s saying you’re a person of deep faiith -- faith you need to act on. Live your life. Deal with your resentments consciously, move on and be as free as Sagittarius needs to be.