One for Astro Peeps and Students…

I do a Solar Return chart each year on my birthday- to mark when the Sun returns exactly back to the position it was at birth. It helps me identify what themes will be important during the year and where my head and heart is likely to be focused.

Lunar Return charts have their uses from a monthly forecasting viewpoint, but that means doing one 12 times a year. Venus returns come around once a year, as does Mercury. Neither of these planets are that strong in my chart so whilst I will cast the return chart, I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to it.

Jupiter is my ruling planet, so his cycles are super important, but given that it takes that great gassy giant 12 years to tramp around the zodiac, I don’t have the focus to use that for planning- I am flat out maintaining a habit for 1 week, let alone setting goals for 12 years!

Mars is different. Mars is very strong in my chart- almost as strong as Jupiter- but with a cycle that is only around 2 years, the plans are achievable.

Just like a Solar Return chart shows where the focus of your solar energy, your ego is invested in the next 12 months, the Mars Return chart indicates where the action will be for the next 2 years.  What is pushing us, where is our passion, where is our motivation?

Mars is also important because it is this energy that empowers us to live the potential of our Sun. Mars fires our creative identity.

Reading the Mars Return (MR) chart

1. Pay attention to the natal promise of Mars. What is the sign and house of natal Mars? Eg my Mars is strong- in Scorpio in the 8^th house. For me, Mars is about transformational and profound experiences. Hunger and sexual energy are absolutely words associated with Mars in Scorpio in the 8^th.
2. If you haven’t looked at Mars Return charts before, check out, say, the last few. Looking with hindsight, how did that energy manifest for you? Looking at my last few Mars Return charts, the Mars story has definitely played out.
3. Are there any themes from Solar Returns, Mercury or Venus returns that are being repeated in the Mars chart? In my SR chart Jupiter is at 8 Taurus and almost exactly on my North Node. This point is being brought to the Ascendant of the Mars Return chart. Anything that contacts the natal nodes is important in a return chart. This point is repeated in the Mercury Return chart with the Ascendant being 8 Scorpio, my South Node.
4. Where is Mars in the chart? What is his position by house and aspect? Mars is in the 6^th house with a sextiles through to the MR Sun in Virgo. The next couple of years has a 6^th house energy about it. The themes are of hard work, perfecting of craft, head down bum up.
5. What planets are on the MR angles ie 1^st, 7^th, 10^th, 4^th? Mars is very close to the Descendant, so Mars will absolutely touch my relationships over the next couple of years. In my Mercury Return chart, Mars is at 19 Virgo and therefore conjunct the natal descendant an Pluto.
6. Are there any natal planets being brought to the angles of the return chart? Just the Nodes. This is an important return chart.
7. What part of life is being brought to the MR Ascendant? This will be the area of life that is getting a lot of Mars attention. The natal third house is being brought to the forefront. This also repeats the themes of the Mercury Return.
8. Check out the position of the Mars Return Moon. It’s in the 9^th in Capricorn which ties in well with my publishing ambitions and the business attitude that I am taking with that.

*I cast my Mars return chart using Solarfire. I don’t believe this function is available on the free charts on Astro.com- perhaps other readers may know where a Mars Return chart can be cast for free.

Related Posts:

Mercury Returns

Solar Returns

In traditional astrology, planets have strength or dignity in each sign by rulership, term and face.

Rulership is obviously the most essential dignity, and is the sign where the planet is most effective- where he is on his home turf, with his own support systems. A real home ground advantage, if you like.

Each sign is divided up into another 5 portions (it’s different for each sign) with one of the traditional planets ruling each. This planet is said to be the “term” ruler of that part of the sign.

As an example, Mercury is the term ruler for the first 6 degrees 59’ of Virgo, so the Sun (currently at 1 Virgo) has a real Mercurian flavor about it.

Mercury at 15 Leo is in the term ruled by Saturn, so has a more structured feel to communications for these few degrees.

Then each sign is divided into 3 even sections, with a planet ruling each of these by “face”. This is a minor strength, but still a dignity.

Mars, though, for the first almost 7 degrees of Scorpio has dignity in all of these and, for the first 10 degrees dignity by rulership and face. That means that Mars for the first almost 7 degrees of Scorpio is even stronger and more effective than when he is in the rest of Scorpio. This is concentrated Mars at his absolute best.

This is Mars capable of leaping tall buildings, or smashing through them. This is Mars capable of world domination, or at least control of the next meeting outcome. This is serious energy.

The Moon is there today as well, so listen to what your deepest instincts are telling you and you won’t go wrong.

I have Mars in Scorpio, in the 8^th house. This makes it both easy and difficult to write this piece- easy in that I can tell it like it is without giving a faff if I upset anybodys precious ego way; and difficult in that I need to be careful not to expose parts of myself which, like my stomach, rarely see the light of day…for good reason.

It’s hard to write about Mars in Scorpio without talking about sex, jealousy, revenge, control, power and absolute truth. Nor can I write about Mars in Scorpio without discussing unwavering desire, determined willpower and intense emotions. I will address the latter, before venturing into the former.

Just as there is a fine line between pleasure and pain the extremely dark side of Scorpio also has a very positive energy. Any planet in Scorpio will be focused, private, self sufficient and contained. Mars is no different. Mars rules both Aries and is the traditional ruler of Scorpio, so is extremely strong in this sign.

Mars, for all of us, is about how we assert ourselves, how we go about getting what we want. It is also about our energy levels.  Anyone who has this placement is driven.  The power of emotions is channelled into asserting yourself and achieving or attaining what it is that you want. Rather than detaching from your emotions (such as is possible with Mars in Air, Fire and Earth), Mars in Water signs use this attachment to a goal or desire in order to move forward.

Scorpio is an introverted, or feminine sign, which means that the energy rather than being expressive is internally directed. Scorpio is not a centre stage feature, but rather back row centre. For all this, it is still, magnetic and powerful. Mars in Scorpio draws people in, seemingly without exerting a muscle.

Scorpio is a fixed sign, so the energy is one of endurance. He has incredible internal reserves of energy and his desires are unwavering. He doesn’t care how long it takes. Whilst Mars in Aries will exhaust himself quickly and move on, Mars in Scorpio is in it for the long run and will budget his energy in a more controlled fashion to make it last.

Mars says a lot about what gets us out of bed in the morning (as well as what gets us in there the night before). In Scorpio, this can be usually isolated to power and total control. Mars in Scorpio likes a challenge. Unlike Mars in Aries, he won’t tear off to the next conquest as soon as he has landed his prey- he wants to hang around and make sure that what he has won is totally his. This is the energy of completion and makes Mars in Scorpio formidable from a professional sense and also incredibly suited to any sporting activity needing focus and endurance.

Mars’ strengths in Scorpio are also some of his key weaknesses. His need for privacy, secrecy, self protection and control can stop him from expressing himself freely. He is change resistant and slow to trust with a tendency to paranoia. Mars in Scorpio may choose not to move forward with something he believes in simply because he feels that to do so may grant someone else control. He will instead wait until the situation can be manipulated in his favour. A little like only using a 2 letter word in words with friends so that you don’t leave the double or triple words exposed. Yep, I’m playing both a Scorpio Sun and a Scorpio Moon at present.

Mars in Scorpio takes these traits with him to bed.  Mars is also about what turns us on (and off) sexually (and otherwise). It is about our sex drive and passions. In a mans’ chart, Mars is how he shows his strength, his masculinity, how he might go about impressing a potential partner. In a womans’ chart, the sign that Mars is in is often projected into the type of partner she falls for completely- again and again and flipping again. Trust me on this, I’m a textbook case. Thankfully I married one.

With Mars in Scorpio, it may be that she has a weakness for men with Sun, Moon, Venus or Mars in Scorpio, or men who have one or more of these planets in the 8^th house or in close aspect to Pluto. She may want a man who will dominate her in some way, or with whom she can fight for control. Deep down, she wants to be needed. Either way, her relationships will usually have a Scorpio influence. If you are susceptible, there is nothing on earth that can substitute for the magnetism of the Scorpio influenced male. (Women with Scorpio personal planets have a similar effect on men with either Venus or the Moon in Scorpio).

Protection is absolutely paramount when considering emotions as deep as those of Scorpio. With Mars in Scorpio, you never ever let them know how you really feel- this makes you vulnerable and under the control of someone else…even though part of you may want to submit to a little of this. If they really loved or desired you they would want to dig deeper to know all of you. You want someone who is prepared to do that. You want someone who will expose his vulnerabilities to you.

To allow anyone to see how much you want them is to open yourself up for rejection. By not letting them know, if you are rejected, you are the only one who knows about it. Naturally, of course, the likelihood of rejection is that much greater because the encouragement level is that much less. Doesn’t make sense? It does to Scorpio Mars.

You may be jealous (at least initially) of anyone who has gone there before, during or after you- regardless of whether it was a one nighter or a relationship or even a flirtation. Why? Because they had (or will have) a part of you that I didn’t. Scary but true.

Mars in Scorpio doesn’t flirt. When he wants something (or someone), he wants all of it, completely, for ever and ever. And that is serious business- and very sexy. When Scorpio Mars stares you down, you know it. Flirtation is for when it’s not serious.

Sex isn’t just about physical passion for Scorpio Mars, although the urge is stronger here than in most other Mars placements. It is more about the emotional intensity and attachment. This is not sex in a 5^th house fun way, but sex in the traditional 8^th house power to transform your life way and experience something truly profound. A little (or a lot) dark, a little (or a lot) compulsive, a little (or a lot) obsessive, but very magnetic.

Because Mars in Scorpio desires so completely he requires truth, honesty and loyalty. No grey areas. This is uncompromising, deal breaking, black and white.

He doesn’t like to be played with, although he himself is a master game player and manipulator. If he suspects you are playing around, he will wait until you trip yourself up. Once you have lost his trust, it has gone forever. His nightmare scenario is finding out about your betrayal from another source as it threatens not only his trust, but also his sense of power.

He will then quietly gather evidence in the background which can be used against you. This allows him to regain some sense of control over the outcome. The term Machiavellian was invented for this placement… and his revenge (or revenge fantasies) certainly take on these qualities.

As tempting as it is, think carefully before committing to Mars in Scorpio as endings are always painful. This is not a placement where you can easily be friends afterward. It is all or nothing. Sure he will hang on for a while, but once he knows it is over, he will cut cleanly and completely. Like it never happened. Like you never existed. Complete elimination. As painful as it is to be completely cut from his life, it is substantially less painful than when he doesn’t let go… revenge is never pretty, but to Mars in Scorpio, it can be sweet indeed.

The title song is Revenge is Sweeter Than You Ever Were, by Aussie girls The Veronicas. This really is one of those songs that you want to throw at someone! Just have a listen to the lyrics…

Other great Mars in Scorpio songs:

• Total Control, by The Motels- Martha Davis is being very Venus in Scorpio in this clip from the 80’s: “I’d sell my soul for total control over you”
• Pleasure and Pain, by Aussie band The Divinyls. Another one from the 80’s. “I’ve been standing in the back of your life- back row centre just above the ice…its a fine line between pleasure and pain, you’ve done it once you’ll do it again”

You may also identify with this description if you are a man with the Sun in Scorpio or if you have Mars conjunct, square or in opposition to Pluto.

Along with being given the responsibility of caring for a child, mothers are also given other amazing talents:

• The addition of a cleansing and healing hormone to saliva
• The ability to induce guilt at any time without warning for the rest of the childs natural life.
• The ability to have a range of sayings for any occasion. My mother had a range of these: “no blood- no noise”, “I’m cold, put a jumper on” or my personal favourite “its just a stage”.

I have offered the same type of indispensable wisdom to Miss 14: “no matter how late, tired or drunk you are- take your make-up off before you go to bed” and “when it comes to issues of politics, don’t listen to anything your Grandmother says”. Definitely words to live by.

But what were these “stages” my mother talked about? Given that it usually coincided with somebody’s bad behaviour, I’m inclined to think these stages coincided with Mars returns- or when Mars returns to its natal position- something that happens every couple of years.

We experience the 1^st of these at around 2 years of age…and what happens then? Yep, the terrible twos. Your placid and oh so cute toddler learns the power of the word “no” and continues to repeat it- at various levels of intensity and interspersed with tantrums and tears. He is learning to go after what he wants and assert his own will…but doesn’t quite know how to do it. He is learning how to use his Mars. H

Then there is another just before we start school, when language and communication skills are starting to be learned and bad behaviour is accompanied by frustration at not being able to get our message. At this point he is learning how to “use his words” to get what he wants.

And so it goes, every 2 ½  years or so, depending on retrogrades…

Think also about relationships. How often do you find relationships faltering at the 2 year mark- yep, the Mars return for the relationship? The rose coloured glasses are off, (generally) that first blast of amazingness has died down and the relationship is into business as usual. Along comes a Mars return and an amazing boost of energy and, if it isn’t channelled back into the bedroom or in building something permanent, frustrations and arguments ensue. The heat and energy associated with Mars has to go somewhere- either into an ending or a new beginning.

The same occurs with jobs. Once the initial challenge has gone, you are left with business as usual. It is at this point that you either start looking around again, or channel that heat into a different part of the role to re-energise it.

Every 2 years we get a burst of Mars energy. Like a shot of high octane fuel. Does this mean that every two years we descend into our inner child and the resultant tantrums until we get what it is that we want?

Instead we can use the Mars return sort of like a reboot: re-start, re-focus. If you still have unfulfilled wishes, maybe that’s where they need to stay. At this point we have the option to continue to fight for those desires or use your new energy to let them go. Perhaps your goals need refining and re-drafting to take them to the next level. Maybe the 5 year plan needs to be broken down into a series of 2 year plans?

Mars transits often signify endings. It is that old adage about how one door has to shut before another opens. Even though you may want to leave one slightly ajar while you try and open the next, in order to completely commit to a goal, generally speaking you have to let go completely of something which you have been hanging onto. Do you waste valuable energy in defending something that you thought you wanted, or harness it to push in a whole new direction? Mars helps you cut through the crap.

Mars is about courage and the desire to assert ourselves to achieve what it is that we want. The little slip inside a fortune cookie that I had on Sunday night said:

The ship is safer in the harbour,

But it is not meant for that.

Yesterday I over-shared a little about my health problems.

This winter has been dreadful- much worse than when I was working in a partition with a heap of infected corporates all soldiering on.

Normally I allow myself one head cold a year, with the requisite week after of breathing issues. This year I’ve gone from one to the other to the next and tripled it. Not good.

Hubby made the comment the other night that he hasn’t seen me this consistently unwell since the winter before I had a large op. That winter I caught everything and when I wasn’t actually sick, was rundown, anaemic and full of those niggly little low immune system annoyances. It pushed me into getting the treatment I needed.

That winter Saturn squared all of my Pisces planets.

A few years ago, a similar thing occurred- I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders and I couldn’t breathe through it. What manifested? A series of shoulder injuries and some nasty asthma attacks. Saturn was opposite my Pisces planets.

This winter Saturn is inconjunct (or quincunx) my Sun, and as at today, Chiron. Shortly it will be the Moon.

The quincunx (try saying it 3 times after a glass or two of vino) is a particularly difficult aspect. The planets are 150 degrees apart and have absolutely nothing in common. Pisces (water, mutable, yin) has nothing in common with Libra (air, cardinal, yang).

Some action needs to be taken which you quite simply are not ready for, but too bad so sad- you have no choice. In my case, the message is one of health and my habits surrounding it.

How do I know that?

Firstly, Saturn is in my 1^st house, so any Saturn transit will always be felt in my body. The difficult ones had historically been associated with health.

This transit is occurring in the 8^th house- transformation, intense transformation. I suspect there will be other less fixable 8^th house issues before it’s done, but I’m not going there just yet.

In any case, this is Saturn quite simply telling me to fix it. If I don’t, it will get worse- probably culminating in something really nasty when he is in Sagittarius and squaring the same area.

I’ve said it before- I don’t deal with Saturn well. In my chart, the only aspect made to or from Saturn is a quincunx to Mars in the 8^th (is anyone seeing a pattern here?). My Mars (at 3 Scorpio) is by far the senior partner in that conversation- and no amount of jostling by Saturn is going to change that.

What we have happening up there in the sky now is the opposite of that- Saturn and Mars are joined in a sign where Saturn is in exaltation (like a guest in the house who gets the best meals, the best bed, the thousand count sheets and the good towels) and where Mars is in detriment (relegated to the shed with the dog and a supply of baked beans for the duration).

This has been working well for me the last couple of weeks- I’ve been nailing my word count targets (2000 per day) and am on schedule to complete the first draft of this astro manuscript by the end of the month.

I’m hopeful of using this same energy to cement the new dietary habits I have to put in place if I don’t want a repeat of what I’ve gone through this week.

Think about where 24 Libra falls in your chart. Now look at where Saturn and Mars are.  This will give you an indication of what the next couple of days of Astro weather means to you.

Mars, amongst other duties, defends what is ours and what we want to be ours- our territories and boundaries, if you like. Saturn represents those boundaries. This is one of those times where you will get what you want only by following established structures and patterns. To do anything else will only lead to frustrations and irritation.

As a transit, it is relatively short- lasting just a couple of days- but when Mars is involved, the potential for the “red mist” to descend over your eyes and create damage is unlimited. Bear that one in mind…