Astrology by the Numbers – #1

Mars, the Number 1

by Jewell Starsinger on Friday, September 10, 2010 at 3:20pm

As Rome expanded Mars became the soldiers’ God of providence, providing food for an expanding army as the God of spring and growing fields. Eventually he became God of War, which made sense, because in Babylon he was Ninurta, evil and cruel. It seems that Mars hasn’t escaped his bad reputation over millennia, until now. I want to personally save his reputation with a few metaphysical upgrades out of several time-honored disciplines.

The second chakra

The second chakra is the chakra of individuality and sexuality. Now that’s an oxymoronic concept because it takes two for sex and one for individuality. Houston, I think we have a conundrum here. Let’s fish around for some possible answers. How about this one? When we have sex the idea is for the two to become as one. That works for me. Good answer! So our Mars energy rushes out into life seeking some kind of union. But he’s on the loose. On his own until he gets there.

Psychology

The Terrible Twos of psychology expresses Mars at its truest. The boundary-free infantile stage is gone for good and now the child has got her “me” on. She’s hard to hold. She doesn’t listen. She wants to go over “there,” where ever that is. She has learned to talk and say “no” with wild abandon. Why is it so compelling for her to escape the nest? This is how she “finds” herself. Mars pushes, climbs, wiggles and fights and flies its way out of the nest.

Seasons

His month is March/April, when spring is happening. He represents the principle of new growth and first times. He is the beginning of the life cycle, and as such, it requires courage to be a young sprout. Fortitude is the quality needed to grow in spite of late frost and torrential rain. Yet the sprout continutes upward, diligently toward the sun.

Roman

Mars was right up there in stature with his father Jupiter. He was considered a more accessible God. His archetype is all about brash, immediate action. He doesn’t fool around, he just follows orders. If the orders of the day are putting out a fire, then he is a fireman. If the castle is on fire and there is no ladder, then he jumps. He doesn’t ask questions, any more than a blade of grass would ask to grow. He lives on instinct, in the moment, in accordance with the situation at hand.

The number 1

The number 1 is first. It is the number, “to be”. It has no conscience and no rationale. It simply goes and does without question or forethought. The impulse that takes you is first. Beginner’s luck is first, innocent action. Have you ever heard someone say, “My first choice is always right!”? For that person, the truth is right there, in front, leading her on.

The First House of Astrology

The first house is angular, cardinal, and fire. Its natural sign ruler is Aries, and planetary ruler is Mars. The first house in your chart tells all about your looks. It is the house of self. Mars rules this house. It is the “me” house and represents all your self-centered concerns, desires and behaviors. It is derived from your birth time, so it is all about your moment of arrival into the air. It is where you begin. The cusp of the first house is a special angle, the Ascendant (also known as the rising sign). When a planet touches this angle, you experience it on a very personal level. For instance, when Saturn travels here, you lose weight, but when Jupiter travels here, you gain weight. When Mars locates here, you argue, with Mercury on the Ascendant, you chat.

Tarot

Mars is the Tower in tarot. Two people leap from a burning tower on to a rocky terrain below. It looks daunting and no one likes it when the thing comes up in a reading, because it has pain written all over it. Why so extreme? The instinct is extreme in that it preceeds thought. One can’t contemplate the burning building without being burned. One does not even consider the rocky conclusion of the action.
It is not Mars’ job to consider consequences.

Mars with #1 = is action
Mars with #2 = is sensuality
Mars with #3 = makes conversation
Mars with #4 = seeks to maintain
Mars with #5 = seeks love
Mars with #6 = seeks a plan
Mars With #7 = makes the deal
Mars with #8 = is power
Mars with #9 = seeks a belief
Mars with #10 = seeks authenticity
Mars with #11 = leads the way
Mars with #12 = is versatile

In my humble opinion, Mars is not the man to the Venus woman. Venus’ mate is actually Mercury. Their child was Hermaphroditos. That is beside the point. The point being that when Mars is given to men alone, women lose their second chakra. This may be why women have been in such a crappy place for so many millennia. We lost our desire nature and had to let men do that for us. I strongly urge women to reclaim their desire natures and follow their intuitions, seek their desires and generally go for the things that feel right. Urges are clues to personal identity.

Kabbala

In my humble opinion, your Mars is more personal than any other planet in your array. In Kabbala, it is called Foundation. It’s the “I AM” and the “To Be”. It’s the gasoline that fuels your life/car. Your life is founded on the “I AM”. According to kabbalists, Yesod represents god’s DESIRE to create and so it is for us, our DESIRE to BE. As humans we think we are making it up, but as creations of god, we are following the pattern that she has set down. I am not a god person, but I am a pattern person, first and foremost. These archetypes come from somewhere. I have only scratched the surface of where Mars comes from, but I don’t do all this scratching to prove anything. I am looking for the pure form. The Archetype.

The Kabbalists see god as a man and creator, in that the sperm takes the initiative to penetrate the egg. Today’s science shows that the egg actually chooses the sperm she wants. Yes, they have pictures with the egg casting a slimy net over one single sperm and incorporating the wiggler into herself. So much for patriarchy. My point in pointing all this out is to say that Mars does not equal only a penis and testicles. Women have a perfectly good clitoris with as many nerve endings a the male counterpart. Women don’t sublimate our desires because we are all naturally willing receptacles for the all mighty man-juice. We do it because of 5 millennia of training. Isn’t this what we have learned as astrologers? That within each archetype there exists huge potential for variety.

In conclusion, I believe that Mars is a Human or Life energy, represented by a spring blade of grass emerging from the dark, cold nest of mother earth. Fearless and faithful it pushes through the hard soil to manifest itself into creation. Is is also, a newborn creature, emerging from its mother, fearlessly and faithfully it begins to breath, express and BE. You get my drift!

One more thing lest my masculine readers, if there are any, become uncomfortable. The word “woman” includes man. The word “goddess” includes god. The word “she” contains he. The divine feminine holds and contains the divine spark. She is creator of everything at his request. OK, that’s enough for one day!

Blessings to you All