Last Updated on July 30, 2020 by astrologerbydefault

Mars is a fascinating force in your horoscope. He rules over your body-birth as the natural lord of the 1st house, and also ensures your body-death as the natural lord of the 8th house. He represents vital energies/prana and he is responsible for the ‘life’ that courses through you. Mars, the ruler of Aries and Scorpio will always exert his influence on the 1st and 8th house of the chart in addition to the actual sign posted there and the influence of the other planets on them. Birth, death and re-birth, all these processes are expressions of these Martian energies. He interprets the energies lying dormant in the subconsciousness to create conscious action which is expressed either physically in Aries or psychologically in Scorpio.

(Will just quickly clarify this term ‘Natural ruler’. The first sign is Aries and its lord is Mars, thus in any horoscope, placement of Mars and Aries sign in the birth chart will have a subtle influence on the matters of the 1st house/ascendant. This subtle influence exists irrespective of whatever the actual ascendant sign is.)

Mars owns Aries the natural First house –

This is his House of Identity! He decides, Who are you? When did you arrive? What time, location and circumstance?. Here Mars is the energy of the moment of actual birth, the family of birth and the situation of birth. He has become the pioneering, vigorous, physically athletic, impressive, unafraid, competitive, First. The 1st controls the visible body, the musculature, the blood and the network of vessels. Thus he is good at all the activities related to animal survival and passion; from hunting, to eating, to sex and competing. Here he uses his physical body as an athlete, a fashion model, a stuntman and in his free time too engages in active sports like hiking, surfing, gym, etc. In the 1st, Mars is the reserve of courage, energy, a fuel tank of masculine, sexual productive energy always in motion. And yes, he can be cruel too.

Here as the 1st, the self-destructive tendencies of Mars are gradually released into the environment which ensures gradual learning in the conscious, thinking states. Mars as the 1st is always moving in the physical visible realm. His energies are distinctive in appearance and he is noticed for his sexual vibes and physical beauty. And being the 1st, he also rules the head, the brain and the thought processes thus is intelligent, incisive, precise and promotes himself and his clan. And his this ‘selfishness’ is approved and admired in the society.

The 1st’s resources and reserves are forged in the subconscious as the karma of his past lives. This karma is primarily related to expression of anger and also conversely to the fear of anger released inappropriately. His resources are also like the subconscious, largely unknown to himself, but always available when needed. This Mars has an extended brotherhood which links to him from the community and he welcomes similar minded individuals into his clan. This extended family also gains profits and luck from the energies of the 1st Mars. His source of emotional security and comforts is either his profession or his father. The family group is the place he where is at the center stage and his powers of creation too find an outlet here. And he in turn provides security to his mother, homeland, properties, relatives and residences. He is the ideal male partner to his female partner and the perfect example of a masculine father to his sons. This Mars has learnt how to be a man from the group of benevolent paternal figures in his family.

The 1st loses his identity under the influence of that mysterious psychological energies of the 8th house. Here Mars’ energies behave somewhat like a Ouroborous, consuming himself so that he can rebirthed again, new and refreshed. And he also has the capacity and capability to transform the energies of his losses, debts and enemies into challenges where he wins, transforms and evolves himself with every interaction.

Mars also owns Scorpio the natural Eighth house –

The House of Transformations belongs to Mars! Here Mars Forces Change. The identity first determined by the 1st house is now transmutated in the 8th. The identity of birth thus undergoes repeated changes in the lifetime and the last change leads to termination of the body-identity. Death is a major transformative process which transforms a resident of the Martyalok, to a pretatma/spirit denizen of the Pitrulok. In this context the 8th also become the house of all roads and pathways including the invisible psychic routes. Mars here is the energy of death and carries with him the seeds of the identity of the next life. In the 8th, Mars also controls the transformation of the parent’s DNA into a child of the next generation, by controlling the power of the reproductive system. He is at his highest psychological dominance here, penetrating, intensely controlling in his pursuit of Hidden Knowledge through every which route possible. The 8th is now the Randhra, the House of every sort of Openings and movements through them. These movements are often fast and terrifying.

The source of Mars’ energies are the self-destructive tendencies which are gradually released into the depths of the being so as to afford an internal learning experience. He is the shaman, the investigator, the healer and the killer here. He moves continuously in the realm of secrets, the inner mind, the interiors of everything, including the body. Mars learns his lessons here in the shadowy realm of the psyche.

The 8th is where Mars the Eternal Warrior competes to find the Essence of the Self. He takes on identities and then transforms himself again and again. The next birth occurs as per the mental/emotional/spiritual state of the person at the moment of death. Thus he gives himself a chance of Self Realization. His war zone is the inner lands of the psyche and his prize is gaining the Self Identity. And because he is Mars, his ways are the swift actions of discovery, release, breakthrough, surgery, catastrophe, openings, invasions, scare, shock, intimidation, torture, rebirth etc. The 8th house ruled changes can be invisible, psychic and of varying intensities. Psychic healing, major surgeries, accidents, intensive therapies, tantrik magic are some of these 8th house events which practically bring about a re-birth in terms of the body-identity, emotional-identity, spiritual-identity and soul-identity. Here Mars controls the hidden energy body and the system of Chakras-energy vertices, the network /Nadis and the Prana/vital energy flowing through them.

As the natural lord of the 8th, Mars here is the Identifier of Secrets. His resources and treasuries are the guidance and philosophies that he gets from ancestral spirits and shadow guides. Such a Mars finds his brotherhood in the regulated environment of his profession, but his comfort zone emotionally is the network of like-minded individuals he cultivates, the stranger the better. His creative aspect again lies in the unknown realm of visions, dreams, sub-conscious and the invisible. He also ensures the secretive nature of his creative forces. The 8th also represents the material resources of the partners, but such a Mars values no physical treasures. As the 8th, he has maximum power when his exists in the shadows of the society, his methods and means secret. If he, by chance, gets too visible in the society he gains enemies and arguments. The society is not very comfortable with such a Mars and is inclined to be a bit scared of him.

If and when you develop control over your mind, emotions and thought patterns through intense spiritual activity where you train the movement of the vital energies/pran flowing in the energy channels of your physical body, you can gain control over your body-death and rebirth. In such a case you can choose your next physical-body and life situation. This then will be a Reincarnation rather than just a rebirth.

This is the real nature of Mars and the two Houses, 1st and 8th that he owns.

I have always believed that learning by rote does not contribute to real learning. For real understanding we need to get into the mind, the motivations and the energy of the subject. Thus this post.