to the planet Pluto, Mars had ruled both Aries and Scorpio. Aries, the first sign of the
Zodiac and marker of the spring equinox (the month of March is named after Mars),
connects the planet to initiations, births, pioneering situations, initiative, impulsive-
ness, precipitous behaviors, uniqueness, aggression, and survival instincts. This ruler-
ship appears to connect better with the solar qualities of Mars and appropriately, the
Sun is said to be exalted in Aries. Scorpio, appears to connect to the underworld qual-
ities of Mars and its association with death, sexuality, diseases, adulteries, prostitution,
losses, banishments, murders, and bloodshed.
The sexual impulse often connected to Mars also has its roots in his Greek her-
itage. In the classical Olympian Pantheon, Mars was known as Ares, the god of war.
He was the son of Zeus and Hera who allegedly lived in Thracia, a region known for
its fierce people. As a warrior god, Mars is often contrasted with his sister Athene,
goddess of war and wisdom, who fought and vanquished him in a battle between the
gods. Unlike Athene, Ares embodied the more unrefined, evil, and brutish aspects of
warfare—prompting Zeus to call him “the most hateful of the gods.” Only Aphrodite,
the goddess of beauty, could tame the wild Ares through her ability to incite his pas-
sions. After one of their illicit affairs—as Aphrodite was married to his brother Hep-
haestus—Ares was forced by Zeus to endure public humiliation for his adultery.
Through Ares’s union with the goddess of love, a child named Harmonia (harmony)
was produced. Ares also gave birth to two sons, Deimos and Phobos, who gave their
names to Mars’s two moons and were said to pull his war chariot.
In Hindu mythology Ares is called Mangala, a personification of the planet
Mars. He is often depicted with a chariot being pulled by eight fire-red horses.
According to some authors, Mangala is a form of the cruel side of Shiva. In one Hindu
myth, the gods were being terrorized by a demon who could only be slain by a “seven-
day-old son of Shiva.” The gods thus created the illusion of a beautifully enticing
woman who so moved Shiva sexually, that the great ascetic god ejaculated at the sight
of her. His sperm fell into the ocean, which, nourished by the Pleiades (the seven sis-
ters), gave birth to Karttikeya—the god of war who, born out of the necessity, killed
the demon.
Although the original Roman Mars may have originated as a vegetation god,
he became closely modeled on the Greek god of war. However, among the Romans
who valued military prowess, Mars quickly rose to the ranks of most popular deity and
patron for all soldiers. He is depicted by the Romans wearing a suit of armor, a plumed
helmet, and carrying a shield and spear. In the Roman myths, aside from Mars’s affairs
with Venus, he is also linked with a vestal virgin Rhea Silvia, who is buried alive for
violating the laws of her sisterhood. From this union are born Mars’s twin sons, Romu-
lus and Remus, who become the founders of Rome. It became the custom in Rome
that generals, before heading out to combat (typically in March when campaigns were
started), would invoke the god in his sanctuary.
The myths thus explain the planetary gods’ associations with many of the sig-
nifications listed in The Anthology of Vettius Valens:
The star of Ares signifies violence, wars, rapine, screams, insolence,
adulteries, taking away of belongings, losses, banishment, estrangementTHEASTROLOGYBOOK [427]
Mars