Turn your weapons into Cupid’s arrows and get ready to exert yourself for peace, love, and beauty — Mars has entered Venus’ domain, where the planet of war finds itself suddenly cast in a marriage plot. Stuffed into a dinner jacket and forced to make small talk (horrors!) as one of Lady Mary’s suitors, Mars in Libra may struggle at first to control its warlike nature and adapt to this genteel environment, which is one of its signs of detriment/exile (along with Taurus, Venus’ other domain).
But — and this is what I love about planets in detriment — Mars can learn how to get along and even adapt creatively to this foreign territory. Heck, he may even win over Lady Mary in the end, since, you know the old adage about opposites attracting. Mars can clean up nicely, as we see from the hunky ancient statues, especially if given some help, particularly by the goddess of love and beauty herself.
That’s why, in a natal chart, the placement of Venus, Libra’s ruler, is crucial to understand how functional Mars in Libra will be. If Venus is in one of its signs of domicile (Taurus or Libra) or exaltation (Pisces) Venus will be much more likely to lend a helping hand to Mars. Helpful as well is if Venus can “see” Mars through a traditional aspect or is well-placed herself, in a fortunate or active house.
The concept of sect plays a role as well also, with Mars generally better behaved in the charts of those born at night. Mars in Libra has an advantage in night charts, with the most positive benefic (Venus) the ruler of the more constructive malefic (Mars).
In day charts, meanwhile, Mars is generally the most problematic planet in the chart, expressing its discomfort in the sign of its exile with a stronger sense of frustration than in night charts. In Libra this frustration may manifest as aggression directed towards the social and relational sphere, sometimes in a passive aggressive fashion, since Mars feels constrained by Venus’ niceties. Venus is also less helpful in day charts, as the lesser benefic, after Jupiter, and so is less able to assist.
The good news about Mars in Libra is that it’s a malefic ruled by a benefic, which can usually help in some way, even though Mars lacks what is known as “essential dignity” in its sign of exile. It has an advantage, in this way, over the opposite type of placement — Venus in Aires or Scorpio, say, in which a benefic is ruled by a malefic.
It’s useful to recall that, unlike some planetary relationships, Venus and Mars actually have a relationship, and an intimate one at that. According to mythology, Aphrodite and Ares (the Greek names of these planets, which correspond to the ancient Greek gods) had an ongoing affair during Aphrodite’s marriage to the blacksmith god Hephaestus. The affair produced several offspring, including Eros, whose name is synonymous with erotic love.
So, even though the two planets represent polar opposites, they’re drawn magnetically together. Thus, there is an unusual quality to these planets being in each other’s signs, which typically produces a depressing feeling of being in exile for a planet. Think of Mars and Venus’ situation as similar to being in the home of your smoking hot significant other, who is your complete opposite in every way, but utterly attractive. Mars’ armor and heavy metal music collection is strewn around, while Venus’ shoe collection takes up the whole closet. Neither one likes it, but each likes the other one enough to try to make it work.
We find an example of the archetype of Mars in Libra in the French television show Call My Agent! The intrepid talent agents of the Parisian ASK agency channel their martian drive, and ambition for victory in an existential struggle against rival agency StarMedia, into their work in the venusian arena of the performing arts. The agents deploy venusian strategies — flattery, subterfuge, bribery — sometimes while involved in actual maneuvers of war, such scaling the fence of a sulky actor’s country home to cajole him into returning to a production.
The show showcases a successful adaptation of Mars in Libra’s territory, subject to her rules. Finding a way to work with a planet in exile, such as the martian energy of the agents channeled into their venusian arts universe — is a positive example of how to deal with difficult placements in general (a concept known as “remediation” in some branches of astrology). Think of it as turning what could be a liability into a talent. The agents are experts at this!
Another realm in which Mars in Libra can shine is the courtroom. The performative and regulated world of law and justice (Libra’s territory) offers Mars a chance to express its more combative impulses constructively, through courtroom arguments and cross examinations, all while looking good in a sharp suit.
Mars in Libra shows up in the charts of numerous artists, which is perhaps to be expected as Mars lights a fire in the realm of artistic achievement. A short, idiosyncratic list includes: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Buster Keaton, Federico Fellini, Maria Callas, Louis Armstrong, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Elvis Presley, Richard Burton, Cat Stevens, John Lennon, Bobby McFerrin, Dudley Moore, Donald Sutherland, Michael Douglas, Nicole Kidman, Whitney Houston, Tommy Lee Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, John Malkovich, Vin Diesel, Ethan Hawke, Kim Basinger, Laura Dern, Freddie Mercury, Paul Giamatti, Sinéad O'Connor, Tori Amos, Alicia Silverstone, Kristen Dunst, Eminem, and Zac Efron.
Mars sidled into Libra on September 14th, just a few days after Libra’s ruler, Venus descended from her Queen of Versailles perch in her air home sign of Libra, and entered her sign of detriment/exile in Scorpio. As Scorpio is Mars’ goth water domain, Venus and Mars are engaged in a house swap, trying to get comfortable in each other’s realms, as we speak.
This configuration is the most basic, and least helpful, form of “reception” — when two planets have some kind of relationship. They’re in each other’s signs but can’t “see” each other, from neighboring signs, so can’t help the other one out. It’s notable that both planets are in signs of their detriment/exile until early October, when Venus enters Sagittarius and finds some support from its ruler, Jupiter.
Mars stays in Libra until October 30th, when it enters its home sign of Scorpio, undergoing the reverse dignity shift that Venus experienced in going from Libra to Scorpio: from its sign of detriment to its domicile. Mars will be supercharged in Scorpio this November, powerful in its strategic, cool-headed water home sign. But, caution ahead: there will likely be some bumps in the road as Mars intervenes from Scorpio in the now-infamous Uranus-Saturn square, opposing Uranus and squaring Saturn, but from a position of great strength where he can do some harm (yikes).
It might be a good idea, then, to try to enjoy Mars in Libra’s aggressive artistry vibes now, before things heat up in November. Pursue your creative projects or romantic interests with passion; light a (productive) fire in the Libra whole sign house of your chart and see what you can accomplish. Of course, Mercury’s retrograde in Libra, which is gearing up even now but goes exact on September 27th, will likely cause snafus and miscommunications in all matters Libra. All the more reason to jump to it now, before the retrograde gets too much underway.
Mars trines the North Node in Gemini at 3 degrees of their respective air signs on September 20th, a supportive reminder of the area marked for increases during the Gemini-Sagittarius eclipse series this year.
Then, on September 25th, Mars trines retrograde Saturn in Aquarius at 7 degrees. If Mercury wasn’t almost retrograde, also in Libra, I would pin this date as a good time to establish some structure in a creative or romantic project. But Mercury’s backwards shadow is well underway, the retrograde station almost upon us. So, that longed for structure or stability may fizzle or miscommunication may short-circuit things.
For all of September and October Mars is actually “under the beams” of the sun, within 15 degrees, and therefore not visible to the naked eye when the sun rises. Planets “under the beams” indicate things that are hidden or weakened, though they can be strengthened by being in their signs of domicile or exaltation. But, in Libra, Mars lacks essential dignity, diminishing it further in its progress through Libra.
On October 8th, Mars meets up with the sun at 15 degrees of Libra, entering the sun’s “chariot” and gaining some temporary protection from combustion from the sun. But, overall, Mars’ journey through Libra this year is a bit rough, getting signed by the sun and with its ruler in detriment as well.
And then, the next day, on October 9th, Mars meets up with retrograde Mercury at 16 degrees of Libra. Expect some completely mishandled communications, which may spark a passive aggressive tantrum of some kind. Trying to keep a cool head in communication will be key that day.
A little later, Mars trines Jupiter in Aquarius on October 18th at 22 degrees of their air signs, providing a breather on the day that Mercury also stations direct at 10 degrees of Libra. Something that seemed stalled or off the rails, due to Mercury’s chaos in the social and artistic realms, may have a moment of uplift. Maybe we can do this after all, we seem to be trying to reassure ourselves.
But then, as Mars prepares to head into its bunker of Scorpio, it must run the gauntlet all planets in cardinal signs have faced for a while now: Pluto in Capricorn. Mars, debilitated and, let’s be honest, feeling a bit ridiculous in a frock coat, isn’t up for much of a fight. I see Pluto winning this round, with Mars shuffling off, tuxedo tail between his legs, Pluto having extracted some secret or hard bargain.
It all feels a bit exhausting, to be honest. But then, welcome to the last act of 2021, whose meta-theme seems to be a close study of that very topic.
To enliven us a tad, and in honor of this month’s transition from Virgo to Libra, let’s close this out with Freddie Mercury, a Virgo sun with Mercury (the planet) exalted in Virgo (no birth time is available, so no rising sign), who expressed his musical artistry through a Libra stellium — Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Neptune all in the sign of the scales. Venus in Libra suggests a melodious musician, yet with Mars co-present in Libra (and ruled by Venus strong in its domicile) his musical expression became synonymous with iconic, driving rock, the embodiment of the rock star, and a truly creative adaptation of his Mars in Libra.
Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, in a Libran flourish, references Lady Godiva, the English noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry, covered only by her hair, to gain a tax reprieve for her husband, a story that weirdly mashes up some of the Venus-Mars symbolism. Continuing the astrological references, Mercury also sings, “I’m on a rocket ship on my way to Mars / on a collision course / I’m a satellite / I’m out of control” . . .